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Don’t miss The Rising Season
Managing Editor
Tommy Quinn tommy@devlinmedia.org
Sales
Paul Halley
Martin O’Halloran
Linda Hickey
Tony Doyle
Trish Phelan
Dermot Kelly
Deputy Editor
Sinéad Doherty
Production Manager
Joanne Punch
Contributors
Aideen Sutton
Jimmy Geoghegan
Research
Sarah Phelan
Design
Minx Design ruth@minxdesign.ie
The Public Sector Magazine is an informative guide for Government, Civil, Public Sector and Semi State decision-makers. It is distributed to, amongst others, Government Ministers, Ministers of State, Dáil Members, Senators, Secretaries of Departments, Deputy Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Principal Officers, CEO’s of State and Semi-State Bodies, County Managers, County Councillors, Purchasing Officers, Press Officers, IT Managers and Training Officers, Doctors, Financial Institutions, Unions, Representitive Bodies, Embassies, Public and Private Partnerships and Political Commentators.
Ireland’s dedicated magazine for the Public Sector, Semi State Bodies, Local Government and Civil Servants
13 News
News and 1916 commemoration events
17 Global Commemorations
The 1916 rising is being marked in over 100 countries
20 Health Insurance
It pays to shop around
22 ‘City Shaken’
The violence and destruction wrought by the rebellion
26 Rediscovering Irish 1916 and the Irish language
28 Connecting with 1916
Sinn Féin’s commemoration programme
31 Tending to the Rising Nursing in Ireland from 1916 - 1920
33 Dublin Rising
An interactive 1916 tour narrated by Colin Farrell
36 Looking Back
The commemoration programme and other 1916 events
46 Championing the Commemoration
John Concannon ensures a fitting tribute
50 An Unlikely Terrorist
Marion Stokes and the rising in Wexford.
54 TG4 Delivers
Capturing the essence of the rising
62 New Ireland Assurance
At the heart of Ireland for nearly a century
57 Profiles in Courage Leaders of the rising
65 Thomas Kent
The forgotten patriot
68 Looking Back
Permanent reminders of 1916
71 Trinity Reflects
Trinity’s decade of commemorations
72 CIE Tours
Providing lifelong memories
74 Witnessing History
Welcome to a new immersive exhibition
76 Putting out Fires
Dublin Fire Brigade and 1916
78 One Connect
Ex-soldiers celebrate 1916
Ireland’s Public Sector – The Grass Roots of IPB
As Ireland’s only indigenous mutual insurer and wholly Irish-owned insurance company, we are proud to be the leading insurer of the public sector.
Not only that, IPB is owned by, and managed on behalf of, its public sector Members, including Ireland’s local authorities, public, education and health bodies.
At IPB we believe that by working together we can create a brighter future for our Members and for their stakeholders, the Irish people.
80 Through the Decades Vocational education through time
85 Dublin City Hall Dublin from viking times through to today.
88 Royal College of Surgeons Surgeons and insurgents
92 Birth of a Nation Exhibition at the County Museum, Dundalk
95 Story of the Irish 1916 and the ancient spirit of the Irish
99 Making History
History Professor Anthony McElligott, UL celebrates 1916
106 Maynooth 15
The long march to Dublin
110 Women of 1916
The brave role played by women in the rebellion
112 Local Authorities Ireland’s local authorities mark the 1916 centenary
114 Civil Defence Plans to celebrate the centenary
118 Cork Celebrates Centenary in the rebel county
123 Way Out West Galway City and the 1916 rising
127 Mapping Revolution A brief history of OSI
129 Playing a Part St. Patrick’s College and the rising
131 ESB Driving progress and change
134 Irish Lights Safety at sea through war and upheaval
137 Stories from the Rebellion The three James’s
140 Concern Worldwide Harvesting sweet potato for health
143 Dublin Bus The 1916 Freedom Tour
147 Kildare Commemorations Remembering the role of Kildare
151 When the Clock Struck The key battles
155 Tribute to Trócaire Building a brighter future
158 Built to Last JJ Rhatigan & Co – setting standards’ for over 60 years.
160 Home Care
Independent living with Homestead
163 Honouring the Victims A time for reflection
167 Birds of Prey Visit Eagles Flying
Óglaigh Náisiúnta na hÉireann is the official name of the Organisation of National Ex-Personnel (ONE).
The ONE is dedicated to looking after the welfare of ex-service personnel of the Irish Defence Services.
The main objective of ONE is to ensure the welfare of ex-service personnel by way of providing accommodation to homeless, elderly or disabled members in need of such domestic accommodation and shelter and other assistance that may be required.
ONE has three homes for ex-service personnel Brú na bhFiann, Dublin (30 residents), Custume House, Athlone (7) and Beechwood House Letterkenny (7); We also have two drop-in centres in Limerick and Dundalk. Overnight accommodation is available at Brú na bhFiann to members of the ONE and the Defence Forces at very reasonable rates. ONE also has three homes for homeless ex-service personnel. There are approx 1400 members in over forty branches throughout the country. Membership of the ONE is open to any person who has served in the Permanent Defence Force, the Reserve Defence Force, Irish Red Cross, Civil Defence or Garda Siochana. ONE also has a Drop In Centre in Limerick and an Advice Office in Aiken Bks, Dundalk.
The ONE also remembers former comrades who died in service by holding and attending remembrance ceremonies countrywide. The ONE also holds a ceremony in memory of those who died in the Niemba Ambush while serving with the United Nations in the Congo. The Niemba Ambush Remembrance is held in Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin, on the nearest Saturday to the actual date of that ambush (8th Nov).
The Fuchsia Appeal runs throughout the year, with the main push taking place in July which is the month of the National Day of Commemoration. Fuchsia emblems are sold throughout the country and the emblem is used as a fundraiser, a symbol of remembrance for fallen comrades and to honour those currently serving in the Defence Forces.
If you wish to donate you can do so at www.oneconnect.ie or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ONEIreland
The main objective of ONE is to ensure the welfare of ex of providing accommodation to homeless, elderly or disabled members in need of such domestic accommodation and shelter and other assistance that may be required.
ONE has thr bhFiann, Dublin (30 residents), Custume House, Athlone (7) and Beechwood House Letterkenny (7); Overnight accommoda of the ONE and the Defence Forces at very reasonable rates.
There are approx 1400 members in over forty branches throughout the country. Member any person who has served in the Permanent Defence Force, the Reserve Defence Force, Irish Red Cross, Civil Defence or Garda Siochana The ONE also remembers former comrades who died in service by holding and ceremonies countrywide. Each year the ONE at national level holds its annual remembrance ceremony, Lá na bhFiann in July each year. The ONE also holds a ceremony the United Nations in the Congo. The Niemba Ambush Remembrance is held in
The latest news on the 1916 Commemorations
128 members of the British army, three policemen and 67 insurgents lost their lives during the 1916 Rebellion.
However, the largest death toll occurred among the civilian population with over 400 residents killed in the fighting.
Injuries resulting from the Rebellion were far higher with over 1,700 civilians taken to hospital. The death toll was concentrated in the poverty stricken areas of the north inner city, the area between O’Connell Street and Smithfield Square to the West.
This area suffered the most intense physical destruction due to the bombardment of the city centre. There was particularly ferocious fighting in the area surrounding the Four Courts and a number of atrocities were committed by British forces during the Friday and Saturday of Easter week.
After the rebellion, British officers said that difficulties in distinguishing between rebels and civilians was the principal reason for the high number of civilian casualties.
“We had to sort out friends from enemies as we reached the houses,” recalled Captain Archibald Dickson after the fighting had ceased.
However, the fact that the Sherwood Foresters and the South Staffordshire Regiment, the two regiments which were sent to Ireland to put down the rebellion were ill prepared and poorly trained is now universally accepted as the main reason for the high number of civilian deaths.
There was remarkable ill discipline among the British forces and a casual disregard for the safety of civilians with little effort made to distinguish them residents from combatants.
Thirteen unarmed civilians in the vicinity of North King Street were shot dead by South Staffordshire regiment soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Taylor. “My men were fired at and fired back, and any persons in upper rooms of houses, civilians or soldiers, might easily have been shot in that way,” was the highly unconvincing explanation later offered by Lieutenant Taylor.
The confusion and incompetent, trigger happy approach adopted by the poorly trained soldiers was highlighted by Captain Gerard of 5th Division, South Staffordshires.
“One of my sentries in Beggars Bush Barracks said to me: ‘I beg your pardon, sir, I have just shot two girls’. I said, ‘what on earth did you do that for?’ He said, ‘I thought they were rebels. I was told they dressed in all classes of attire.”
SIPTU has organised a programme of events to mark the 1916 Rising. The centrepiece will be a gala concert at Liberty Hall on March 26th which features artists such as Christy Moore, Damien Dempsey and Matt Molloy.
For the full programme of events visit: www.communnications. siptu.ie/1916Programme/index
More than 4 million newly-designed coins have been brought into general circulation by the Central Bank to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
The design by Emmet Mullins beat submissions from 52 Irish and international designers to be chosen for the project. It shows a representation of the statue of Hibernia (the historic personification of Ireland) on top of the GPO with the centenary dates. The lettering of “Hibernia” is influenced by the Book of Kells.
It is the first time Ireland has issued its own commemorative coin into circulation. Previous commemorative €2 coins issued by Ireland were part of a European Union initiative.
“It’s a significant achievement for us to mint and issue our own circulating commemorative coin,” said Paul Molumby, director of currency and facilities management at the Central Bank.
Collectable products including bookmarks and coin sets will also be for sale.
Efforts to commemorate the Easter uprising with an annual public holiday have been blocked by Government which opposed legislation proposed by Sinn Féin to establish April 24th as a a national day of remembrance for the 1916 rebellion.
A spokesperson for Taoiseach Enda Kenny said an expert group had considered making next April 24 a one-off national holiday but decided against the idea and because it had been rejected as a stand-alone event, it would not be sensible to support it as an annual public holiday.
Mr Ó Snodaigh said Ireland was unusual in that it did not mark the day when its nationhood was declared and that his Public Holidays (Lá Na Poblachta) Bill would “mark the many thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives in pursuit of an independent Irish Republic”.
“The national holiday which is proposed by the bill will take place on April 24, the anniversary of the reading of the proclamation of the Irish Republic outside the GPO by Pádraig Pearse in 1916. The bill proposes a nationwide programme of events to commemorate and raise awareness of the contribution our forefathers made in the liberation of the Irish nation on this day annually.
“It is worth noting that Ireland currently has nine annual bank holidays. The European average is 11. Clearly there is a great opportunity here to establish a national day celebrating our Republic, with this bill bringing us closer to the European average,” he said.
The National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks will open a major new exhibition to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising.
This exciting new exhibition will explore the ideas, movements and personalities of early 20th century Ireland, the dramatic events of Easter Week, the impact it had on the city and its citizens, and the Irish nation as a whole. These themes will be explored, in both Irish and international contexts, through the stories of civilians, rebels, and the leaders of the Rising.
The Easter Week Collection of the National Museum holds over 15,000 objects, including many iconic objects such as the 1916 Proclamation and the flag of the Irish Republic, as well as unique and emotive personal objects, many of which will be on display for the first time.
Join the conversation using the following hashtags: #1916Rising and #NMIER1916
Further information is available on www.musuem.ie
Last year Father Joseph Mallin, a Jesuit priest and the last surviving child of those executed during the 1916 rising celebrated his 102nd birthday. He celebrated the milestone in Hong Kong and is also thought to be the oldest Irish priest in the world.
Fr Mallin is the son of executed 1916 leader Comdt Michael Mallin, who went out on Easter Monday, 1916, to command the fighting in St Stephen’s Green, with Countess Markievicz as his deputy, and never returned.
As chief of staff of the Irish Citizen Army, and second in command, Mallin served under James Connolly and was in charge of the ICA garrison at St Stephen’s Green.
The night before his father’s execution, Joseph was taken to Kilmainham Gaol by his mother, Agnes, who was pregnant with her fifth child, to say goodbye.
While Joseph, who was two at the time, has no recollection of the event, he was remembered by his father in his last letter. In it, he wrote: “Joseph, my little man, be a priest if you can.”
Mallin was executed by firing squad on May 8, 1916 and Joseph fulfilled his father’s wish and became a priest. He then moved to China, in 1948, for missionary work, and secured a place at the Wah Yan College, a Catholic secondary school.
A busy and exciting programme of creative, community and commemorative events is due to take place in Britain to mark the centenary of the Easter rising and the historical events of 1916. Part of the ambitious Global and Diaspora programme for Ireland 2016, the programme is being organised by the Embassy of Ireland in London, Culture Ireland and the Irish Consulate in Edinburgh.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan was in London towards the end of last year to launch the programme and said it would feature at least 87 separate events which will take place in venues across Britain - from institutions of major cultural significance like the Southbank Centre, Wigmore Hall and the Barbican, to community spaces from Glasgow to Camden to Liverpool.
“This is an exciting and busy programme,” Mr Flanagan said. “It offers an occasion to reflect on what happened in Ireland a century ago and on its impact on relationships on these islands. These reflections will also acknowledge the richness and complexity of these historical events by focussing on their cultural, academic, economic and artistic strands, as well as the broader political narrative.”
Reflecting on our approach to commemorations and the complex and diverse relationships between Ireland and
Up to four million files are being rehoused as part of an €8M redevelopment of The National Archives of Ireland. The new facility will allow around 100 million pages to be stored in better conditions.
The new investment may also provide sufficient storage to allow for a change to the 20 year rule for the release of state papers. Minister for Arts and Heritage Heather Humphreys said the expansions would transform the building into a state-of-the-art facility.
“Thanks to the recovery, we’re in a different position to invest in the archives,” said the Minister. “The Government intends to gradually move to a 20-year rule for the release of state papers. Expanding and upgrading the National Archives is essential to cope with the increased demand that will come about as a result of this change.”
Britain, Minister Flanagan said: “Our approach to Ireland 2016, and to the Decade of Centenaries, has been guided by the principle that all commemorative activity should be inclusive, appropriate and respectful.
“The Decade of Centenaries has offered us the opportunity to reflect on important aspects of our sometimes shared and sometimes contested history, from the Home rule Bill of 1912 to Gallipoli, and from the Easter Rising to the Somme. The commemorative programme acknowledges and honours that past in all its complexity but also seeks to look ahead to the future direction of relations between our two countries.”
The Government has said the Rising commemorations will be rooted in respect and inclusivity.
Conscious of the innocent civilians who lost their lives as well as political sensitivities in the North and the limited support which existed for the rebellion at the time, Heritage Minister Heather Humphries said the events are for reflection and celebrations.
In addition to state sponsored events there are also more than 2,500 community events planned across the country.
Northern Ireland is hosting a series of commemorative events for the Easter Rising to mark the impact it had on the creation of the North in 1921,
The DUP Leader Arlene Foster said people would reflect on the “centenary of the Easter Rising and the role events in Dublin in 1916 had in the creation of Northern Ireland.
The First Minister said that a number of centenaries will be marked in the five-year term of the current assembly includign the 1916 Rising, the Battle of the Somme and the creation of Northern Ireland.
“By the end of the next Assembly term, Northern Ireland will celebrate its centenary year. By pulling together I believe we can make the first years of our second centenary even better than people had dared hope for.
Former Minister for justice Nora Owen has told how future revolutionary leader and relative Michael Collins cut his teeth during the 1916 Rising.
The ex-Fine Gael TD, who is Collins’ grandniece, said he learnt the lessons that allowed him to go on to negotiate the Anglo-Irish treaty in 1921.
“He was very much in the background and wasn’t a hugely significant figure at that point,” she said.
“He came back from London because he knew things were happening and he showed, I suppose, his leadership qualities by wanting to be here.
“And I suppose the experience he got in 1916 lead him on to being such a great leader just a few years later. I don’t want to claim he was a leader in 1916 because he wasn’t. He was a very young man and kind of cut his teeth with more experienced people.”
And Nora hopes the 1916 commemoration will be more about reflection and not focus on the violence that surrounded the Rebellion.
She said: “I think it’s important, particularly for the last couple of generations who really have no memory of anything of the building of the state, I hope that’s the concentration that will be on the commemorations - recognising the building of a new state.
I wouldn’t like too much over-the-top kind of revolutionary stuff because we have moved on.“
An Post has paid tribute to the forty children who died in the vicinity of the GPE during the Easter Rising by placing a new memorial in its courtyard. The monument which features forty stones with each one representing one of the child victims is part of An Posts new €10M Witness History centre, an interactive museum focussing on Easter 1916.
The centre tells the story of the children who died - and even contains some of their historical artefacts.
RTÉ broadcaster and Liveline Presenter Joe Duffy who has been instrumental in highlighting the plight of children during the Easter Rebellion was delighted to see a memorial being erected in their honour. “Put it this way, it takes less than 40 seconds to read out those names but it has taken 100 years for them to be commemorated. I think the seven signatories of the Proclamation would have wanted it.”
The most well known of the boats that delivered guns to Ireland in advance of the Rising was the Asgard, a 16 metre yacht which was owned by Erskine Childers, the English born writer who was executed during the civil war in 1922. Together with Roger Casement, Alice Green and Mary Spring Rice - Childers and his wife Molly sailed the vessel and its cargo of 900 rifles and 29,000 rounds of ammunition from Germany to Howth in July 1914.
After the Rising, the Asgard was taken to Wales and in 1928 it was sold. Thirty years later the Irish Government purchased the vessel and scenes from the landing were re-enacted with some of the original volunteers and guns.
It was used as a training vessel until 1974 when it was transferred to Kilmainham Jail and put on display until 2001. A major restoration project was undertaken to restore the Asgard to its former glory and it has been on display at the National Museum in Collins Barracks since 2012.
The 1916 Rising is being marked in over 100 countries around the world which gives a sense of the global impact made by the Easter Rebellion.
There was a significant international dimension to the 1916 Rising which is reflected in the fact that it is being marked around the world with events taking places in countries as diverse as New Zealand, Brazil, Japan and Argentina.
Other locations which will feature in the special commemorative programme include Melbourne, Abu Dhabi, New York, Washington, London and Sydney.
Internationally over 1,000 centenary events are scheduled to take place in 100 countries, including Nagoya, Japan’s third largest city which boasts a growing Irish population and where this year’s St. Patrick’s Day will have the 2016 commemorations as its central theme.
The significance of the 1916 Easter Rising will be explained to locals while the proclamation of independence will be read in both English and Japanese.
In Tokyo, a conference with the theme of the 1916 Rising with an Asian perspective is planned as part of a comprehensive programme of events.
In Buenos Aires, a series of cultural events will take place across the city and province from March to July of this year. The events will celebrate the strong links which exist between Ireland and Argentina through music, literature and art.
A series of events and exhibitions will also take place across Australia with a major event scheduled to take place in Melbourne on March 19th. Organised by the Culture and Heritage Committee of Celtic Club, the event will include a display of photos, artefacts, memorabilia, art and writings associated with the Rising, as well as music. There will also be a screening of the movie, ‘Mise Eire’.
In addition, a digitisation project is also being hosted in Melbourne which will highlight the scrapbooks of Irish scholar and doctor, Nicholas O’Donnell, who tracked the reporting of the Rising in the Australian press.
Elsewhere, an exhibition and seminar in the Brazilian city of Brasilia and Manaus in the Amazon region will reflect the life and work of Roger Casement who was British consul in Belem, Santos and Consul General in Rio de Janeiro. His pioneering humanitarian work exposed atrocities in the rubber industry in the border area between Brazil and Peru.
In Abu Dhabi, a production of The Shadow of a Gunman by Sean O’Casey will be staged as well as a programme of Irish music, poetry and dance.
And in Dubai, the Irish Embassy in partnership with the Dubai based theatre group Danu will host a series of cultural events to mark the 1916 Rising at the Madinat Theatre on April 22 and 23.
Other events will also take place in Vietnam, Canada, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, France, Finland, Poland and in many other countries.
However, the majority of events will take place in Britain and the US. A three week festival of ‘Irish Arts and Culture’ will be held in the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.
Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said many of the events are being organised by our network of embassies abroad.
“I invite Ireland’s global friends and family to come together to remember the events of 100 years ago, and importantly, to celebrate the progress we have made over the last century and to look forward,” he said.
Full details of the “Ireland 2016: Global and Diaspora Programme” can be found on the websites: www.ireland.ie and www.dfa.ie
Established in 2014, the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) is the representative body representing the democratically elected members and their member authority of Ireland’s thirty-one County and City Councils. The association supports the elected members in their role as board members of the local government units in the State.
The Association is a merger of the two previous elected member’s representative bodies, the AMAI (Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland) and the ACCC (Association of County and City Councils) following the enactment of the Local Government Reform Act 2014.
The AILG is a networking, policy development and training resource for the elected members at Local Authority level in Ireland and the Association works through delegates in each of the councils to help develop a sense of collegiality among the elected members who serve the public in a variety of local government settings ranging from urban to suburban and rural. Through regular interaction with other stakeholders in the local government environment the AILG aims to ensure
that the contribution of Ireland’s democratically elected councillors is appreciated in Government Departments and throughout the full range of public agencies.
Since its inception the AILG has become responsible for the training of councillors throughout the country in the practical tasks they need to do to fulfil their roles. AILG also represents its members –comprised of councillors in all local authorities – in providing input into Central Government policies which have a direct effect on their work.
The current President of the AILG is Cllr Colm Brophy, who is a member of South Dublin County Council since January 2008 and is chair of South Dublin Transport SPC. Colm has served on a wide variety of local government bodies at local, county and national levels.
Work is progressing on the development of a new commemorative centre at Nos 14 - 17 Moore Street, which were declared a National Monument in 2007.
No 16 was the final headquarters of the 1916 leaders before they surrendered.
It follows the Government decision last year to purchase the Dublin city centre buildings.
The objective of the project is to restore the buildings to their original 1916 condition, according to Arts and culture Minister Heather Humphries. “The National Monument at Nos 14 - 17 Moore Street has such special historical significance in the context of the Easter Rising. This project is a very important element of the governments plans for the 1916 commemoration,” she said.
Once completed the new commemorative centre will act as a lasting tribute to the 1916 leaders allowing people to step back tint time to the final dramatic moments of the Rising.
“The Moore St Commemorative Centre will be just a few minutes walk from the new major visitors centre being developed at the GPO. It will be a fantastic addition to Dublin’s historical map and should attract considerable visitor numbers.
The Conservation work will reveal the period architectural detail, the living conditions and, above all, the imprint of the insurgency. The primary focus of the work is to reveal the buildings as they were during the Rising, allowing them to illuminate that period in our history. The contract for the work has been awarded to Dublin based Lissadell Construction Ltd., which specialises in heritage and construction work and also carried out the restoration of Kilmainham Courthouse.
Thomas Gear Gold and Diamond Merchant ILAC Centre Dublin Hand Crafted Bespoke Design James Connolly and more
“ There at the Birth of a Nation”
Wynn’s Hotel has been in existence since 1845 and has witnessed many of the events which have shaped the history of Dublin City. There are two Plaques housed in the Saints & Scholars lounge of the hotel, commemorating events which had a decisive effect on the history of Ireland.
In November 1913 a meeting was held in Wynn’s and the decision was taken to establish ‘Óglaigh nahEireann’ - The Irish Volunteers. The meeting was chaired by Eoin Mac Neil and attended by Padraig Pearse, The ORahilly, Sean MacDiarmada, Eamonn Ceannt and Piaras Beaslai.
Then on the 2nd April 1914 the inaugural public meeting of Cumann na mBan was held in Wynn’s Hotel. It was presided over by Agnes O’Farrelly who was elected president.
The provisional executive unveiled at the meeting included; Jennie Wyse Power, Nancy ORahilly, Agnes MacNeil, Mary Colum, Nurse McCoy, Margaret Dobbs, Louise Gavin Duffyand Elizabeth Bloxham.
In 1966 Liam S Gogan wrote: “A simple enough episode made that well-known hostelry not only the birthplace of the Volunteers but of the Irish Republic itself”
Situated in the heart of Dublin close to many centres of social, political and business life, Wynn’s Hotel became a favourite venue for formal and informal gatherings, its iconic brand of rich history and ethos of legendary hospitality continues to this day.
“The perfect address in the heart of Dublin” 35/39 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1, Ireland Tel: +353 1 874 5131 Fax: +353 1 874 1556 email: info@wynnshotel.ie. www.wynnshotel.ie ESTABLISHED 1845 DESTROYED 1916 REBUILT 1926
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The cost of health insurance continues to be one of the largest bills for consumers each year. Customers who do not shop around i.e. those that are loyal to insurers, tend to be penalised as insurers tend to apply rate increases to existing plans whilst releasing new plans of a similar nature but at a cheaper price.
Here are some top tips on cutting the cost of health insurance from Dermot Wells, General Manager of Cornmarket‘s Health Insurance Division.
Split Your Cover: It doesn’t make sense to have everyone on the policy on the same level of cover. Everyone (adults & children) has different requirements and you should select a plan for each person reflecting their needs only. You can actually have everyone on the one policy but all on different levels of cover.
Young Adult Discounts: Many consumers assume that these are applied automatically once your dependent turns 18 which is not the case. Contact your insurer to identify what plans this discount is available on to avoid any unnecessary over-payments.
Take on a Policy Excess: This is one of the best ways of reducing your costs. Savings vary, but reductions of at least 10% may be possible by accepting a small excess in private hospitals only. Depending on your appetite for risk, excesses of up to €600 per admission (private hospitals) are now available if you want to maximise your savings.
Give Up the Private Room: Private accommodation in private hospitals is never guaranteed. Unless this is critical for you, consider dropping a level for similar cover but big savings. For example, 2 adults going from a level 5 to a level 4 plan could save approximately €3,000 or up to €2,000 if dropping from a level 3 to a level 2 plan (savings differ depending on the plan held).
Check Out the Corporate Plans: These tend to be the most competitively priced plans on the market and are worth considering before you renew your cover. They normally cover public and private hospitals and usually include some level of day-to-day cover for your routine medical costs. They include excesses in private hospitals so check the benefits fully before buying.
On the Same Plan for Too Long?: If you haven’t reviewed your cover in the last 2 years or if you have all the family on the same plan, then you’re definitely paying too much for your cover. The golden rule now is to check out all the options each year prior to your renewal regardless of how good you think your cover is.
Get Expert Advice: Health insurance is complex but it’s arguably one of the most important insurance covers to have. Don’t cut corners with your cover – seek expert advice from a qualified advisor to ensure that your plan is the best value cover that meets your exact requirements.
Think of your health cover like you would car or home
insurance. Do your homework each year prior to renewal; get the best deal possible and if you’re satisfied that it meets your requirements, switch!
Health Insurance Myths Dispelled.
n Many people think that going ‘public’ is free. This is not the case – unless you have a medical card, each patient including children will be charged a daily rate of €75 subject to a maximum of €750 (10 days in any 12 month period).
n Many members are afraid to switch provider especially if they have existing medical conditions. The law is very clear in this regard - each insurer must give you full credit for time served with your current provider, i.e. if you have served your waiting periods already, these do not have to be re-served if you switch to an alternative provider without a gap in cover.
n Some members think that they can upgrade their cover and avail of the higher benefits immediately. This is not the case – all insurers have ‘upgrade rules’ which restrict your benefits to your previous level of cover for pre-existing conditions for 2 years.
n If you have private health insurance, you may be under the impression that you have to go privately when being admitted to hospital. This is not the case – you are still entitled to public hospital treatment like every other citizen regardless of whether you have health insurance or not. You may be encouraged to use your private health insurance, but remember, this is your decision!
Our Tip…
Don’t renew it until we review it!
Cornmarket Group Financial Services Ltd. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Cornmarket is part of the Great-West Lifeco group of companies, one of the world’s leading life assurance organisations. Telephone calls may be recorded for quality control and training purposes.
To avail of our Free Health Insurance Comparison Service, call Cornmarket on (01) 470 8098
The newspapers of the day provide a stark illustration of the violence and destruction wrought on the city of Dublin and its’ citizens by the Easter Rising.
The pictures in the Irish newspapers in the immediate aftermath of the 1916 Rising were stark.
They showed bombed out buildings, standing smashed and broken. They were all that remained of a large part of the city’s main thoroughfare while other streets nearby were also extensively damaged.
The wrecked buildings were dramatic manifestations of what went on in the capital during one of the most turbulent weeks in Irish history; the cavernous, ghostly, shell-like remains of once tall, imposing structures telling it’s own story of the savagery that had been unleashed.
In what was a golden era for newspapers the national and local publications were often the only way the public could ascertain what was happening outside their own area – and in reporting events the papers read like John Grisham thrillers.
Most of the pages of the newspaper were filled with accounts of how the government was dealing with the crisis in the immediate aftermath of the uprising.
In their Friday May 5th 1916 edition, the ‘Evening Herald’ recorded how the court martials were proceeding.
The report outlined how sentences of varying durations were handed out to 30 men who were tried.
The main front page story told how three of those – Thomas Hunter, ‘Major’ John McBride and William Cosgrave - were sentenced to death. Hunter and Cosgrave later had their sentence reduced to life imprisionment however, the story went on to explain but there was to be no such reprieve for McBride.
He was shot, the paper noted “today at midday” along with Thomas Clarke, P. H. Pearse, Thomas McDonagh and Pierce Beasley.
“The condemned men are said to have accepted their sentence with stoical resignation,” the report added.
Others involved in the rebellion got ten, eight or three years in prison.
The government were anxious to crack down hard on the rebels and to release the details to the media; to show a strong hand.
“The Men Butchered by England” ran one of the headlines in the paper. “The most cultured of Ireland’s sons murdered because they loved their native land,” proclaimed part of a protracted sub-heading that was highly critical of the way the London government had reacted to the Rising.
Despite the end of hostilities there occurred what the Herald termed “a violent explosion” in O’Connell.
‘City Shaken with the force’ proclaimed one of the headlines at the top of a front page story.
“Some people attributed the shock to the collapse of burned buildings in O’Connell Street. Investigations proved that a gas main had burst on O’Connell Bridge with terrific force,” the report went on to outline.
It didn’t take long for normal life to resume. Even while many of the buildings were still smouldering local business people were attempting to get their lives back on track.
Cleary & Co announced in a newspaper advertisement that as a consequence of “their premises having been totally destroyed their business will be held up for a short period.”
A local politician – Councillor John Ryan – told the Evening Herald that in his view insurance companies should pay for the damage caused during the Rising.
He outlined out British insurance companies had paid out €4M after the San Francisco earthquake.
“This is a very important question now. Will the British insurance companies rise to the occasion for the loss in Dublin as they did at the time of the ‘Frisco earthquake?” he wondered.
The Irish Independent edition of Saturday 6th May continued with the news of the court martials and how the search continued for “fugitives.”
The Independent highlighted what in modern terms would be called an exclusive. Their reporter visited the scene of a battle
that had taken place in Ashbourne, Co Meath between rebels and troops and discovered more details about the incident. Up to then there was little or nothing in the public domain about the “battle.”
News was also filtering through of how the rebels had surrendered in Enniscorthy after learning that the rebellion in Dublin had been squashed.
Aside from post-Rising executions and analysis everyday commercial life with many companies announcing in the newspapers that they were back in business while others were anxious to simply advertise their products.
There were other concerns for people. One advertisement in the front page of the Independent announced that “Happiness” awaited those who used a product called Tinori “the guaranteed painless corn cure.”
On the top of one story in the middle of the front page there was announced “Good News for Farmers.” The copy underneath revealed how: “The important discovery of a sure cure for White Scour in Calves is excellent news.” It was claimed Bell’s White Scour Powder had ”saved thousands of calves.”
To grab the attention of potential customers one advert loudly announced: ‘War Crisis’ before going to explain how Maguire & Gatchell Ltd were offering hundreds of “Osram Lamps” for sale.
Another Dublin enterprise with what became a well-known commercial identity - Bewley and Draper - were happy to reveal that all their departments would be opening from Monday 8th May.
Those looking to get away from Ireland and start a new life
The Weekly Irish Times edition that covered the three Saturdays from 29th April, 6th May and the 13th May, described the Rising as: “The Darkest Week in the History of Dublin.”
elsewhere were no doubt greatly interested by an advertisement offering a trip to the US on the Cunard Line for “cabin and third class passengers.” For those who liked to travel with a cabin were required to pay a £10 fee; for those prepared to slum it the cost was just over £6.
Some business enterprises were those who were prepared to cut costs incurred during the Rising. The Henry Street Warehouse Co Limited offered a sale of damaged goods including “a large number of costumes and coats injured by rifle fire.”
The Weekly Irish Times edition that covered the three Saturdays from 29th April, 6th May and the 13th May, described the Rising as: “The Darkest Week in the History of Dublin.”
The paper – which was the voice of the unionist community throughout Ireland - reviewed in great detail events since the start of the rebellion and how it had impacted on Dublin as well as Wexford, Meath and Galway. In the City of the Tribes it was reported the rebels were shelled by a destroyer in Galway Bay.
Again firms advertising in the paper sought to reassure
readers that they were again open for business and normal service had resumed.
Noblett’s of “Upper Sackville Street and Grafton Street” said announced their premises was now re-opened and re-stocked and that “Noblett’s Corner” will be “opened as soon as it is re-built.”
Abroad the Rising made the front page of the New York Times while another newspaper based in the Big Apple – The Irish World – devoted itself totally to the dramatic events in Dublin.
There was no veneer of objectivity with the paper condemning the executions of the rebel leaders.
“The Men Butchered by England” ran one of the headlines in the paper. “The most cultured of Ireland’s sons murdered because they loved their native land,” proclaimed part of a protracted sub-heading that was highly critical of the way the London government had reacted to the Rising.
The newspaper reported a speech by one Dr John F Kelly who gave a “thrilling address” at Springfield, Massachusetts.
According to Dr Kelly Padraig Pearse and his rebel companions were happy to sacrifice their lives because they “knew that they would cleanse Ireland of the abominations wrought by a generation of phrase-making, place-hunting politicians and so they died content and happy.”
The newspaper claimed that England had “goaded” Ireland into rebellion.
One of the buildings destroyed during Easter week was the offices of the Freeman’s Journal which was located close to the GPO.
The Journal – which was the paper of the Irish Parliamentary Party – was already facing difficulties.
The paper was to eventually disappear from the streets of a city that was traumatised by the events of Easter week.
Many other papers were willing to take up the mantle of reporting how Ireland faced in the post-Rising era.
Foras na Gaeilge
Mar chuid de chlár Éire 2016, beidh súil siar á caitheamh ag Foras na Gaeilge, an comhlacht atá freagrach as an nGaeilge a chur chun cinn ar fud na hÉireann, ar an bhfís a bhí ann don Ghaeilge in 1916 agus ar an méid atá bainte amach ó shin. Díreoidh forlíonadh a bheidh ag Foras na Gaeilge san Irish Times in mí an Mhárta 2016 go sonrach ar an gceist seo ina ndéanfaidh saineolaithe ar réimsí éagsúla anailís chriticiúil ar ghnéithe éagsúla den tsochaí idir 1916 agus 2016.
Chomh maith le maoiniú a dhéanamh ar ghníomhaíochtaí éagsúla na gceanneagraíochtaí a thagann faoina scáth (Conradh na Gaeilge, Gaelscoileanna, Oireachtas na Gaeilge, Cumann na bhFiann, Glór na nGael agus Gael Linn), beidh tionscadail agus imeachtaí eile á reáchtáil ag Foras na Gaeilge. Ina measc, beidh sraith de cholúin nuachtáin ar fhéiniúlacht, le béim faoi leith ar ról na teanga san fhéiniúlacht, agus taispeántas grianghrafadóireachta, i gcomhar leis an gCartlann Náisiúnta Ghrianghrafadóireachta agus Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann, ina dtabharfar léargas ar shaol phobal na Gaeilge ar fud oileán na hÉireann idir 1985 agus 2005. Anuas air sin, tabharfar tacaíocht d’imeachtaí éagsúla comórtha trí scéimeanna éagsúla Fhoras na Gaeilge i rith na bliana ó thuaidh agus ó dheas, lena n-áirítear Scéim na bhFéilte, Scéim na gComplachtaí Drámaíochta agus Scéim na gCampaí Samhraidh. Caithfear súil chun cinn chomh maith agus beidh suíomh tairsí don Ghaeilge á sheoladh ag Foras na Gaeilge le linn 2016. Aithníonn an Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge 2010-2030 tábhacht an tsuímh seo a bheidh mar áis luachmhar acu siúd a bhfuil spéis acu sa Ghaeilge. Tá Foras na Gaeilge fíorbhródúil as bheith freagrach as an tionscadal a stiúradh.
Tabhair cuairt ar www.ireland.ie/events/foras-na-gaeilge le tuilleadh eolais a fháil faoi chlár comórtha 2016 Fhoras na Gaeilge agus www.gaeilge.ie le tuilleadh eolais a fháil faoi Fhoras na Gaeilge.
As part of the Ireland 2016 programme, Foras na Gaeilge, the body responsible for promoting Irish throughout Ireland, will be looking back at what was envisaged for the Irish language in 1916 and what has been achieved since.
Foras na Gaeilge will have a supplement in the Irish Times in March 2016 which will focus specifically on this issue, and in which experts in various fields will provide a critical analysis of various aspects of society between 1916 and 2016.
As well as funding the various activities of the lead organisations which come under its remit (Conradh na Gaeilge, Gaelscoileanna, Oireachtas na Gaeilge, Cumann na bhFiann, Glór na nGael and Gael Linn), Foras na Gaeilge will be organising other projects and activities. These will include a series of newspaper columns on identity, with a particular emphasis on the role of the language in identity, and a photographic exhibition, in conjunction with the National Photographic Archive and the National Library of Ireland, which will give an insight into the Irish language community throughout Ireland between 1985 and 2005.
A variety of commemoration events will be supported through various Foras na Gaeilge schemes throughout the year north and south, including the Festivals Scheme, the Drama Companies Scheme and the Summer Camps Scheme.
Also looking forward, Foras na Gaeilge will be launching a portal site for the Irish language in 2016. The 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 recognises the significance of this site which will be a valuable tool for anyone interested in the Irish language. Foras na Gaeilge is immensely proud of being responsible for leading the project.
Visit www.ireland.ie/events/foras-na-gaeilge for more information on the Foras na Gaeilge 2016 commemoration programme and www.gaeilge.ie for more information on Foras na Gaeilge.
Logáil isteach ar www.gaeilge.ie leis an mbealach is tapúla a fháil go dtí an t-eolas atá uait. Féach na mionfhógraí ar NASC, áit ar féidir leat:
> fógra a chur suas le cúrsa nó imeacht a lorg nó a fhógairt,
> do réimse spéise a chlárú chun foláirimh a fháil a nuair a fhógraítear eolas nua, nó > a bhfuil ar fáil i do cheantar féin a chuardach – agus a lán eile
Just log on to www.gaeilge.ie for the quickest route to the information you need Check out the NASC classified ads where you can:
> post an ad to request or advertise a course or event,
> register your area of interest to get alerts when new info is posted , or
> search for what’s available in your neighbourhood – and much more
1850 325 325 / 0845 309 8142 eolas@forasnagaeilge.ie
Sinn Féin have put together an innovative programme of commemoration for the 1916 centenary year designed for members of the public to take part in.
“The legacy of 1916 does not belong to any one political party, it belongs to the people of Ireland and the centenary will once again focus on the unfulfilled ideals of the 1916 Proclamation. Sinn Féin have commemorated 1916 every year and at times in the face of opposition from Irish Governments, so the centenary year for Sinn Féin has a very special significance,” Said Bartle D’Arcy, Sinn Féin National 1916 Co-ordinator.
The centre piece of the programme is REVOLUTION 1916 the Original & Authentic Exhibition in the Ambassador Theatre on O’Connell street opening on 27th February 2016 and running until October. Each day at midday a uniformed Padraig Pearse will read the Proclamation aloud outside the theatre in what is sure to become an iconic image of 2016.
Remembering the Women of the Revolution on Mothers Day Sunday 6th March will be the first large scale outdoor event. The Easter Feast weekend 25th - 28th March will feature diaspora events designed for public participation. Events will also take place on the weekend of the actual anniversary 22nd
- 24th April and Dawn Vigils will be held outside Kilmainham Gaol on the anniversaries of the execution dates.
All events can be found on www. revolution1916.ie and updates are on our Facebook page Sinn Féin National 1916 Commemorations https://www.facebook .com/therising2016/
In 2016 Sinn Féin are hosting a series of meaningful participatory events in Dublin and Nationwide to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. A seminal point in Irish History and also of worldwide significance, delivering a blow to the British Empire that it never recovered from. For the diaspora living outside the country this is a chance to return and take part in commemorating those who fought for Irish freedom, celebrating their spirit and vision and committing to the values of the Proclamation to build a New Republic of equals and bring an end to partition.
Check www.sinnfein.ie/1916 for updates on all Easter Weekend Events. Watch out for publications, works of art, dramatic productions & competitions. Contact us 1916@sinnfein.ie
IN 2016 WE WILL REMEMBER THEM ALL. SINN FÉIN.
Established in 2014, the Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) is the representative body representing the democratically elected members and their member authority of Ireland’s thirty-one County and City Councils. The association supports the elected members in their role as board members of the local government units in the State.
The Association is a merger of the two previous elected member’s representative bodies, the AMAI (Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland) and the ACCC (Association of County and City Councils) following the enactment of the Local Government Reform Act 2014
The AILG is a networking, policy development and training resource for the elected members at Local Authority level in Ireland a the Association works through delegates in each of the councils to help develop a sense of collegiality among the elected members who serve the public in a variety of local government settings ranging from urban to suburban and rural. Through regular interaction with other stakeholders in the local government environment the AILG aims to ensure that the contribution of Ireland’s democratically elected councillors is appreciated in Government Departments and throughout the full range of public agencies.
Since its inception the AILG has become responsible for the training of councillors throughout the country in the practical tasks they need to do to fulfil their roles. AILG also represents its members –comprised of councillors in all local authorities – in providing input into Central Government policies which have a direct effect on their work.
The current President of the AILG is Cllr Colm Brophy, who is a member of South Dublin County Council since January 2008 and is chair of South Dublin Transport SPC. Colm has served on a wide variety of local government bodies at local, county and national levels.
Nursing in Ireland from 1916-1920
As the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rebellion approaches, the State will properly commemorate the Rising which took place over six bloody days of Easter week. While the emphasis of the Commerations will focus on the main protagonists of 1916, it is important to remember that the loss of life during Easter 1916 amounted to 450 lives. 116 members were from the British military, 16 Policemen, 64 Rebels and 254 Civilians were killed. In addition to this a further 2,614 people were wounded. The casualty toll placed an enormous strain on the Dublin cities hospitals and staff. Of the 700 people seen at the Charitable Infirmary, Jervis Street, some 38 were pronounced dead on arrival and 43 died in total. In all of the city’s hospitals the bravery and dedication to providing care for the wounded and dying by hospital staff was exemplary. This included staff working under gunfire and in the absence of any electricity, which made operating conditions next to impossible. This was recognised at the time even by the British, indeed, General Maxwell the Commander of the British forces in Ireland, issued a statement following the rebellion, in which “in particular” he praised the gallantry shown by those nurses who exposed themselves to heavy fire in attending to and moving the wounded. One nurse, in particular, Nurse Margaret Keogh, paid the ultimate price for caring for her patients. Nurse Keogh worked in the Infirmary at the South Dublin Union, now the site of St James Hospital. While there are different interpretations of what happened in relation to Nurse Keogh’s death which has become blurred in the history, it is clear that she was shot by a British soldier while she was in her nurse’s uniform evacuating patients.
Subsequent to her death a plaque was erected in her memory at St Kevin’s Hospital (formerly the South Dublin Union and now part of St James Hospital) in 1965. As the plaque was being unveiled, Nurse Keogh’s death was cited as an exemplar for nurses everywhere with, the hospital matron remarking that Keogh had sacrificed her life for patients’ wellbeing. Despite the eulogies the plaque subsequently was lost. It is believed that it was lost during the renovation of St James Hospital site. The other nurse who played a prominent role in the history of 1916 was Nurse O’Farrell who carried Padraig Pearse’s letter of surrender which ended the hostilities in 1916. A plaque commemorating Nurse O’Farrell is still to be found in Dublin’s City Quay where Nurse O’Farrell was born. However Nurse O’Farrell was “airbrushed” out of the famous photograph of the surrender. Despite this Nurse O’Farrell is being belatedly remembered for her role in the Rising.
To commemorate the 1916 Rising and the role of Nursing, the INMO is commissioning a specially written article for
Margaret Keogh. “Photo kind courtesy of Ray Bateson”.
the occasion. In addition a special address will be given at the Annual Delegate conference in May 2016 on The Role of Nursing in the Rising. The INMO also intends to mark the ultimate sacrifice of Nurse Keogh in an appropriate manner. There is no doubt that during the rebellion with over 450 fatalities and 2,600 casualties during that terrible week, that doctors and nurses throughout every hospital and infirmary in Dublin gave undaunted care and attention to patients irrespective of what side of the conflict injured and dying came from. Nurses and other health professionals continued to work during Easter 1916 week under horrendous conditions. The sacrifices and examples of these people should not be forgotten as the Irish State and its citizens commemorate the first centenary of the 1916 Rising.
www.inmo.ie
Dublin Rising 1916-2016 is an interactive tour of Dublin, narrated by actor Colin Farrell
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD, were at Google for the launch of Dublin Rising 1916-2016, an interactive Google Street View tour, narrated by actor Colin Farrell, which lets visitors virtually explore the city streets, events and people who shaped history 100 years ago. The tour was developed by Google in partnership with Ireland 2016, with expert advice from a dedicated team of archivists and historians, and resources from some of our National Cultural Institutions, museums and academic institutions. The virtual tour and exhibitions will allow millions of people around the world to share in Ireland’s 2016 commemorations and learn more about the 1916 uprising right from their phone, tablet or computer.
Throughout the tour, visitors will stop at city centre locations as they are today, hear what happened there and click to explore photos, videos, stories and witness statements from the Dublin of 1916. As a person stands looking at the GPO of today, for example, they’ll see the GPO as it was 100 years ago, destroyed by shell fire. They’ll hear witness statements from rebels who fought there and hear stories of all the people involved. All artefacts in the tour have
been curated by the National Library, Military Archives, Glasnevin Cemetery Museum, the Abbey Theatre, the Royal Irish Academy, and Trinity College Dublin Library alongside Century Ireland.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny paid tribute to Google for its involvement and said the specially created street view tour would serve as an invaluable resource in helping people to gain a greater understanding of the events of 2016.
“2016 is an important year that allows us to explore and understand the events not only of 1916, but the subsequent events that led to the establishment of our independent state. In acknowledging our past, we are creating stronger foundations for a more vibrant and shared future,” he said.
I want to congratulate Google, Ireland 2016 and the cultural partners who have come together to create this unique online experience. They are enabling all the people of Ireland, the diaspora and others around the world to commemorate, learn about and explore the events of 1916 and the 100 years since then and to celebrate the country we are today.”
The Google Cultural Institute, which partners with hundreds of museums, art galleries and archives around the
world, aims to make important cultural material available and accessible to everyone, and to digitally preserve this material in order to educate and inspire future generations.
Most of the artefacts featured in the tour will also be available for anyone to explore in virtual exhibitions on Google’s Cultural Institute. The exhibitions will tell the stories of the people who were involved, from the women rebels of Cumann na mBan, to the messengers who carried information around the city; from members of the British forces in Ireland, to the leaders of the Rising.
Ronan Harris, VP and Head of Google Ireland said that Google is about giving everyone access to the best information, culture and experiences through technology and this tour gives people a way to peel back the layers of history and experience what life was like 100 years ago in Ireland.
“2016 is a significant year for Ireland, commemorating as it does the events of 1916 which subsequently led to the birth of the modern Ireland we are today. In commemoration, we have worked with a number of partners and historians to help people in Ireland and around the world, explore, learn and talk about the people, events, places and objects that shaped these defining events,” he said.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys TD., added: “The Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme has been a hugely collaborative effort, so I was delighted that we were able to team up with Google to produce this amazing interactive historical tour. Getting Colin Farrell on board was a huge boost to the project; his international star power will no doubt encourage people from right around the world to go online to check out one of the most important periods in Irish history in an exciting and interactive way. Making material from our Cultural Institutions available via Google’s Cultural Institute will also open up our history to a huge global audience. I would like to thank everyone at Google who provided their expertise to make this exciting project a reality.”
Colin Farrell, Actor, said: “Travelling and working all over the world means that I don’t get to go home to Ireland very often so anything I can do to get home, even virtually, is a blessing. Growing up in Dublin, the events of 1916 are a key part of our schooling and culture and I’m glad now that
GPO – this tour location features one of the only photographs taken inside the GPO during the Rising itself of Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army soldiers. [source Military Archives]
City Hall – A stark reminder of the bloodshed involved, and its aftermath for citizens and government workers, at this location you can view an image of a handbill issued by the Administration in Dublin Castle instructing people to report any dead bodies to the Chief Medical Officer. [source National Library of Ireland]
St. Stephen’s Green – watch a clip from British Pathé of cheering crowds at the release of Countess Markievicz from prison in 1917. Many participants and leaders who did not perish at the time of the Rising, went on to play a key role in the foundation of the state (e.g. Markievicz, WT Cosgrave, de Valera)
Moore Street – read a letter from Joseph Plunkett to his fiancée Grace Gifford, dated the “6th Day of the Irish Republic. About noon. Somewhere in Moore St.” In it he writes “Darling, Darling child I wish we were together. Love me always as I love you”. Joseph was given permission to marry Grace just before his execution at Kilmainham Gaol in May 1916 [source National Library of Ireland]
Kilmainham Gaol – read Thomas MacDonagh’s farewell letter to his wife Muriel Gifford MacDonagh. He writes “god help and sustain you, my love. But for your suffering, this would be all joy and glory. Goodbye”. He is so resolute even when facing death that he did the right thing. [source National Library of Ireland]
Location: Various - For the first time statements from witness to the Rising, courtesy of the Military Archives, have been brought to life by contemporary actors. These statements demonstrate so many parts and emotions of those who were there. The violence and brutality, “Volunteers were being shot down everywhere”; the grief which gripped so many in the aftermath, this statement is from Geraldine Dillon, sister of Joseph Plunkett, “he saw him standing in the rain below his window in the barrack square. He knew he was to be shot, and they gazed at each other for about half-an-hour before Joe was moved off”. Witness statements bring the Rising to life by sharing some of the lesser known more human moments. One witness recalls seeing “Padraig Pearse and James Connolly sitting on high stools in a little enclosure in the middle of the main hall drinking tea and eating sandwiches” in the GPO. And a claim that “some members of the unit were not taking their fair share of the risks at the barricades, that they preferred to remain with the Cumann na mBan in the kitchen rather than go out and risk their necks”.
[source Military Archives]
anyone around the world can learn more about it and see why it had such an impact on modern day Ireland just by picking up their phone or computer.”
Dublin Rising 1916-2016 Tour can be accessed at: https://dublinrising. withgoogle.com/welcome
Escorted Tour
Follow the ght for Irish Independence, with tours of Dublin, Galway and Cork, visits to Dan O’Hara’s Farm, Derrynane House, Kilmainham Gaol, Central Post Of ce, Cliffs of Moher, and Ring of Kerry. Departs Wednesdays, April to October 9 days, now from $1,595 – $1,967
Escorted Tour
Trace the struggle for Irish political freedom with tours of Dublin & Belfast, visits to Patrick Pearse Museum, Michael Collins Centre, Blarney Castle, Giant’s Causeway & Cabra Castle stay.
Departs Fridays, April to October 12 days, now from $1,980 – $2,466
Escorted Tour
Explore landmarks of both countries with tours of Edinburgh, Belfast, Derry and Galway, Isle of Skye, Giant’s Causeway, Cliffs of Moher, Knappogue Castle Banquet, Dingle Peninsula, and Blarney Castle.
2 departures per week, April to October 11 or 15 days, now from $1,994 – $3,500
In addition to the events planned as part of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, there are also a large number of community groups and other organisations planning to commemorate 1916 with their own initiatives. Attending the launch of the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme, Taoiseach Enda Kenny urged Irish people to “celebrate and have pride in Ireland’s independence, and to honour those who gave their lives so that the dream of self-determination could be a reality”.
Ireland 2016 is a year long programme of activity to commemorate the events of the 1916 Rising, to reflect on our achievements over the last 100 years and to look towards Ireland’s future.
The programme includes seven strands; State Ceremonial; Historical Reflection; An Teanga Bheo/The Living Language; Youth and Imagination; Cultural Expression; Community Participation; Global and Diaspora.
Among the highlights of the programme are a major exhibition of 1916 archival material at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks.
In addition, Proclamation Day, a special event will be held in all schools on March 15, 2016 and the National flag and a copy of the Proclamation will be delivered to every school in the country.
A series of conferences on 1916 will also be held in the countries universities while cultural events will be hosted around the world. These events will be co-ordinated through Ireland’s embassies and Culture Ireland and will include Irish cultural festivals in Washington and London.
Attending the launch of the Ireland 2016 commemoration programme, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Irish people should “celebrate and have pride in Ireland’s independence, and honour those who gave their lives so that the dream of self-determination could be a reality”.
He described the programme as a“once in a lifetime invitation” to the Irish public to participate in events surrounding the Rising commemoration.“There are some moments in history when a seed is sown and the old order changes forever. Easter 1916 was a moment when Irish nationalism joined forces with a revolutionary cultural and language movement to forge an irresistible campaign towards self-determination.
“Ireland 2016, as a year of reflection and engagement for everyone on this island, goes far beyond the formal marking of a key historical moment. It is a once-in-a-century invitation to people of all ages, at home and overseas, to shape and take part in a diverse range of historical, cultural and artistic activities, all designed to nurture reflection, commemoration, celebration and debate.”
The Taoiseach said that every nation has historic dates etched into its national consciousness and 1916 is the seminal date in ours. “Easter Week 1916 was one of those seminal weeks when the fault lines of history shifted and reshaped the political, social, cultural, and economic landscape of these islands,”he said.
“More importantly the events of that momentous week and its aftermath, and the inspiring Proclamation which underpins it, has shaped our view of ourselves and our nation, for the past century.
The Taoiseach also urged people to consider the extensive suffering and loss which occurred as a result of the rebellion.“From the actions of the brave few who took up arms during the Rising flowed our current independence and nationhood and while we can and should look back on the historic events of 1916 with a certain pride, we must also recognise the suffering, pain and destruction that also occurred at that time.
“Marking the losses which are such a difficult legacy of the Rising is not something which can be done by one catch-all event or by a simple acknowledgement.”
The leaders of the rising are an inspiration for many, he said and we should take the opportunity reflect on their lives and on the impact which they made in shaping Ireland’s destiny.
”We should reflect for a moment on the lives of the executed 1916 leaders. They were a collection of strong willed, forward thinking individuals, some idealistic, some pragmatic, some poetic, some imaginative, some perhaps not Irish by birthright– an accurate description of modern Irish society today.
“In the past decade alone, we have continued to shape our country’s history with events such as the Queen’s Visit, and the reciprocal visit of the President to the UK, the devolution of policing and justice in Northern Ireland. Our capacity to evolve, to grow and to adapt is what defines us and what ensures our continued success.
“The central elements of the Easter weekend and the centenary itself are the focal points of our commemoration programme. But we need 2016 to be much more than that. 2016 can be a year when we Remember our shared history on these islands, Reflect on our achievements and our failings, Re-imagine our future.
“All three – Remember, Reflect and Re-imagine – can perhaps best be achieved through the creativity and imagination of our people, in particular our young people.
“Ireland has evolved much in the past 100 years. The next century will have more to offer. We are a tenacious people with a remarkable capacity for endurance and self belief in the face of adversity.
“As a nation we should move forward together secure in the confidence of commemorating the Easter Rising 1916 as an ancient European people, with a culture, language and tradition that we are proud of. It is a pivotal moment in our history that demands appropriate commemoration – but also an opportunity to think deeply about our future.”
n A major exhibition of 1916 archival materials at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks
n PLDay’, which will be held in all schools on March 15th, 2016
n The National Flag and a copy of the Proclamation will be delivered to every school in the country
n A series of State commemorative events, including a parade from Dublin Castle to Parnell Square on Easter Sunday 2016
and a special State reception for relatives
n 7 new public projects at the GPO, Kilmainhan Gaol, Pearse’’s Cottage, the Military Archives and other sites
n A multi-location public event, to be broadcast on television on Easter Monday 2016, telling the story of Ireland, through music, dance, drama and song
n A series of conferences on 1916 through our universities
n Cultural events around the globe, to be coordinated through out embassies, including Irish culture festivals in Washington and London
As a decade of great change in our history, the County Roscommon Ireland 2016 programme reflects the many separate narratives at work on both the national and local stage. Campaigns for social reforms, the suffrage movement and military conflict went hand in hand with political events of the time.
We have developed and compiled a strong comprehensive programme for Ireland 2016, addressing each of the seven national programme strands. The approach is to ensure that the history of the period, historical figures, the arts, literature, music, theatre, exhibitions, heritage, educational, young people’s involvement and local events are all represented to produce a commemorative programme next year that will leave a lasting impression.
The opening of the Civic Offices in the centenary year of the Rising represents a new chapter in both the development of local government in County Roscommon and as a symbolic venue and location for events associated with the Ireland 2016
programme next year.
Roscommon County Council, therefore, is very pleased to be in a position to support this programme and all our cultural services provisions, across our corporate, libraries, arts, heritage, community and tourism are playing a key role in the programme coordination and delivery.
The programme has been developed out of a comprehensive community participation and engagement process and we acknowledge the support and contribution to all those who have responded to the programme and arranged events next year.
2016 is a year that belongs to everyone and with over 60 events and with echoes of the language of the Proclamation itself in terms of ownership and how events are commemorated , it is at its very core a “peoples programme”
Richie Farrell, County Librarian Roscommon Ireland 2016 Coordinator,
Further Information on: www.roscommoncoco.ie Email; ireland2016@roscommoncoco.ie
Commemorative Coins
01/01/16 – 31/12/16
For the Centenary Celebration of the Easter Rising and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, the Central Bank of Ireland has issued a commemorative €2 coin into circulation. This is the first coin to be issued to mark an event in Irish history.
Sir Roger Casement: A Revolutionary Journey
01/01/16 – 31/12/16
A major exhibition charting Casement’s path from servant to Irish nationalist, eventually leading to the gallows in Pentonville Prison in Kerry County Museum.
Recent Archaeological Discoveries: Lunchtime Talks Series
01/01/16 – 31/12/16
A series of monthly talks on archaeological discoveries relating to the years between 1913 and 1923.
Walking Tour: 1916 Art Trail
01/01/16 – 31/12/16
The 1916 Art Trail, available throughout the year to visitors to Crawford Gallery, will highlight works on display at the Crawford that are relevant to the period surrounding the 1916 Rising.
Reading the Rising
01/01/16 – 31/12/16
A Clare County Library book promotion about the Rising.
of lectures
01/09/15 - 31/05/16
South Kilkenny Historical Society, an active local heritage group, have arranged a series of lectures commencing in September 2015, and using a debate format to encourage and provoke thoughtful engagement around the issues of the past, whilst also looking to the future and the legacy of the Rising.
Exhibition
4/02/16 – 31/10/16
Travel back in time to Easter 1916, through the National Library’s rich photographic collections.
in the 1916 Rising
08/03/16
Commemoration event to highlight the significant role played by women in the 1916 Rising.
Remembering the Leaders
18/01/16 – 29/04/16
Remembering the Leaders is a graphic and photo exhibition created by Ballyfermot Youth Service with a focus on all the leaders
Captain Peter Kelleher from the 27th Infantry Battalion, reading the Proclamation at the GPO, on O’Connell Street, as part of the 1916 Easter Rising centenary commemorations in Dublin.
of 1916, not just the signatories of the Proclamation in Ballyfermot Library.
Citizens in Conflict:
Dublin Easter 1916
13/01/16 – 30/06/16
An exhibition in Dublin Library and Archive on the 1916 Rising in Dublin city.
A Country is Born: A Cartoon History of the Easter Rising
28/01/16 – 24/04/16
Irish artist Fergal McCarthy has produced a unique kind of tribute to the heroes of the Rising with a nod to the humdrum - and hilarious - in 60 large-scale illustrations currently exhibiting at the Little Museum of Dublin until the end of April.
Reviewing the Rising: Workshop on Historical Sources
20/02/16 – 10/03/16
A series of hands-on workshops with historian Cecelia Hartsell looking at the range of primary sources for the 1916 Rising.
24/02/16 – 09/03/16
Near Fm and the Northside Community Law Centre in association with Coolock Library are delighted to present a three
Cumann Lucht Bainistíochta Contae agus Cathrach County and City Management Association
part series about women and social justice in 1916.
01/03/16 – 01/12/16
A joint exhibition with L.I.T and Tipperary County Museum.
Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising
From 03/03/16
The National Museum of Ireland will open a major new exhibition to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising.
My story of 1916
11/03/16
Members of Irish Conversation Groups which meet in Dublin City Libraries and ‘Gaeilgeoirí eile’ are invited to tell their own stories of 1916. Followed by a presentation of images from the Dublin & Irish collections.
Statues and Sculptures of Dublin
12/03/16
Statues and Sculptures of Dublin is a walking tour with Neal Doherty.
Traditional Music from the O’Neill Collections, 1910-1920
16/03/16
Jack Talty and Cormac Begley play a collection of Irish traditional material from the period 1910-1921 in NUI Galway.
17/03/16
Organized by Kilrush Chamber of Commerce, this year’s parade has adopted “1916-2016 a hundred years of achievement” as their theme.
18/03/16 – 20/03/16
A new play by Noel Kelly in the Stagemad Theatre Company, directed by James Power as part of Waterford’s 1916 Centenary Programme.
Commemorative Society
18/03/16 – 19/03/16
The National Irish Volunteers Commemorative Society will host a two day exhibition in Tullamore showing artefacts and telling the story of the Irish Volunteers.
Freedom, Love and Loss
23/03/16 – 24/03/16
Young actors will perform the literary works of Joseph Mary Plunkett, Thomas MacDonagh, Pádraig Pearse and others, with music and songs of the period.
Easter Sunday Wreathlaying Ceremony, Glasnevin Cemetery
27/03/16
On Easter Sunday morning there will be a three-part wreath-laying ceremony in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Easter Sunday Commemorative Walk
27/03/16
A commemorative walk from the graveyard ‘Republican Plot’ to the Loughnane Forge. Waterford 1916 Reenactment Project
27/03/16
A uniformed re-enactment by the Waterford City 1916 Re-enactment Group of the reading of the proclamation in The Square, Portlaw.
Easter Sunday Commemoration Ceremony and Parade at the GPO
27/03/16
The principal Easter Sunday State Commemoration Ceremony and Parade to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising. A reading of the 1916 Proclamation and a parade will take place on Easter Sunday.
RTÉ 1916: Reflecting the Rising
28/03/16
1916: Reflecting the Rising is a large-scale multi-locational public event all around Dublin City.
Synchronised WreathLaying Ceremonies
28/03/16
Synchronised wreath-laying ceremonies will be held at 1.15pm – the time that the first shots of the 1916 Rising were fired - at
strategic points around Dublin and other key regional areas, starting at Dublin Castle.
Centenary: Broadcast Event at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
28/03/16
This is a major, part-live-part-recorded, multi-location television event, telling stories of Ireland through multiple art forms. In association with RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
Kilmainham Courthouse
30/03/16
There will be an official opening of the visitor amenities at Kilmainham Courthouse.
Easter 1916 - 2016: 18th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement
10/04/16
A commemorative event will take place to mark the journey of reconciliation from Easter 1916 to Easter 2016, noting the importance of the Good Friday Agreement.
1916 Remembered in Songs and Story
23/04/16
A production by Burncourt Drama Group presenting the literature of the Rising in tandem with the songs of the time.
The 1916 Rising in Song and Story
24/04/16
The performance will explore the lives of the men, women and children of the 1916 Rising through music, song, poetry and dance.
Roger Casement and Clan na
leader John
in USA, 1914
01/05/16 – 31/05/16
A major diaspora-focused Gala Event will be held in Dublin and screened live in a number of locations around the world. Where live screenings are not possible special screenings of the gala event or the documentary will be arranged by Ireland’s Embassy Network for local diaspora groups.
01/05/16
Commemorative Ball by Irish Midland Youth Orchestra and Mullingar Town Band.
The Éamonn Ceannt Symposium
08/05/16
This will take place on the centenary of the death of Éamonn Ceannt in his birthplace of Ballymoe, County Galway.
‘Good Evening Mr Collins’ by Tom McIntyre
10/05/16 – 21/05/16
Good Evening Mr Collins’ is a light-hearted yet truthful look at the life of a young man who lived in very dark times. Through music, comedy, drama and movement, it traces his adventures over the six years from 1916 to his death at Beal na mBlath in 1922.
Dawn to Dusk: Seán Mac Diarmada Commemorative Vigil
11/05/16
At 11.45pm on the 11th of May 2016, an open air vigil will be held at the Seán Mac Diarmada Monument, in Kiltyclogher, to mark the 100th anniversary of his execution in Kilmainham Gaol.
20/05/16 – 22/05/16
An innovative event which will bring together speakers from international, national and local backgrounds to engage in “conversational dialogue” with attending audiences who wish to discuss, debate and examine the content of the The Proclamation.
Farming and Country Life 1916-2016
06/06/16 – 07/06/16
This event will demonstrate changes in farming and country life from 1916 to 2016.
Walking in the Footsteps of History
09/06/16
This event remembers the old pathway that Seán Mac Diarmada walked on his way to the former Corracloona National School where he was educated.
The Larkin Family and the Revolution
09/06/16
Night-time public seminar in the Mechanics Institute, Galway.
10/06/16 – 11/06/16
Ravelóid is an exciting new music and culture festival taking place from the 10th –11th June 2016 at Ardgillan Castle, Dublin.
Ancestral Connections: Roots to the Rising 2016
26/06/16 – 02/07/16
UCC Irish Genealogy summer school.
03/07/16
A production, written by Pauline Flood, on the events of the Rising and the Longford connection, incorporating drama and music in Edgeworthstown.
Edgeworthstow: Easter Rising Re-enactment
03/07/16
The Edgeworthstown Development Group and volunteers will re-enact key elements of the Rising on The Green, making this period of history come to life for a modern audience.
Irish and English Folk
14/07/16 – 17/07/16
The Regional Cultural Centre and Earagail Arts Festival are organising ‘Irish & English Folk’, a 1916 Centenary Project exploring the relationship between Ireland and England through folk song and music.
Summer Sing!
18/07/16 – 22/07/16
A week-long children’s singing festival in Cork City Hall and Triskel Christchurch which facilitates 360 children to experience the rich history and culture of Cork City while nurturing their natural singing ability.
21/07/16 – 31/07/16
See ProdiJIG, a dance extravaganza with themes of freedom and revolution at its core at the Cork Opera House. It is a story about a rebellious group of dancers and their incredible journey.
– Taking the Air
26/07/16 – 31/07/16
A site specific performance in the grounds and house of the Pearse Museum, Rathfarnham exploring PH Pearse’s radical education experiment at St. Enda’s School one hundred years ago.
Inis Cathaigh Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann
31/07/16
Inis Cathaigh Comhaltas Ceoltoirí Eireann, Kilrush, present an evening of west Clare music, song and dance.
Historical tour of Republican Leitrim
01/08/16 – 31/08/16
A guided coach tour of County Leitrim beginning in Ballinamore to sites of political interest of the era.
04/08/16
RTÉ broadcaster and historian Dr. Myles Dungan, accompanied by leading academics and entertainers will present a unique package of lectures, presentations and shows to Cavan Town to remember the Rising, 100 years on.
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme
06/08/16 – 24/09/16
On 1 July 1916, the 36th Ulster Division took part in one of the bloodiest battles in human history: the Battle of the Somme. One hundred years on, the Abbey Theatre presents a major new co-production of this iconic war play by Frank McGuinness.
01/01/16 – 31/08/16
‘1916 Freedom Tour’ is a unique experiential guided tour with supporting audio visual period footage of key locations of 1916 Dublin in our specially converted 1916 themed Truck.
Heritage Week 2016
20/08/16 – 28/08/16
Over 100 events will take place coordinated by the County Donegal Heritage Office in association with The Heritage Council.
Cork City Culture Night
01/09/16
Cork City Culture Night 2016 will host a series of commemorative themed events.
Before 1916: Robert Lynd and Visions of Ireland to Come
09/09/16
This day-long event will explore the work, life and influence of Robert Lynd (1879-1949).
Galway Culture Night 2016
16/09/16
Culture Night takes place on the third Friday in September from about 2pm to late into the night.
Children and Childhood in the Revolutionary Period
18/09/16 – 19/09/16
This NUIG conference will explore issues surrounding childhood, child welfare and the experiences of children during the period of the revolution in Ireland.
18/09/16
Culture Night 2016 will form a tapestry of remembrance, reflection and looking to the future in music, theatre, exhibitions, literature and film.
Fringe Festival
20/09/16 – 21/09/16
Ennis Fringe Festival 2016 will explore themes associated with 1916 through art, music and theatre.
Éamonn Ceannt Commemorative Garden
21/09/16
The Éamonn Ceannt Commemorative Garden will be dedicated to the memory of Éamonn Ceannt and will be developed by Galway County Council in partnership with the local Ballymoe Community.
The Educational Philosophy of Patrick Pearse
24/09/16
This is a Bilingual Conference in The Pearse Museum Rathfarnham organised by Conradh na Gaeilge. This history of Scoil Éanna and the educational philosophy of Patrick Pearse will be discussed at this conference.
President Michael D. Higgins attends the Easter Sunday Wreath-laying ceremony at the Breakers Yard in Kilmanham Gaol in Dublin, Ireland
07/10/16 – 08/10/16
This two-part conference at NUI Galway and UCD considers the place of the hidden voices of 1916 and beyond in national narratives and commemorative events.
Seminar: The Role of Women in 1916 with Specific Focus on Cumman na mBan
15/10/16
This seminar will be developed in partnership with local heritage groups in Ballinasloe Library.
Public Tour: Yeats Exhibition
1st Thursday of every month
Public tour of the award-winning exhibition Yeats: The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats in The National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Everyday life and death in Ireland in 1916
From 04/11/16
The voices of the ordinary man in the street are rarely recorded in history. In this lecture Dr. Caitríona Clear, UCG, proposes to put their side of life and death in 1916 before us.
17/11/16 – 31/01/17
Bringing the year to a close at the Crawford Art Gallery is an exhibition highlighting the Irish Arts and Crafts movement. The exhibition will have a thematic focus on the Celtic Revivalist desire to form an artistic style to match the spirit of the new nation.
1916-2016 Centenary Programme Conclusion
14/12/16
An event, hosted by the Cathaoirleach of the County of Galway and the Members of Galway County Council, will take place to mark the conclusion of the 1916-2016 Centenary Programme for the County of Galway.
Programme Conclusion at Áras an Uachtaráin
December 2016
An event hosted by the President at Áras an Uachtaráin will take place to mark the conclusion of the State Ceremonial Programme.
Commemorative Sculptures for Áras an Úachtaráin
A series of unique sculptures will be commissioned by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, for Áras an Uachtaráin.
Get hands-on with birds of prey and various animals in our supervised Touch-Zoo
Ireland’s largest Bird-ofprey Centre. The attraction for all the family. Get up close with Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, Vultures and Owls. Learn from the scientists about their biology during our fascinating and interactive shows. You have never been that close to Eagles…
John Concannon, one of the countries foremost marketeers and director of the Governments’ 2016 programme discusses the scale of the challenge in ensuring the planned commemorations are a fitting tribute to the 1916 Rising and he praises the co-operation and contribution of the public sector to the celebration plans.
When all the 1916 centenary ceremonies are over; the parades have stopped, the bands have gathered up their instruments and headed home, the marching soldiers returned to their barracks, John Concannon is likely to take a deep breath an relax a little – and few could blame him.
Since November 2014 the Galway man has been involved in a whirlwind of meetings, discussions and talks aimed at organising events to commemorate what happened on the streets of Dublin 100 years ago when band of rebels kick-started what turned out to be one of the most dramatic weeks in Irish history.
For almost two years now, Concannon – whose official title is Director of Programme for Ireland 2016 – has been engrossed with his task, knowing how important it is to mark the centenary with a sense of historical accuracy but also with a dash of panache. It’s about putting on a show but doing so in a measured, responsible way.
It is doubtful a day passes he does not think about some issue or other concerning Easter week when Irish history was so dramatically altered.
One of nature’s optimists Concannon (who has as one of his Twitter hashtags #optimisticIreland) feels that it’s time Ireland did celebrate what it has rather than what it has not – and he
believes there is much to be optimistic about.
The nation has come through some difficult years, he knows, but better times are ahead. Spring has emerged from the bleakness of winter.
Concannon - who is regarded as one of Ireland’s top marketing practitioners - has been particularly impressed with the way various aspects of the Irish public sector have worked together on the 1916 celebration plans.
It has been about collaboration; people putting their heads together for the good of the cause. A nation once again.
“There is no question, people around that period, 2009 to 2011 with business closures, debt, emigration and suicide – really hard things people have had to deal with, we are only coming through that now but we have a public service ethos we should be proud of, people are proud to work on behalf of the country.
“Yes, I have done a lot of marketing, but I bring here my own experience. I have worked on lots of projects. This is by far the most challenging I have worked on and equally the most energising and rewarding.”
To underline his assertion he points out how he had just come from a meeting involving representatives from the Army, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the OPW, the Gardaí, the
It is, he admits, a huge task full of challenges, and pitfalls, but one he is clearly enjoying. And it’s not just about organising a few marches and setting off a few fireworks; there’s a much bigger canvas to be filled in. It’s partly about getting to the nub of what 1916 and all that is about.
Department of the Taoiseach.
He pays tribute to all involved but particularly people such as Heather Humphrys, the out-going Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
“There is a great sense of ambition and everyone wants it to be great but to realize the ambition you have to have collaboration,” he adds.
He points out that from the commercial sector there have also been some very significant contributions also.
Google, he points out, stepped forward and looked to make a contribution with an re-creation of the streets of Dublin in 1916.
When it comes to knowing how to get the message out there about marking the events of 100 years ago, few are better qualified then Concannon.
He attended secondary school in the famed football academy of St Jarlath’s College, Tuam and studied commerce at NUI Galway. He went on to achieve a diploma in marketing and a masters in business studies.
He had spells with Unilever and Dubarry, filling such positions as marketing and brand-manager. There followed a spell as chief executive of Ireland West Tourism before it merged
with Fáilte Ireland.
He became Fáilte Ireland’s Director of Marketing Development in the summer of 2006 with one of his early triumphs the Discover Ireland programme. He was also involved in getting the very successful Atlantic Way tourism initiative up and running.
In 2011 he won a ‘marketer-of-the-year’ award. He also made it to the final two years later, along with his colleague, Jim Miley for their work on the highly successful ‘The Gathering’ project which had a budget of €13.5M.
A father of three children Concannon was seconded from his post with Fáilte Ireland to guide the Ireland 2016 programme.
It is, he admits, a huge task full of challenges, and pitfalls, but one he is clearly enjoying. And it’s not just about organising a few marches and setting off a few fireworks; there’s a much bigger canvas to be filled in. It’s partly about getting to the nub of what 1916 and all that is about.
“It’s a big creative challenge. If you look at the centenary, when you pair it all back, it is about identity,” he insists.
“People don’t talk about commemoration in the past tense. Actually the truth is commemoration is all about the present,
because we live in the present.”
For Concannon, despite his extensive marketing experience, taking on the task he did was a big stop into the unknown. In every sense it was a journey into unchartered territory.
“When we started out on the programme we said let’s look at the year and we decided on five themes – democracy, remembering the past, reconciliation, celebrating the idea of the Proclamation and the future.”
Well aware of the old saying that “success has many fathers” Concannon and his team set about getting the wide and varied views of many sections of society about 1916 and what it meant to them.
“We said okay this is a consultation programme. Let’s talk to people throughout the public sector, the media sector, the academic community, the diaspora, the cultural sector. We started to talk to a wide array of people. What do you think? How should we celebrate the centenary? How should we remember the past? We got a hugely, rich feedback from people.”
A huge amount of research was carried out as the hunt went on to get to the essence of what 1916 was really about.
When talking about his work surrounding the 1916 celebrations, Concannon speaks often of how this is an opportunity for the Irish people to “reflect” on how the country has developed over the past 100 years.
This is, he feel, a good time for the Irish to take time out from the hustle and bustle of modern life and think about where the country has gone – and is going; the developments in education, industry and agriculture, the sacrifices, the good times, the bad. Images, he knows, are important in achieving that aim.
“It is a point of reflection, a hundred years on. What do we focus on? Let’s use the Proclamation as a point of reference. A republic was a radical idea, we were part of a kingdom, and we sought equal rights, equal opportunity. A hundred years on we’ve just had the marriage referendum. At the time one half of the citizens in Dublin were living in filthy slums. The tenements. This is an opportunity to reflect,” he says.
Another word often used by Concannon in talking about his work
John Concannon, Director of the Governments’ 2016 programme
and that of his colleagues is “engagement” and the importance of Irish people, at home and abroad, being involved in the debate of what 1916 is about and what are the messages, the lessons that can be taken from what happened all those years ago.”
He sees the engagement process as a challenge and a key objective.
“This is an opportunity for reflection and re-imagining that we really have an opportunity to engage our citizens. The key metric we are trying to encourage is engagement. Can we reach people through television, events, ceremonies, talks?”
“It is a point of reflection, a hundred years on. What do we focus on? Let’s use the Proclamation as a point of reference. A republic was a radical idea, we were part of a kingdom, and we sought equal rights, equal opportunity. A hundred years on we’ve just had the marriage referendum.
At the time one half of the citizens in Dublin were living in filthy slums. The tenements. This is an opportunity to reflect.”
There are over 40 events planned as part of the Programme for Ireland 2016 series. Events such as an exhibition in the National Museum called ‘Proclaiming a Republic.’
It is described by Concannon as “the most expansive exhibition in the history of the world and it is free for everyone.”
Films, plays, shows, exhibitions, debates are all part of the mix. “We have events in Earlsfort Terrace, Merrion Square, O’Connell Street and St Stephen’s Green on Easter Monday alone! Over 400 talks and lectures will take place in venues. It is extraordinary,” he adds by way of demonstrating what is planned.
Concannon and his team also worked closely with local authorities around the country to organise events in each county. There was a huge response to the call for idea.
“There are now 2,000 events designed by the people. Every local authority has their own plan,” he adds.
The schools have not being left out. They are encouraged to celebrate the 15th March as ‘Proclamation Day,’ the first time such a day has been celebrated in the history of the state.
“Every educational institute has been asked to participate, to give part of the day to the centenary activities. That is ground-breaking. They can raise the flag at midday or sing the national anthem. Invite in parents and ask them to be part of it.”
The events to mark the centenary as schedule to extend to the end of the year and beyond.
Then John Concannon will have time to reflect on when he was an integral figure in organising events around one of the most momentous moments in Irish history.
Visit all of Dublin’s top historical attractions, and hear the story of the 1916 Easter Rising at Kilmainham Gaol, National Museum Collin’s Barracks, and the General Post Office on O’Connell Street.
• Entertaining live commentary from Dublin’s best tour guides
• 27 years in operation, providing quality tours since 1988
• Buses every 10-15 minutes from 9am
• Two Routes, the Original & Docklands Tour
• Fáilte Ireland Accredited Guides
1916 Easter Rising Tour
Tours depart from 59 Upper O’Connell Street. To book, visit dublinsightseeing.ie or call +353 1 7034679
The 19 year old Marion Stokes played a key role in the rising in Wexford. Jimmy Geoghegan talks to Felicity HayesMcCoy who has written a book on the Wexford rebel.
Towards the end of Easter Week 1916, when buildings in Dublin’s O’Connell Street burned brightly and blackened smoke billowed out of their broken windows, a group of rebels rose up in Enniscorthy,
It was, what turned out to be a brief insurrection by local insurgents, who wanted to play their part in bringing to an end to British rule in Ireland.
Receiving only patchy, snippets of news from the capital the Wexford rebels had delayed their uprising until the latter end of Easter week.
Among the rebels was Marion Stokes. She was from the area and was just 19 at the time – and her role in the short, dramatic uprising in the Wexford town inspired the book ‘A Woven Silence.’
It was written by Felicity Hayes-McCoy who she tells the story of the Rising in Wexford teasing out details of the dramatic series of events that only ended when the Enniscorthy rebels heard the rebellion in Dublin had been crushed.
With communications limited the Wexford rebels, mainly members of the local Irish Volunteers, were unsure what was
“All revolutions are first conceived in the imagination.”
going on in Dublin, from hour to hour.
For almost a week the rebels had brought Enniscorthy town to a halt and during the ‘occupation’ Marion Stokes (who as a member of Cumann na mBan) and others raised the tricolour, in a dramatic and highly significant gesture.
Felicity Hayes-McCoy was partly intrigued by the story because Marion Stokes turned out to be her grandmother’s first cousin – and the Wexford town was the only place, outside of Dublin, that the tricolour flew during the Rising.
“They rose in Ferns, they rose in Enniscorthy and the Irish Volunteers in Wexford town came towards Ferns and Enniscorthy to help out.
“They took over the town for four days, from Thursday
through to the following Sunday,” recalled Hayes-McCoy when she took time out to talk about her book.
“They made their garrison headquarters in the Athenaeum theatre in the town. They planned to take over Enniscorthy Castle and ultimately the RIC barracks.
“However the RIC barricaded themselves into their barracks. The rebels did take over the Castle but they were vulnerable because the barracks overlooked the Athenaeum site.
“Three of the Cumann na mBan women, one of whom was Marion raised the tricolour. Enniscorthy was the only place in Ireland, other than Dublin, the GPO, over which the tricolour flew during the Rising.”
Hayes-McCoy, who has strong family connections with Wexford, has taken what she knows about her distant relative’s role in those dramatic events of 1916 and used it as raw material for ‘A Woven Silence’ which is part family history, part Irish history.
The writer also explores the nature of Irish society and how it has changed over the decades – or in some cases not changed.
One of the themes explored is the “hidden silence” that resulted from the Rising; how people who were involved, just didn’t talk about what went on during those tumultuous days. The Irish state also had a role in promoting this silence.
Brought up in Clonskeagh, Dublin (her father was the famous historian GA Hayes-McCoy) Felicity has worked as a freelance writer all her life and spends her time between London and Dingle.
She is married to Englishman Wilf Judd an operatic director and among the books she has written include a memoir ‘The House on an Irish Hillside’ and ‘Enough is Plenty: A Year on the Dingle Peninsula.’
She tells how she went to Enniscorthy to give a talk at the town’s book festival and had become fascinated and intrigued by stories local people told her about Marion Stokes.
When Hayes-McCoy conducted some research she discovered that Stokes had been referenced by Wexford writer Colm Tóibín, the author of ‘Brooklyn’ the novel from which the recently-released film of the same name is based.
Tóibín had written an article in the New York Review
For years the role of women in the Rising was lost among the more dramatic episodes such as the bombings, shootings and undoubted acts of heroism of the front-line participants such as Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and the rest.
of Books partly about Marion Stokes and what she had experienced in 1916.
“Colm Tóibín had at the beginning of the article the wonderful line: ‘She was a very unlikely looking terrorist.’”
“He was writing about the fact that when he was a child in 1966, the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising, he had watched at home, with his family on television, Hugh Leonard’s ‘Insurrection’ series, the 1966 version of ‘Rebellion.’
“He had watched it in Enniscorhty, he’s an Enniscorthy man, and it went out every night during Easter week. Marion, who lived nearby and had no TV, walked across the hill and sat in the Tóibín’s front room – and he had no idea that she was watching the story of her own life,” she added.
“My mother knew that Marion had been out in 1916, my father knew that Marion had been out in 1916 but they said nothing. Tóibín’s family said nothing, my family said nothing.”
Interwoven into narrative of ‘A Woven Silence’ is the assertion that the Easter Rising also acted as means by which Irish women could express their own independence; that in a way the Rising allowed them strive for their own efforts to be free and fully self expressed.
She points out that for years the role of women in the Rising was lost among the more dramatic episodes such as the bombings, shootings and undoubted acts of heroism of the front-line participants such as Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and the rest.
“I write in the book about what I was thought going to school, how one was thought about Countess Markievicz, Kathleen Clarke, Hanna Sheehy Skeffington purely in terms of the fact that they were related to the men who were signatories of the Proclamation.
“Nobody told me that Kathleen Clarke had a long political career, that Hannah Sheehy Skeffington had a long feminist career thereafter. Nobody told me about Nora Connolly.
“We were not thought any of that and one of the things that I do in the book is tease out, hopefully without any sense of blame, why that was.
“I write that the fight for independence for Irish women was fought and won in 1916 in the sense that they went out and fought for it and it was also the beginning of the establishment of the State.”
Despite the prominent role of women in the Rising, Felicity Hayes-McCoy goes on to assert that 100 years later Irish women are not “fully equal to Irish men in terms of how they are viewed by the State.”
To back up this argument she points to article 41.2 of the constitution that states: “By her life within the home, a woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.”
Enniscorthy was the only place, outside of Dublin, that the tricolour flew during the Rising.
‘A Woven Silence’ examines Irish society up to the same sex marriage referendum. The author puts forward the view that while there was a great fanfare when the same sex referendum was passed a few days later an Amnesty International report asserted that the constitution of Ireland continues to breach female human rights.
Felicity Hayes-McCoy points out that the Rising was in another sense the physical expression of a concept or ideal that creative people such as artists and writers had helped create.
She expresses the view that the Rising was a revolution, which was – “as all revolutions are”- first conceived in the imagination; particularly in a country’s literature such as its poetry.
She also poses the question: What do we know of the aspirations and values of the men of 1916? What kind of country were they seeking to create?
We cannot pinpoint to any real extent what it was we were fighting for, other than equality and independence and what those two things mean are still debatable.”
She believes that the feats of the Irish rebels in 1916 should be remembered and celebrated but that everyone’s views of what the Rising means to them should also be respected.
“I would argue the most important thing of all is that we should be clear-minded and make the distinction between pageantry and emotive forms of communications and a rational, kind understanding of each other’s situations.”
A Chartered Surveyor should be top of your checklist for the highest standards of quality and professionalism:
Qualified professionals with expert market knowledge;
Regulated professionals committed to ongoing training and education;
Strict codes of professional and ethical conduct.
Cuirfidh TG4 rogha fhairsing leitheadach ábhair ar fáil don Chomóradh, idir sheoda cartlainne agus shaothair nua-léirithe. Sa gclúdach cuimsitheach seo, ríomhfar cúiseanna, cúlra agus imeachtaí na Réabhlóide féin, tráchtfar ar na príomhaithe a ghlac páirt (nó nár ghlac) agus féachfar le cur le do thuiscint ar scéal casta na linne sin agus ar an oidhreacht a fágadh againne.
A tale as wide-reaching, complex and nuanced as the Easter Rising of 1916 will continue to defy even the best attempts to draft or promulgate an agreed narrative. TG4 relishes the challenge of trying to capture the essence of the Rising and what followed as we continue to marvel at the many layers involved and trace their impact on what followed in the following century. Our output has been selected to span the genres – from documentary, through music, drama, arts programming as well as news and current affairs.
Tá Cartlann TG4 lán cheana féin le scoth na gclár ar an téama seo, saothair atá léirithe dúinn agus craolta againn sna fiche bliain ó bunaíodh an cainéal. Ó thús 2016, tá tráth craolta ar leith (gach tráthnóna Céadaoin 7.30pm) curtha ar fáil againn i gclársceideal TG4 mar ardán speisialta do chláir a dhíríonn ar an Éirí Amach féin. Is sa tráth seo a fheicfear an chuid is fearr agus is ábharaí de na cláir fhaisnéise faoi na ceannairí a cuireadh chun báis an dá shraith 1916 Seachtar na Cásca agus 1916 Seachtar Dearmadta.
TG4’s has a well-established reputation for its treatment of Irish historical topics and will make its own distinctive contribution to the 1916 Commemoration. We will broadcast a combination of award-winning archive series as well as premiering first-run especially commissioned new content. The output will be broadcast in a dedicated Wednesday evening prime-time slot (7.30pm) will concentrate on the
Rising itself and its personalities as it tries to unravel the history Easter Week.
Ach ní ar imeachtaí Sheachtain na Cásca amháin ná ar an stair pholaitiúil a lean astu a bheidh TG4 ag díriú sa gComóradh. Rianfar freisin, i dtráth speisialta craolta, gach Máirt 7.30pm, oidhreacht na Réabhlóide sin ar bhreith agus ar fhorbairt an náisiúin, go háirithe sna blianta corracha a lean díreach ina diaidh. San áireamh sa raon leathan clár a fheicfear anseo, beidh stair CLG,
cláir faoi mhór-phearsain liteartha agus ealaíne agus go leor eile.
For 2016 TG4 is also dedicating another prime time slot on Tuesday nights 7.30pm to a series of major documentaries and drama documentaries will focus on some of the major events/ controversies that accompanied the birth or the nation – the Civil War, the Shannon Scheme, the history of the GAA as well as profiling the major figures of public and artistic life over the past century.
Deir an seanfhocal linn go mbíonn “trí insint ar scéal agus seacht gcasadh ar amhrán” agus is é a shamhail sin ag an Éírí Amach é. Tá spás ar fáil do gach insint ar TG4. Tá cúpla úrnua coimisiúnaithe ag TG4 ar théama an Éirí Amach – i gcomhthéacs agus tri shúil an lae inniu. Eirí Amach Amú is teideal do shraith amháin, ina bhfuil ábhar den ghreann agus den am-thaisteal i gceist agus triúr fear ónár linn féin ar suim leo stair an Éirí Amach ag dul siar san am go lár na príomh-chathrach go Luan Cásca 1916.
In addition to that time-travel drama series, Eipic is the title of a 1916-themed new musical drama series set in contemporary Ireland that TG4 has commissioned to mark the centenary. It is a fable of sorts, set in our own time as a bunch of youngsters with ambitions for musical fame, take over their local (closed down) Post Office in a bid to make their mark and draw attention to the neglect of the authorities and a lack of interest in their well-being.
Beidh rogha fhairsing agus raon leathan ábhair, idir nua-léirithe agus sheoda cartlainne ar fáil ar TG4 agus iad ar fad ar fáil ag an am rialta céanna inár gclársceideal craolta. Silfear deora, bainfear gáire asat uaireanta, spréachfar thú freisin, b’fhéidir agus cá bhfios nach spreagfaí chun machnaimh nó staidéir thú chomh maith. Is í an tsúil eile an tsúil is fearr. Féach, Fiosraigh agus Foghlaim.
Pádhraic Ó Ciardha, Leascheannasaí TG4
A captivating theatrical experience inspired by the author’s childhood conversations with his Grandfather, Irish Volunteer Mick Smith, veteran of 1916 and the War of Independence.
“It was the ancient spirit of the Irish that gave 1,600 rebels the courage to stand against 20,000 British soldiers. Never forget our ancient spirit... that’s what cracked the British Empire.” (Mick Smith 1967)
VISIT OUR 17,000 SQ FT PREMISES AND EXPERIENCE 9,000 YEARS OF IRISH CULTURAL TRIUMPHS, FEEL THEIR DEFIANCE AS THEY FIGHT AGAINST ANNIHILATION AND IN 1916 WATCH THEM RISE UP FROM THEIR CULTURAL ASHES
More than 90 people were sentenced to death for their part in the Easter Rising. Sixteen of them were executed between 3 May and 12 May 1916. Public opinion then started to swing against the executions and the British revised their approach. They commuted the death sentences of the remaining leaders and imposed prison sentences instead.
However, it was too late. The public remained outraged at the sixteen executions and there was a wave of sympathy for the rebels that quickly hardened into support for Irish independence. In 1918, Sinn Fein won most of Irish parliamentary seats and confirmed the fact that Ireland was no longer content with home rule and the majority of Irish citizens now wanted complete independence from British rule.
Born in Galway in 1881, prior to the Rising Ceannt was an employee of the Dublin Corporation. He was a co-founder of the Irish Volunteers, partaking in the successful Howth gun-running operation of 1914. His involvement in republican activities was complemented by his interest in Irish culture, specifically Irish language and history, although he was also an accomplished uileann piper.As the commander of the Fourth Battalion of Irish Volunteers during the Rising, he took possession of the South Dublin Union, precursor to the modern-day St. James’s Hospital. He was executed on 8 May 1916.
Born on the Isle of Wight in 1857, Clarke’s father was a soldier in the British army.
During his time in America as a young man, he joined Clann na nGael, later enduring fifteen years of penal servitude for his role in a bombing campaign in London, 1883-1898. In 1907, having returned from a second sojourn in America, his links with Clan na nGael in America copper-fastened his importance to the revolutionary movement in Ireland. He held the post of Treasurer to the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and was a member of the Supreme Council from 1915. The first signatory of the Proclamation of Independence through deference to his seniority, Clarke was with the group that occupied the G. P. O. He was executed on 3 May 1916.
Born in Edinburgh in 1868, Connolly was first introduced to Ireland as a member of the British Army. Despite returning to Scotland, the strong Irish presence in Edinburgh stimulated Connolly’s growing interest in Irish politics in the mid 1890s, leading to his emigration to Dublin in 1896 where he founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party. He spent much of the first decade of the twentieth century in America, he returned to Ireland to campaign for worker’s rights with James Larkin. A firm believer in the perils of sectarian division, Connolly campaigned
tirelessly against religious bigotry. In 1913, Connolly was one of the founders of the Irish Citizen Army. During the Easter Rising he was appointed CommandantGeneral of the Dublin forces, leading the group that occupied the General Post Office. Unable to stand to during his execution due to wounds received during the Rising, Connolly was executed while sitting down on 12 May 1916. He was the last of the leaders to be executed.
Born in 1884 in Leitrim, MacDiarmada emigrated to Glasgow in 1900, and from there to Belfast in 1902. A member of the Gaelic League, he was acquainted with Bulmer Hobson. He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1906 while still in Belfast, later transferring to Dublin in 1908 where he assumed managerial responsibility for the I. R. B. newspaper Irish Freedom in 1910. Although MacDiarmada was afflicted with polio in 1912, he was appointed as a member of the provisional committee of Irish Volunteers from 1913, and was subsequently drafted onto the military committee of the I. R. B. in 1915. During the Rising MacDiarmada served in the G. P. O. He was executed on 12 May 1916.
Thomas MacDonagh
A native of Tipperary, born in 1878, MacDonagh spent the early part of his career as a teacher. He moved to Dublin to study, and was the first teacher on the staff at St. Enda’s, the school he helped to found with Patrick Pearse. MacDonagh was well versed in literature, his enthusiasm and erudition earning him a position in the English department at University College Dublin. His play When the Dawn is Come was produced at the Abbey theatre. He was appointed director of training for the Irish Volunteers in 1914, later joining the I. R. B. MacDonagh was appointed to the I. R. B. military committee in 1916. He was commander of the Second Battalion of Volunteers that occupied Jacob’s biscuit factory and surrounding houses during the Rising. He was executed on 3 May 1916.
Pearse was born in Dublin in 1879, becoming interested in Irish cultural matters in his teenage years. In 1898 Pearse became a member of the Executive Commmittee of the Gaelic League. He graduated from the Royal University in 1901 with a degree in Arts and Law. Pearse’s literary output was constant, and he published extensively in both Irish and English, becoming the editor of An Claidheamh Soluis, the newspaper of the Gaelic League. He was a keen believer in
the value of education, and established two schools, Coláiste Éanna and Coláiste Íde, devoted to the education of Irish children through the Irish language. One of the founder members of the Irish Volunteers, and the author of the Proclamation of Independence, Pearse was present in the G. P. O. during the Rising, and was Commander in Chief of the Irish forces. He was executed on 3 May 1916.
Born 1887 in Dublin, son of a papal count, Plunkett was initially educated in England, though he returned to Ireland and graduated from U. C. D. in 1909. After his graduation Plunkett spent two years travelling due to ill health, returning to Dublin in 1911. Plunkett shared MacDonagh’s enthusiasm for literature and was an editor of the Irish Review. Along with MacDonagh and Edward Martyn, he helped to establish an Irish national theatre. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913, subsequently gaining membership of the I. R. B. in 1914. Plunkett travelled to Germany to meet Roger Casement in 1915. During the planning of the Rising, Plunkett was appointed Director of Military Operations, with overall responsibility for military strategy. Plunkett was one of those who were stationed in the G. P. O. during the Rising. He married Grace Gifford while in Kilmainham Gaol following the surrender and was executed on 4 May 1916.
Born in 1864 in Dublin, Casement was knighted for his services to the British consulate. He campaigned tirelessly to expose the cruelty inflicted on native workers in the Belgian Congo in 1904, and again in Brazil from 1911-1912, causing an international sensation with his reportage. Casement had become a member of the Gaelic League in 1904, beginning at that time to write nationalist articles under the pseudonym ‘Seán Bhean Bhocht’. He retired from the British consular service in 1913, after which he joined the Irish Volunteers. Casement was despatched to Germany on account of his experience to raise an Irish Brigade from Irish prisoners of war. He was captured in Kerry in 1916 on Good Friday having returned to Ireland in a German U-Boat. Casement was imprisoned in Pentonville Gaol in London, where he was tried on charges of High Treason. He was hanged on 3 August 1916, the only leader of the Rising to be executed outside of Ireland.
Born in 1888, Colbert was a native of Limerick. Prior to the Easter Rising he had been an active member of the republican movement, joining both Fianna Éireann and the Irish Volunteers. A dedicated pioneer, Colbert was known not to drink or smoke. As the captain of F Company of the Fourth Battalion, Colbert was in command at the Marrowbone Lane distillery when it was surrendered on Sunday, 30 April 1916. His execution took place on 8 May 1916.
Edward Daly
Born in Limerick in 1891, Daly’s family had a history of republican activity; his uncle John Daly had taken part in the rebellion of 1867. Edward Daly led the First Battalion during the Rising, which raided the Bridewell and Linenhall Barracks, eventually seizing control of the Four Courts. A close friend of Tom Clarke, their ties were made even stronger by the marriage of Clarke to Daly’s sister. Daly was executed on 4 May 1916.
Seán Heuston
brother Richard was fatally wounded. It had been his intention to travel to Dublin to participate in the Rising, but when the mobilisation order for the Irish Volunteers was cancelled on Easter Sunday he assumed that the Rising had been postponed, leading him to stay at home. He was executed at Cork Detention Barracks on 9 May 1916 following a court martial. In 1966 the railway station in Cork was renamed Kent Station in his honour.
Born in Mayo in 1865.
Born in 1891, he was responsible for the organisation of Fianna Éireann in Limerick. Along with Con Colbert, Heuston was involved in the education of the schoolboys at Scoil Éanna, organising drill and musketry exercises. A section of the First Battalion of the Volunteers, under the leadership of Heuston, occupied the Mendicity Institute on south of the Liffey, holding out there for two days. He was executed on 8 May 1916. Heuston Railway station in Dublin is named after him.
Thomas Kent
Born in 1865, Kent was arrested at his home in Castlelyons, Co. Cork following a raid by the Royal Irish Constabulary on 22 April 1916, during which his
Although he initially trained as a doctor, MacBride abandoned that profession in favour of work with a chemist. He travelled to America in 1896 to further the aims of the I. R. B., thereafter travelling to South Africa where he raised the Irish Transvaal Brigade during the Second Boer War. MacBride married the Irish nationalist Maude Gonne in 1903. He was not a member of the Irish Volunteers, but upon the beginning of the Rising he offered his services to Thomas MacDonagh, and was at Jacob’s biscuit factory when that post was surrendered on Sunday, 30 April 1916. He was executed on 5 May 1916.
Michael Mallin
A silk weaver by trade, Mallin was born in Dublin in 1874. Along with Countess Markievicz, he commanded a small contingent of the Irish Citizen Army, of which he was Chief of Staff, taking possession of St. Stephen’s Green and the Royal College of Surgeons. He was executed on 8 May 1916.
Michael O’Hanrahan
Born in Wexford in 1877. As a young man, O’Hanrahan showed great promise as a writer, becoming heavily involved in the promotion of the Irish language. He founded the first Carlow branch of the Gaelic League, and published two novels, A Swordsman of the Brigade and When the Norman Came. Like many of the other executed leaders, he joined the Irish Volunteers from their inception, and was second in command to Thomas MacDonagh at Jacob’s biscuit factory during the Rising, although this position was largely usurped by the arrival of John MacBride. His execution took place on 4 May 1916.
Born in 1881 in Dublin.
The younger brother of Patrick, William shared his brother’s passion for an independent Ireland. He assisted Patrick in running St. Enda’s. The two brothers were extremely close, and fought alongside each other in the G. P. O. William was executed on 4 May 1916. Pearse railway station on Westland Row in Dublin was re-named in honour of the two brothers in 1966.
100 years after New Ireland was conceived by freedom fighters at Frongach prison camp in Wales, New Ireland is trusted by over 500,000 policyholders for their pension, investment and life assurance needs.
Seen above: New Ireland’s Dawson Street Head Office has expanded significantly since it opened in 1964 and was then considered a striking structure of modern architecture. It has since been joined by a branch network across Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Sligo.
New Ireland will celebrate 100 years of serving the people of Ireland.
A company at the heart of Ireland for almost a century
New Ireland’s genesis lies in the national resurgence of the 1916 era, and subsequently, its roots are intrinsically nationalistic. From concept to establishment a number of notable names were involved in the early days, with Michael Collins and Eamonn De Valera playing a part. It was M.W. O’Reilly, who served as Aide De Camp to James Connolly in the 1916 Rising that took the helm and successfully oversaw the setting up in early 1918 of New Ireland Assurance as a “collecting society” a mutual business owned by its members.
The first company crest, today displayed on the impressive bronze doors in Dawson Street were designed by Sean Maxwell, the same person that designed the Garda Siochana
A key objective of this first and wholly owned Irish insurance company was to keep at home, for the benefit of the nation, the vast sums of money the Irish people were paying into insurance companies with large interests abroad. A core principle was that any income generated by the company would be used to invest solely in the Irish economy. The company would strive to play a role in strengthening and rehabilitating the social, economic and cultural resources of the people of Ireland. Funds were largely invested in industries where native Irish materials were used, (eg; saw mills, tanneries, food stuffs and Irish electrical companies) as well as
“The ‘Society’ began to be subject to unwelcome attention from the British military, perhaps not surprising given that not only were the offices the Headquarters of the New Ireland Assurance Collecting Society, it was also one of the unofficial Headquarters of Sinn Fein and the Volunteers.”
government and municipal stocks.
New Ireland’s early location was an unpretentious rented office at 56 Lower O’Connell Street / Bachelors Walk, known to many associated with the rising as Kelly’s Fort. Within a year the offices of the “Society” began to be subject to unwelcome attention from the British military, perhaps not surprising given that not only were the offices the Headquarters of the New Ireland Assurance Collecting Society, it was also one of the unofficial Headquarters of Sinn Fein and the Volunteers.
From this location, New Ireland went on organising and spreading the threads of their business countrywide. Appointments were made in Dundalk, Cork, the West of Ireland and Dublin, with a total of 49 agents in situ by the end of the first year.
In 1925 New Ireland became a limited company, when changes in legislation required it to register. Further legislation in 1936 in the form of the Insurance Act required all Irish Insurance companies to be audited for solvency standards. Due to the strong financial management and exponential growth of New Ireland in its first two decades, only New Ireland Assurance was successful in the industry wide audit. As a result, with the support of the government, the weaker remaining players were amalgamated, leading to the entity known as Irish Life Assurance Company. It was also in 1939 that New Ireland reached its first million pounds of assets!
Prior to all this, New Ireland had moved to its present day location on Dawson Street, and following extensive building alteration the formal opening of the New Ireland offices took place in the presence of Sean Lemass, Minister for Industry and Commerce along with the Ministers for Agriculture and Finance.
The next big event saw New Ireland move to its present day location. The company operated under three Divisions under the control of the Chief Inspector. An increase in staff numbers also occurred as new district offices were opened
n A market share of new business of 24% in 2014
n New sales of €1.14bn of new lump sum business in 2014
n New sales of €123.7M of new regular premium business in 2014
n Funds under management of over €14bn (March 2015)
n And over 500,000 policyholders
in Kilkenny, Naas, Ennis and Kilmallock with the company continuing to make good on its commitment to playing a large part in the Financial and Economic life of the nation. Indeed such was the scale and spread of the business, that by 1959, annual premium income exceeded £2.6M.
Today, New Ireland is true to its roots, being the first wholly owned Irish life assurance Company to transact business in Ireland, we are still wholly Irish owned as part of the Bank of Ireland Group. We retain a national presence, with offices in Dun Laoghaire, Santry, Kilkenny, Sligo, Galway, Limerick and Cork as well as our head office in Dawson Street.
Our product range has expanded from those days of savings, we now provide life assurance, pensions and investment solutions to individual and corporate customers. Today, New Ireland offers Irish investors access to some of the World’s largest and best known fund managers through our relationships with State Street Global Advisers, Bank of New York Mellon and Schroders. It’s safe to say, as we head towards our Centenary, that our history and our business is very much part of the Ireland we all know and love today and we look forward to serving the community and providing the right financial advice to help us all prosper well into the future.
Offices at: Cork, Fermoy, Mitchelstown, Dublin, Dungarvan, Tralee, Rathmore, Bantry, Skibereen, Dunmanway & Castlemaine
Phone: 1800 50 11 11
What have Quinn Direct, No Nonsense, Setanta and Tesco Motor & Home all got in common? They are all no longer in business!
McCarthy Insurance Group, on the other hand, have been around since 1952 and are still growing!
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• We listen to you • We research the market • We advise and recommend • We support you!
‘ We are McCarthy Insurance Group, we are part of your Community and we are most definitely on Your Side’
Why not call us, or better still, call in to one of our offices and meet our staff for a chat about your cover!
We welcome back old friends and new ones alike. There are no strangers at McCarthy’s, only friends you have not yet met.
Aside from Robert Casement, Thomas Kent was the only 1916 leader executed outside of Dublin.
On 18 September last year, the remains of Thomas Kent were exhumed from grounds at Cork Prison and re-interred with full State honours at his family’s plot in Castlelyons, County Cork. There was general uncertainty as to the precise location of his grave until the authorities deployed ground penetrating radar of the kind used to discover the remains of Richard 111 under a car park in Leicester in 2012.
Thomas Kent - The man who lent his name to Cork city’s railway station is often referred to as the forgotten patriot. There is little mention of the Cork man in school history books and many Irish people remain unfamiliar with his dramatic and eventful life.
Aside from Robert Casement, Kent was the only 1916 leader executed outside of Dublin. He was shot at Cork Detention Barracks on 9 May 1916 following a court martial while Casement was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London on August 3rd. At 50 years of age, he was among the oldest of the rebel leaders to be executed along with Casement, Tom Clarke and John MacBride.
Kent grew up in Bawnard House, Castlelyons, close to Fermoy in County Cork where his family ran a 200-acre farm. Born in 1865, he was the second of nine children and his parents had a long history of nationalist and agrarian involvement. Kent attended the local national school until he was 14 and became a fluent Irish speaker. He also had a keen interest in poetry and drama.
When he turned 19, Kent went to Boston where he spent five years working in a church furniture business and a publishing company. He also participated in a variety of Irish cultural activities during his stay in the US. He returned home in the summer of 1889, mainly due to health reasons.
Back in Castleyons, Thomas and his brothers got involved in the Irish National League’s plan of campaign to help tenant farmers in distress. He also became embroiled in a bitter and protracted dispute with a Scotsman named Robert Browne. Two years previously Browne had moved into the farm of the Rice family who were cousins of the Kents and had been evicted for non-payment of rent. The Kent brothers joined forces with the
Rice brothers and the parish curate, Father Jeremiah O’Dwyer to launch a boycott against Browne. They organised a rally for the Irish National League at nearby Coolagown at which Fr. O’Dwyer asked a crowd of nearly 300 people to ensure life for Browne became ‘too hot’ to handle.
The Kent brothers were frequently hauled before the courts for their activities and their role in the campaign of intimidation and harassment against Browne. The first time Tom received a sentence of a months hard labour, he slammed his fist upon the
Aside from Robert Casement, Kent was the only 1916 leader executed outside of Dublin. He was shot at Cork Detention Barracks on 9 May 1916 following a court martial while Casement was hanged in Pentonville Prison in London on August 3rd. At 50 years of age, he was among the oldest of the rebel leaders to be executed along with Casement, Tom Clarke and John MacBride.
desk and shouted ‘God save Ireland’. His brother William, who received the same sentence, cried: ‘Victory is our cry and our motto no surrender’. The authorities were deeply alarmed by the uproar caused by the thousands of supporters that came out in support of the Kents.
In June 1890 Thomas was sentenced to two months and his brother William to six months in Cork jail.The situation became so bad that Arthur Balfour, the Chief Secretary, condemned the “disgraceful scenes’ at the British Parliament in Westminster and named William and Tom as the ringleaders. Prison further damaged his health and with the demise of Charles Stewart Parnell and the deep divisions resulting from the parliamentary party split, Thomas withdrew from political activism during the 1890s and devoted his energies to Gaelic League activities and furthering his interest in drama. The Royal Irish Constabulary, however, continued to keep the brothers under constant surveillance.
Religion played an important part in his life and, as a member of the temperance movement, he abstained from alcohol. A committed Sinn Féin supporter he was on good terms with Terence MacSwiney, President of the Cork branch of Sinn Féin and when the Irish Volunteers were formed in 1913, the Kent brothers became active in the new organisation. In 1914 they established a branch at Castlelyons which was reputed to be the only teetotal branch in the country at the time.
When the movement was split following John Redmond’s Woodenbridge speech in September 1914, urging volunteers to join the British army to fight the Germans, Thomas Kent joined with MacSwiney to reorganise the anti-Redmond branches of the Volunteers in Cork.
The following August he attended the funeral of the Fenian
The Kents were aware of the plans for the Rising and had planned to travel to Dublin to join the fight. They spent Easter Sunday in Cork waiting for word from Dublin but they stood down when they received Eoin MacNeill’s countermanding order. However they did not return home until May 1st, when the Rising was over. Next morning, however, in a swoop for known Republican sympathisers, the RIC lead a dawn raid on the house.
The RIC surrounded the house demanding the surrender of all the occupants. The Kents refused and a four hour gun battle ensued during which the RIC’s head constable was shot and killed. David and Richard Kent were also wounded, the latter so badly that he died shortly afterwards. Mrs Kent, now in her late seventies, remained by her sons’ side throughout the battle, ensuring their guns were kept clean, cool and loaded.
When all their ammunition had been exhausted, the Kents surrendered and they were arrested and court-martialed. The judge was determined to make an example of Thomas who was charged with treason.
“You stand before me guilty of the most heinous of crimes against the British Crown. You are guilty of treason. In my view, when a head constable has been murdered, when your brother lost his life, I am left with no option but to sentence you to death by firing squad. You will be taken to Cork Army Barracks where on the ninth of this month you will be shot until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul. Take him down!
”William was acquitted while David was sentenced to five years’ penal servitude and Thomas was sentenced to death and executed on May 9th. Kent’s brother, William, got a reprieve and Thomas was shot at 4am on May 9, 1916. His dying wish was that no Irishman would be part of the firing squad.
McDowell’s Jewellers “The Happy Ring House” have had a presence on O’Connell Street since 1902 and as such have survived two world wars, the 1916 rising and the subsequent civil war of 1922.
During the bombardment of the GPO in 1916 the late John McDowell and the porter remained in no 3 Upper O’Connell Street in order to protect the stock from looting. As the conflict intensified both men realised that their lives were in danger and made a dash from the premises to Cathedral Street, a mere 180 yards away. In that short space the porter was shot dead and John McDowell received a leg injury but made it home to Sutton, Co Dublin. The shop was subsequently looted and destroyed by shell fire, but the McDowell family received full compensation from his Majesty’s Government for the looted stock and the shop was later re-built using scrapped girders from the GPO.
McDowell’s Jewellers is celebrating its145th year in business with the fourth generation of the family recently joining the ranks.
www.mcdowellsjewellers.com
Nine capital projects are being undertaken as part of the Easter Rising commemoration programme and will serve as permanent reminders of the historic event.
A key aspect of the year long centenary programme are the seven multimillion euro projects that will become “permanent reminders” of the 1916 Easter Rising and help to tell the story of what life was like in that era.
The nine projects range from the rebels’ last stand on Moore Street, to Kilmainham Gaol where the leaders were executed. There are just two outside Dublin, Pearse’s Cottage in Connemara and the Athenaeum in County Wexford.
The capital investment on the projects amounts to €40m but and as well as leaving a lasting legacy of the 1916 Rising, they are also expected to be a significant tourism attraction.
After escaping from the blaze of the GPE, the rebels spread out through buildings on Moore Street by tunnelling through gable walls.
The decision to surrender was made in No. 16 and the building is considered the final headquarters of the 1916 Rising and location of the last Council of War.
No 16 is a national monument and numbers 14,15 and 17 were included to enhance and preserve its setting.
Dating from 1756 to 1773, they retain significant 18th century elements including staircases and partitions. The physical presence of the rebels can be seen in openings broken through party walls.
Acquired by the State last year, work is underway to restore the buildings to how they were during the Rising. A commemorative centre will also be developed. The restoration project will be completed later this year.
Dublin City Council has published plans for the conservation, repair and reuse of 14 Henrietta Street as a museum, showing its development from a mansion for the very rich to a tenement housing more than 100 of Dublin’s poorest citizens.
Funding of €1.5M has been allocated by the Department of Arts and Heritage for the project.
The house was built in 1748 by Luke Gardiner, who was responsible for much of the construction of the Georgian north inner city. It was first occupied by Richard, Viscount Molesworth, and then by lord chancellor John Bowes.
It was, however, among the first houses on Henrietta Street to become a tenement in 1883 with 17 families, more than 100 people, living in number 14 at the time of the 1911 census. It remained a tenement up to the 1970s and has been mostly empty since, making it ideally placed to reflect the city’s social changes, council heritage officer Charles Duggan said.
The council undertook major stabilisation work on the building in 2009 to prevent its collapse, and it has been used for occasional cultural events, most notably the Living the Lockout theatre performance, but to open it permanently to the public requires more significant work.
TD and Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte TD, pictured here with An Post Chief Executive Donal Connell, reviewing plans for GPO Witness History
GPO Witness History
The museum will be open early next year.
GPO Witness History is a brand new visitor
exhibition and experience opening in March 2016 in the historical and iconic GPO building on O’Connell Street, Dublin. This will be a highly interactive and immersive exhibition which focusses on the 1916 Rising., the aftermath of the rebellion and how Ireland has developed since.
This exhibition allows visitors to experience the events of the 1916 rising from those who actively participated on both sides and bystanders and eye witness accounts. Touch screens, real artefacts, videos, dress sets and memory walls will further enhance the experience.
Facilities will include cafe and retail stores. This iconic venue will also be available for private functions and events.
A much needed building to host the extensive military Archives is due to be completed by the end of April at Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin.
The facilities include a new building to store archival material, including the Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection which contains 300,000 files.
An adjoining building, the Old Hospital is being refurbished and will house a
conservation laboratory and reading room for visitors.
The Military Archives include first-hand witness and Volunteer accounts, and are one of the State’s most important sources for information on the Rising.
The new building will allow the archives to be maintained in accordance with best international practice.
With the opening of the new visitor centre at Kilmainham Courthouse guests visiting the historic Dublin site are now able to access Kilmainham Gaol by entering through the Courthouse, and avail of new facilities including a cafe and welfare facilities, a bookshop, as well as historic interpretation and displays relating to the building.
The project was made possible with the collaboration of the Court Service who made the former Court Building available. The new building will allow the OPW, who manage the Gaol site, to offer a much improved level of service to the approximately 330,000 visitors who come to the site every year.
As the site of the execution of fourteen leaders of the 1916 Rising, Kilmainham Gaol holds an iconic place in the struggle for Irish independence.
These new facilities will greatly enhance the visitor experience at what is already one of Dublin’s top tourist attractions.
The Teach an Phiarsaigh project in Galway is expected to be open by the summer. With a €4 million budget, the project – which is being overseen by Údarás na Gaeltachta –entails developing a culture centre, 10 acres of walks and an experimental introduction to the Irish language.
There will also be material on Pearse and his relationship with Ros Muc and the Gaeltacht. He first came to Ros Muc in 1903 and bought the plot in 1905. He last visited in 1915.
After his execution the property passed to his mother and it was bequethed to the state in 1943.
Richmond Barracks in Dublin, involves the restoration of the buildings where the 1916 leaders were interned and court- martialled. It will also feature an interpretative space. It is envisaged that the centre will open on May 2nd, 2016, the centenary of the first court martial hearings which took place there.
Up to 3,000 suspected rebels, including 77 women and the seven signatories of the proclamation were held at the barracks, before being sent for execution or to prison. The new facilities will include an audio-
visual experience depicting the conditions in which the rebels were held and the social history of the surrounding area.
A €6 million refurbishment is taking place at the historic Kevin Barry Rooms at the National Concert Hall.
These were the rooms which were the setting of the Treaty ratification debates of the second Dáil. A new performance, recital and practice room will be completed along with ancillary facilities.
The Athenaeum was the centre of the 1916 Easter Rising in Co. Wexford and was occupied by the Volunteers as their headquarters. It was the last garrison to surrender in the country, and on April 27th , the proclamation was read outside the Athenaeum while Cumann Na mBan members hoisted the tricolour over the building.
The refurbishment project will provide a multi-purpose theatre, including a space for lectures, recitals and smaller musical events. An important part of the Athenaeum’s function in future, will be the housing on permanent display of memorabilia and historical artefacts relating to 1916.
Trinity College Dublin’s ambitious 1916 Commemoration programme
We are now three years into “the Decade of Commemorations”, the “long decade” from 1912 to 1923 which saw massive political change in Ireland, Europe, and the wider world. Trinity College was intimately involved in, and affected by, the events of this decade, and we are playing an active role in commemoration. We have organised events and exhibitions which explain the College’s involvement and which draw on our extensive archives and documentation relating to the period.
Trinity’s 1916 programme encompasses public lectures on the implications of commemorating events that are at once inspirational and divisive; and it includes conferences which situate the Rising in the global context of the Great War and which examine the relationship between politics and personal
mores. The intention is to engage with the growing national discourse around issues of conflict, of shared and divergent histories and the form and purpose of commemorations generally.
The School of History and Humanities and the School of English are offering extra-mural courses on historical revolutionary figures and on literature and revolution. The impact of war on literature theme is continued in the launch of a book on the subject by poet Gerald Dawe. Full-length explorations of Trinity during this period will be available in a forthcoming book, Trinity and the Irish Revolution, 1912 -1923 by Dr Tomás Irish, and in the much anticipated study of medicine and war in 1916 by the author of the recent history of the Trinity medical school, Professor Davis Coakley.
Proclamation Day, on 15 March 2016, will see focussed interrogation of this founding document, two copies of which are held in the Trinity Library. An evening seminar, open to all, will gather historians and literary scholars to consider the articulation of the terms of Irish independence in the context of Ireland’s attempts since 1641 to shake off colonial rule.
The Commemoration programme is continuing to evolve and a number of student-led events are currently being added to the programme.
Details of all events can be accessed through Trinity’s Decade of Commemorations website. http://www.tcd.ie/decade-commemoration/
Untouched landscapes and towns full of character and interest: Ireland is a destination travellers continue to return to year after year. Having been in the business for over 80 years, CIE Tours offers an ever-expanding selection of tours to Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. For travellers, these destinations are more than locations; they are experiences filled with memories that will last a lifetime.
Untouched landscapes and towns full of character and interest: Ireland is a destination travelers continue to return to year after year. Having been in the business for over 80 years, CIE Tours offers an ever-expanding selection of tours to Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. For travelers, these destinations are more than locations; they are experiences filled with memories that will last a lifetime.
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Join us next year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Travel throughout Ireland and learn about the country’s fight for independence on the nine-day Ireland’s Road to Freedom tour or the 12-day Irish Patriot Trail. These special history-based itineraries reveal the journey of Ireland’s political freedom. With a walking tour of central Dublin and the General Post Office, both tours are filled with must-see attractions and offer a unique look into Ireland’s struggle and most pivotal events.
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Join us next year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Travel throughout Ireland and learn about the country’s fight for independence on the nine-day Ireland’s Road to Freedom tour or the 12-day Irish Patriot Trail. These special history-based itineraries reveal the journey of Ireland’s political freedom.
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Immersive exhibition centre opening in Dublin in time for 1916 centenary commemorations
A place of business and public service, of remembrance, protest and pageantry, the GPO deserves the unique place it holds in the affections of Irish people everywhere.
The General Post Office on Dublin’s main thoroughfare Sackville Street, (now O’Connell Street) was to be the focal point for the events of Easter 1916. It was the GPO, the communications heart of the country and the centre of Dublin city, which the rebels chose as the building on which to hoist the new flag of an Irish Republic.
It was the first building to be taken over by the rebels and it was beneath the portico of this grand building where, just before midday on Easter Monday, rebel leader Padraig Pearse read out the Proclamation declaring Ireland to be an independent sovereign Republic.
William Butler Yeats was so moved by the events of the Rising that he wrote a poem called Easter 1916. This poem includes one of the most famous lines in all of Irish literature; “All changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty is born.”
The modern Ireland grew from the catalyst for change that was the 1916 Rising. Next Easter, a full century on from the
seismic events of 1916, the GPO will take centre stage once again as Ireland remembers.
The new permanent exhibition in the GPO will reflect the events of 100 years ago using the very latest immersive technology. The GPO has long been a focal point of Dublin city centre, and is still in operation as Ireland’s largest post office. However the new exhibition will allow visitors to step beyond the usual boundaries and into the very heart of this iconic building.
Based in a brand new €7 million centre in the inner central courtyard of the GPO, with its hallowed public Post Office hall, original brass fittings, writing desks and revered Cu Chulainn statue, GPO Witness History, an immersive and action-packed visitor attraction will appeal to visitors of all ages, interests and nationalities, providing a close-up look at real life in Dublin City, across Ireland, and the wider world at the time of 1916 Easter Rising.
GPO Witness History tells a human story that is rooted in Dublin’s iconic GPO building. Live through the action with the leaders of the day; opposing sides plotting, planning and enduring the week’s events across the city. From opulent suburbs
to wretched tenements, crumbling empires to burgeoning states, at GPO Witness History, you’ll also meet the ordinary folk, young and old, who found themselves at the centre of the events of that week, their lives changed forever.
40 children died during the 1916 Easter Rising, tragically caught in the crossfire between the Irish rebels and British troops. The exhibition at the GPO will include a memorial to these young lives that were so heartbreakingly cut short.
Prepare for an assault on the senses, an eye-opening experience and fresh, new perspectives on the events of the time, the sights, sounds and legacy.
Created by An Post and managed by Shannon Heritage, GPO Witness History is an engaging, interactive visitor attraction bringing history to life though technology, video, sound and authentic artefacts – many previously unseen. Its special effects, soundscapes and heartfelt stories of real people in extraordinary circumstances will captivate all age-groups - from the curious, young international visitor to the wellinformed history buff – there’s plenty to interest and engage individuals, families and touring groups.
1916 Easter Rising as well as a broader history of the GPO itself.
Here too you can book your tickets well in advance of the exhibition opening. This affords Irish and international tourists alike the opportunity to schedule this worthwhile cultural experience around everything else Dublin has to offer.
Ticket prices for the exhibition are €10 for adults, €7.50 for children and seniors, while there are also special offers for families.
The website for the centre can be found at www. gpowitnesshistory.ie. Here you will find details on the visitor centre, the exhibits, and an outline of the role the GPO had to play in the
The venue will also be available for private evening events, allowing businesses and history aficionados alike the opportunity to use this unique setting for a truly unforgettable occasion.
In 1916 Dublin Fire Brigade was a well established professional fire brigade with over fifty years of service to the people of Dublin behind it. It was based in four fire stations which in turn divided the city into quarters for fire protection.
Their vehicles were a mixture of two new motor fire engines based at Thomas Street and Tara Street (which was also the Brigade headquarters) and horse drawn vehicles, like the turntable ladders which had been designed by Thomas Purcell the chief officer to meet the needs of the city. The entire staff in 1916 consisted of forty-five men of all ranks.
On 24 April 1916 Dublin Fire Brigade found itself in an unprecedented position in these islands when a rebellion broke out in the city. The Brigade responded immediately and its ambulance service was in continuous use throughout the week of the Rising. The fire crews dealt with the massive blazes starting in the affected areas as a combination of fires started by looters and military shelling of the fighting areas helped the flames to spread. By the Wednesday of Easter Week they had been forced off the streets due to military action. When the Rising was over the Brigade got to work and prevented the spread of the major fires and brought them under control within 17 hours.
It was a major event in the history of Dublin Fire Brigade and will be remembered in a number of events next year. A
major exhibition on the role of the DFB in 1916 will run in Dublin City Hall for six months from 20 January. Prior to that it will be staged in the DFB Training Centre in Marino from 7 January to 18 January. While in Marino there will be a 1916 living history event on Saturday 16 January and a series of talks are also planned for the venue.
Next year is also the 75th anniversary of the Belfast Blitz in World War 2. We will be remembering the heroism of fire crews from Dublin and other areas in the south who crossed the border to come to the aid of the stricken city of Belfast when it was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe in April and May 1941.
The Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women will be marching in parades and taking part in many other commemorative events celebrating the centenary of the 1916 Rising. Aideen Sutton talks to chief executive Ollie O’Connor who says they will be doing so with pride and also as an act of remembrance and they hope to raise public awareness of their organisation.
After World War 11, thousands of demobilised servicemen formed many associations and federations such as the National Federation of Irish Ex-Servicemen and The Association of Regular Ex-Servicemen (Defence Forces) to help maintain the comradeship fostered while in active service.
These associations came together in 1950 to form the Irish Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation, adopting for its emblem a badge incorporating the crest of the Defence Forces surrounding a Black and Tan with a white ‘1’ in the centre. Black and Tan was the chosen colour scheme to honour those who fought against that body from 1919 to 1921, while the figure ‘1’ in white signified the unity of all the former organisations. Shortly afterwards, the name was changed to Óglaigh Náisiúnta na hÉireann or Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and Women (O.N.E.)
The organisation became incorporated in 2000, it is a company limited by guarantee and has been granted charitable status by the Revenue Commissioners.
O.N.E is dedicated to ensuring the welfare of ex-service personnel of the Irish Defence Forces, Irish Red Cross and Civil Defence. This is done mainly through the provision of accommodation to those in need. When a number of destitute ex-servicemen were found dead on the streets of Dublin during a particularly harsh winter in 1988/1989, ten members of the organisation raised a mortgage and built a 20-bedroom home in Queen Street in Dublin. Since then two smaller homes were opened in Letterkenny, Co Donegal and in Athlone, Co Westmeath. Following the demolition of the original home in Queen Street a new 40-bedroom home, Brú na BhFiann was opened in Smithfield in 2003.
O.N.E which also runs a number of drop-in centres for members around the country and has 40 branches has as its main purpose a charitable objective, explained O.N.E. Chief
Executive, Ollie O’Connor.
“At any one time we have around 40 former members of defence forces who, for one reason or another, need accommodation. Our whole purpose is to ensure that exmembers of the defence forces can access that help.
“By being in different parades and commemorative events during the centenary of the Easter Rising, we hope to raise public awareness of our organisation,” said Mr O’Connor.
“We cannot say what the future holds for any of us, you cannot say that (homelessness) will happen to you and not to me. The reasons our members need help could be something like being knocked down and acquiring a brain injury, social problems, the breakdown of a relationship - people become homeless or in need for various reasons it is not easy to say the reason a person becomes homeless.”
Offering accommodation to those in need at a particular time in their lives, O.N.E.’s aim is to give a resident a home with the intention for them to move on when their life has become more settled.
Mr O’Connor also hopes that the publicity surrounding the 1916 commemorative events will increase awareness for the organisation’s Fuchsia Appeal.
“This annual appeal goes a long way to help keep our homes open and running. The main drive of the appeal takes place during the month of July which is the month of the National Day of Remembrance,” he said.
The fuchsia, widely grown throughout Ireland is commonly known as Deora Dé or God’s Tears in the West of Ireland. To this end the Fuchsia was chosen as a fundraising emblem, a badge of remembrance and a symbol to honour those currently serving in the Defence Forces.
The Appeal was first launched by then Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea, TD in 2009 and is now in its eighth year.
“At any one time we have around 40 former members of defence forces who, for one reason or another, need accommodation. Our whole purpose is to ensure that exmembers of the defence forces can access that help.
By
being
in different
parades and
commemorative events during
the centenary of the Easter Rising, we hope to raise public awareness of our organisation.”
The appeal fund has gradually grown from approximately €14,000 in the first year to over €60,000 in 2014.
“This July, the month of National Commemoration, we will really push the Fuchsia badge and we hope to see all national representatives and media people wearing the Fuchsia as a matter of course in the future,” he said.
Members of the public can donate to the Fuchsia Appeal anytime by logging onto the organisation’s website www. oneconnect.ie or its Facebook page https://www.facebook. com/ONEIreland. During July O.N.E will be selling the Fuchsia badges in shopping centres and other various locations around the country.
The centenary of 1916 is of major significance for O.N.E members, explained Mr O’Connor, as they see themselves having a direct link with all who served in the Easter Rising.
“Our members all see a direct link back as far as 1913 and the Irish Volunteers through to the 1916 Rising and War of Independence,” said Mr O’Connor.
“This year will be a chance to reflect as remembrance is a major element in all our occasions. Every November, we remember the Niemba Ambush in the Congo in various commemorations in branches around the country and the month of July is National Commemoration.”
The Niemba Ambush Remembrance is held in Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin, on the nearest Saturday to the actual date of the ambush (8th November) in the Congo. The
National Day of Commemoration takes place in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham on the nearest Sunday to 11th July (the date of the signing of the truce in the war of independence, 1921). This Commemoration is run by the Government of Ireland and O.N.E. members are officially invited to the ceremonies.
“We remember those who died in service and after service. We will be taking part in the military parade on Easter Sunday, 108 of our members will be in that parade. Preparations are well underway and we are in rehearsals with the Defence Forces. Easter Sunday will be a proud day, particularly as some members took part in 1966 parades for the 50th anniversary commemorations,” said Mr O’Connor.
“Local authorities all over the country will be holding commemorations and O.N.E. will be involved in those in large numbers. It will be a busy year for us, we will be invited to most state ceremonies and we will take part in all.
“We will be marching in the Emergency Services Parade in September from the Garden of Remembrance to Trinity College.
O.N.E will be in the limelight throughout the whole year of commemorations and we would like to ensure that people know all the work we carry out. We do not just march in parades, we look after people who served their country at home and abroad in difficult circumstances.
“We want to try and help them as much as we can and the more funds we have, the more we can do.”
ETBI General Secretary Michael Moriarty and historian Jim Cooke chart the development of vocational education in Ireland down through the decades.
The President of IVEA Mr. Brendan Griffin and members of the Standing Council as guests of Her Excellency President McAleese at Árus an Uachtarán during Centenary year (2002). LtoR: Mr. J. Wall, Ms. Francis Ryan, Mr. Michael Nevin, Mr. John McKay, Mr. Clifford Kelly, Ms. Mary Bohan, Mr. Tom Hussey, Ms. Mary Hilda Kavanagh, Mr. Michael Moriarty, Mr. Ted Fitzgerald, Mr. Tony McKenna.
On the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the long history of vocational education in Ireland, which has evolved over the decades to the establishment of Education and Training Boards in 2013.
Only a small number of European countries can claim to have a national body for vocational education, but that has been the case in Ireland since 1902. Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) is the successor to the Irish Technical Instruction Association which was established in 1902 in Cork and the Irish Vocational Education Association thereafter. Today, the member ETBs provide a wide range of services at first and second level and also at adult and further education level all across Ireland. Hereunder we set out the evolution of the sector over the centuries.
The Birth of Technical Education: The Guild System and the Industrial Revolution
The twenty-five ancient trade guilds of Dublin (and other Irish towns and cities) were the main focus of craft industry up to the Industrial Revolution from the 1780s onwards. A spinning frame (Wyatt, 1738), the spinning jenny (Hargreaves, 1767) and
a spinning machine (Arkwright, 1769) were invented in England. However, Arkwright’s machine was wrecked by weavers who objected to machinery. In the 1780s a factory-operated spinning machine was invented, and a hydraulic pump (used in the Cornish zinc mines) followed by a succession of mechanical, chemical etc. inventions or discoveries.
In 1875 Prime Minister Gladstone had warned the now rich and ceremonial Trade Guilds of Britain and Ireland (with the veiled threat of extinction) that they should use their wealth to promote technical education. As a result the City and Guilds of London Institute was formed in 1878 and transformed the old theoretically-inclined Science and Art teaching, which had been widespread in Britain and Ireland, by now offering direct training in trade skills.
Sir Horace Plunkett, Chairman Recess Committee 1895-1896; First Vice President of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction 1900-1907. (Courtesy of Irish Agricultural Organisation Society).
But organised technical education in schools did not begin until the Kevin Street Technical Schools opened in Dublin in 1887 – “Schools”, plural, because classes in science and art were held under the code and funding of the Science and Art Department (1853), South Kensington, London, while trade “technical” classes were funded by 1d [1 old penny Sterling] on the City of Dublin rates and were examined internally in the school or through the City and Guilds of London Institute, which had a system of prizes.
Germany, France and other continental countries had maintained their guild systems of apprenticeships, but had developed municipally-funded and managed systems of technical schools, and were overtaking England in industrial development. So the British government set up a Commission on Technical Instruction 1881-1883 for Great Britain and Ireland, which adopted a similar same model of municipal technical schools in the 1889 Technical Instruction Act, which extended to Ireland, and the City of Dublin raised a further 1d on the rates under this Act.
Irish students were foremost in examination successes under the Science and Art Department because the National Schools in Ireland had provided a nationwide primary education from 1831, whereas in England this was not implemented until 1879 because of the uncompromising religious differences between the Church of England and the Dissenting Churches.
The 1889 Technical Instruction Act did not have much effect in Ireland because, while England had replaced the old Grand Jury system with the Local Government Act in 1889 (through which the 1889 Technical Instruction Act could implement its local authority provision of technical education), Ireland still had the old Grand Jury system until 1898.
Horace Plunkett in 1889, saw the need for Ireland to have its own Technical Instruction Act. He had developed the cooperative systems for creameries and other areas, and when he became an M.P. in 1892, he campaigned successfully to bring in the 1898 Local Government Act for Ireland. This was followed by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction (DATI) Act 1899, which came into effect in 1900, immediately following which local authorities and
Rev. Fr. P.J. Dowling C.M. (Congregation of the Missions – Vincentian Fathers) founding Hon. Secretary of the Irish Technical Instruction Association in 1902 up until his demise in 1916.
municipalities began to establish technical schools.
Earlier, the Pembroke (Ringsend, 1893), Galway (1895) and Limerick (1896) Technical Schools had been established through the driving force of Arnold Graves, who was the main promoter in getting the Kevin Street Schools established (1887).
By 1902, every county, town and city borough in Ireland had adopted the 1899 DATI Act, and new technical schools were being established all over the country, funded by 1d on the rates and an equivalent grant from the DATI.
Following a meeting organised by Rev. P.J. Dowling C.M., a Vincentian priest, which met at the 1902 Cork International Exhibition, which had been largely supported by the DATI, the many technical instruction committee members from around the country formed the Irish Technical Instruction Association (ITIA). In 1927 this representative body of technical instruction committee members altered its name to the Irish Technical Education Association (ITEA); in 1944 it became the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA), and in 2013, it has finally become the current Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI).
From the beginning of the technical schools, the question of the relative importance of Education with Training, or Training with Education, has been debated, and the title of the new ETBI shows that, though distinguishable, the two codes, Education and Training, should be combined as far as possible.
From 1902, the DATI always sent at least one representative to the ITIA annual Congresses, and after Independence, the Minister for Education almost always gave an address to Congress.
Up to the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the annual Congresses were of an all-Ireland nature, and were held at venues from Cork
Mr. John Ingram, Chairman of the Technical Education Commission. He was the mastermind in framing the Vocational Education Act, 1930.
Mr. Tomás Derrig, Minister for Education (19321939) and (1940-1948).
to Belfast. In 1920, Congress voted to remain an all-Ireland body, though some of the new Northern Ireland committees withdrew. Some of these committees soon re-joined, and Congresses continued to be held at venues North and South.
After the change of government in the South in 1932, an unfortunate event split the ITEA, and all the Northern committees were instructed to withdraw. This event happened at the 1933 Congress in Belfast, when a caucus of Southern delegates elected a Catholic priest as President – to preside over the mainly Northern Presbyterian members of these committees. On the previous, first, day of the Congress, Coleraine TIC had re-joined the ITEA, but after the election of the Catholic priest as President, the Northern Minister for Education, Lord Charlemont, who, with the Lord Mayor, the High Sheriff of Belfast and other notables, had welcomed all the delegates to Belfast, withdrew all Northern delegates for the future.
Representations were made to the Northern Ireland Ministry in 1934 and again in 1935, and invitations issued to Northern Ireland TICs, but in all cases the answer was in the negative. It was not until 1965, following the O’NeillLemass talks, that relations were re-established in the form of a lecture by Tom Cowan, Ministry of Education, Belfast, to the Association (IVEA) on the topic of “Technical Education in Northern Ireland”. This began a series of such lectures that culminated in Congress being held in Newcastle, Co Down, in 1966, with continuing co-operation on a North-South basis.
Commission on Technical Education 1925-26 and the 1930 Vocational Education Act
In the meantime, the new Irish government of Saorstat Éireann set up a Commission on Technical Education in 1925, chaired by John Ingram, a senior inspector of the new Department of Education (Technical Instruction Branch, TIB), which reviewed the existing provision of technical education in the South, and made recommendations which were carried into legislation in
General Richard Mulcahy, Minister for Education in 1948-1951 and again from 1953-1957. He refused to place VECs under religious control.
By 1902, every county, town and city borough in Ireland had adopted the 1899 DATI Act, and new technical schools were being established all over the country, funded by 1d on the rates and an equivalent grant from the DATI.
the 1930 Vocational Education Act. John Ingram had become Chief Inspector, TIB, in 1927, on the retirement of the redoubtable George Fletcher, who had worked tirelessly for technical education in Ireland.
Ingram, the architect of the 1930 Vocational Education Act, now, happily for vocational and technical education, combined the roles of Chief Inspector (Education) and Principal Officer (Finance) of the TIB, and became the chief instigator of the expansion of vocational education for students aged 14 to 16 years, to bridge the gap between leaving primary school and commencing technical education, which was agreed was only possible at about the age of 17 years. Ingram was also responsible for the expansion of technical education for apprentices, and all the higher stages to professional level, through City and Guilds, the professions bodies, and mainly a wide range of degree courses with the University of London. The higher levels of technical instruction were especially provided in the cities of Cork, Dublin (and Belfast in the North).
From 1930, the Vocational Education Committees (VECs – TICs
Up
to the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the annual Congresses were of an all-Ireland nature, and were held at venues from Cork to Belfast. In 1920, Congress voted to remain an all-Ireland body, though some of the new Northern Ireland committees withdrew.
renamed in the 1930 Act) built many new vocational schools all around the country (“expensive palaces”, as their detractors described them), and the technical colleges were extended and upgraded in terms of both buildings and their embracing degree and professional bodies’ courses.
From the mid-1950s, Technician courses were introduced in the colleges. In 1962, a departmental committee of the Department of Education (Chairman Mr Duggan, Secretary Dr Finbar O’Callaghan) drew up a report for Minister Dr Patrick Hillery recommending that the two strands at second level, secondary and vocational schools, should be equal in courses and esteem. This led, following the publication of the Investment in Education Report, 1966, to the establishment of Donough O’Malley’s Free Education Scheme, 1968, and the granting to vocational schools of permission to provide courses up to and including Leaving Certificate level.
The Republican political ethos stirred by the approach to the1966 anniversary of the 1916 Rising led members of the now IVEA to reject the restrictions on vocational education which had been imposed in 1930 by the Catholic Hierarchy to prevent publiclyfunded vocational schools from competing with their own privately-controlled diocesan and religious-orders secondary schools. This led, for instance, Sean O’Connor, Secretary of the Department of Education, to state in his Studies article (1968) that the body politic wanted the religious authorities in education to be “partners, not masters”.
From 1968 on, the whole range of second-level schools, secondary and vocational, grew into equality of courses and equality of esteem, especially with the development of Community Schools (under the Department) and Community Colleges (under the Vocational Education Committees), in which the IVEA had had a significant role. This expansion of educational opportunity up to Leaving Certificate fed into third-level education – into not only the university and the existing third-level technological colleges in Dublin, Cork, etc., but also into the new Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs), initially managed by the VECs, in Athlone, Carlow, Dundalk, Sligo, Waterford, Letterkenny, Tralee, Limerick, and Galway-Mayo.
The initial modest remit of the RTCs was to provide a Technical Leaving Certificate as well as apprenticeship training, but this was quickly upgraded to providing ever higher-level courses, driven by their highly-qualified lecturer staff members and by the Leaving Certificate standard of the students entering these colleges.
From 1975, the Dublin Technological Colleges entered into an agreement with Trinity College Dublin, whereby the jointlyconstructed Technological courses, which would normally issue with Dublin Technical College diplomas, were now recognised as TCD degrees. This development hastened the establishment of the Dublin Institute of Technology in 1978. This Institute was not supported in law, but in 1992 and 1993, the DIT and the old RTCs were granted independence from the VECs, and were and were granted their own degree-awarding powers. Now all the Technological Colleges are flying high and are, with the universities, underpinning the worldwide recognition of Irish higher education and industrial progress.
In July 2011, Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn initiated a profound structural overhaul of the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, saying he wanted Ireland to develop a “world class Further Education and Training sector”. This led to the establishment of the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) – and ETBI – under the Education and Training Boards Act (2013); the establishment of SOLAS and the integration of the former FÁS training division into ETBs under the Further Education and Training Act (2013); and the establishment of a single awarding body (QQI) for all further and higher education awards under the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act (2012). The process of uniting the functions of Training and Education as the 16 ETBs replaced the 33 former VECs is now well underway.
All through this period, the successors of the TICs, IVEA, and its member VECs, were overseeing the development and expansion of educational and support services. To this day their successors, the ETBs, continue to operate 273 second-level schools, as well as Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) colleges, vocational training centres, and over 500 education centres. They are co-trustees of 92 Community Schools. They also manage a growing number of multi-faith Community National Schools (www.cns.ie). ETBs are involved in prison education, Youthreach programmes and adult and community education. And ETBI, their national representative body, continues to to work to protect, promote and enhance the interests of its member ETBs and of vocational education and training within the wider education sector in Ireland and in Europe and hopes to continue to do so into the next century and beyond.
A spectacular example of Georgian architecture, Dublin City Hall tells the story of the city’s founding, from Viking times through to the present day.
Situated in the heart of the city, Dublin City Hall is a magnificent example of the Georgian architecture for which Dublin is world renowned. Originally the Royal Exchange, it was used by the merchants of Dublin as a financial centre until it was bought by Dublin Corporation and re-named City Hall. It is the focal point for Dublin City Council’s elected members who meet on the first Monday of every month in the historic Council chamber and has witnessed many events related to the city and State. The sheer size and sumptuous fittings of City Hall reflect the prestige of Dublin in the late 18th century.
The spectacular entrance hall or Rotunda with its spacious embellished gold leaf dome and marble floor provides an elegant space for sculpture and is surrounded by an ambulatory where the merchants strolled and discussed business. The Rotunda can be hired as a venue for select corporate events, private functions, filming, fashion shows and civil marriage ceremonies, and the superb vaults at lower ground floor level host a free multimedia exhibition highlighting key elements of the history of Dublin. There are some exciting new additions to the exhibition in 2016.
The 1916 Room
Visitors to City Hall will have an opportunity to view a rare, recently conserved original copy of the 1916 Proclamation,
gifted to the citizens of Dublin in the 1950s by the family of nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell.
This important exhibition tells the story of Dublin’s firefighters during Easter week 1916, when the city centre burned and Dublin’s streets became a battlefield. Dublin City Hall, itself a 1916 battleground, provides an evocative backdrop for this exhibition of rarely seen material. The exhibition includes material from the Dublin Fire Brigade Museum and private collections, all brought together for the first time to create a unique, not-to-be-missed exhibition suitable for all the family.
Dublin Fire Brigade - first motorised engine
The Na Fianna Éireann banner which was seized from Countess Markievicz’s home by the British army has been secured on loan from the Royal Collection in London and is presently on display until the end of August 2016. Postcards in the 1916 Rising is a new exhibition in Room 4, and there is also a display relating to veteran Richard P. Gogan. A charming exhibition on the family of Sir Robert Shaw who was the Lord Mayor of Dublin 1815-1816 will begin at the end of April 2016. Groups can enjoy a free talk on the history of the building if booked in advance before visiting the self-guided multimedia exhibition. A small café and gift shop selling 1916 souvenirs add to the ambience of this city treasure.
In April, the popular City Hall lecture series will take place in the Council Chamber on the first floor of City Hall at 1.10pm. The theme of the lectures is the role of the Corporation, its staff and the 1916 Rising. No booking is required, but visitors are
advised to come early to ensure a place.
n Tuesday 5th April 2016
Under the Starry Plough: The City Hall Garrison
Dr Conor McNamara
n Tuesday 12th April 2016
‘Siege mentalities’: The occupation of Jacob’s Factory
Easter 1916
Dr Séamas Ó Maitiú
n Tuesday 19th April 2016:
Three Castles Burning: Dublin Fire Brigade & the Easter Rising
Las Fallon
n Tuesday 26th April 2016:
‘The Tricolour Ribbon O!’: Songs from the 1916 Rising
Francis Devine and Friends
Dublin City Hall is open Mon–Sat from 10am-5:15pm and closed Sundays and bank holidays. Admission is free. Talks on the history of the building are available for groups by prior arrangement and a charming café and gift shop on site add to the ambience of this wonderful city treasure. www.dublincityhall.ie Tel: 01 2222204
City Hall Dublin @Dublin City Hall
DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE EXTERNAL TRAINING
DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE EXTERNAL TRAINING
DUBLIN FIRE BRIGADE EXTERNAL TRAINING
Providing Fire and Safety training to fire services and the general community nationwide and beyond.
COURSES INCLUDE: EXTERNAL TRAINING
Providing Fire and Safety training to fire services and the general community nationwide and beyond.
Providing Fire and Safety training to fire services and the general community nationwide and beyond.
• Full Fire Service Recruit Programme
• R.T.C.
• T.T.L. Driver/Operator
• Swift Water Rescue Technician
• C.A.F.S. Operator
• ROSPA Accredited Advanced driving
• Compartment fire behaviour/ instructor
• B.A. wearer/instructor
• Rope Rescue
• Fire Marshall/Fire Safety Awareness/ Fire Manager
• STCW-95 courses
• Occupational First Aid
• Emergency First Responder
• A.E.D.
• Emergency Medical Technician
• Confined Spaces
• Manual handling
• Water Awareness
DFB External Training was established by Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) as an independent training entity. It provides essential fire, health and safety training to private and public sector organisations and individuals outside of DFB personnel. All training instructors are qualified fire officers, providing the latest in safety training. The content and delivery of all courses are of the highest quality in excellence and best practice.
DFB External Training was established by Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) as an independent training entity. It provides essential fire, health and safety training to private and public sector organisations and individuals outside of DFB personnel. All training instructors are qualified fire officers, providing the latest in safety training. The content and delivery of all courses are of the highest quality in excellence and best practice.
COURSES INCLUDE:
For details and bookings contact: Dublin Fire Brigade Training Centre, Malahide Rd, Marino, Dublin 3. Phone (01) 673 4433
DFB External Training was established by Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) as an independent training entity. It provides essential fire, health and safety training to private and public sector organisations and individuals outside of DFB personnel. All training instructors are qualified fire officers, providing the latest in safety training. The content and delivery of all courses are of the highest quality in excellence and best practice.
COURSES INCLUDE:
Email: info@dfbexternaltraining.ie Web: www.dfbexternaltraining.ie
• Height Awareness
• Marine Firefighter
• Driver Awareness
Email: info@dfbexternaltraining.ie Web: www.dfbexternaltraining.ie
For details and bookings contact:
Dublin Fire Brigade Training Centre, Malahide Rd, Marino, Dublin 3. Phone (01) 673 4433
Email: info@dfbexternaltraining.ie Web: www.dfbexternaltraining.ie
Every day, thousands of commuting Dubliners pass by RCSI’s iconic building on the western side of St. Stephen’s Green in the heart of the city, with its impressive 19th century stonecolumn façade. Even regular passers-by may not have noticed the subtle reminders of our history which are scattered across the columns - now gently smoothed by 100 years of weathering, are bullet holes from the 1916 Easter Rising.
The RCSI 1916 Commemorative Programme ‘Surgeons and Insurgents’ will give members of the public a rare opportunity to have a glimpse inside the College which, remarkably, is the
only significant building to have been involved in the Rising which still stands in its original form today, with all others having been remodelled or demolished since.
During the historic events of Easter Week 1916, from Monday April 24th to Sunday April 30th, RCSI housed the garrison made up of members of the Irish Citizen Army led by its Chief of Staff Commandant Michael Mallin and his second in command Countess Constance Markievicz. RCSI doctors - its staff, Alumni and Fellows - were also closely associated with the Easter Rising as they treated the wounded from both sides.
The centrepiece of RCSI’s 2016 Commemorative programme, which will coincide with the official state commemorations, is a special exhibition ‘Surgeons and Insurgents - RCSI and the Easter Rising’ and accompanying public lecture series.
Meadhbh Murphy, RCSI Archivist said: “The exhibition will tell the story of Easter 1916 through the human stories of key figures associated with RCSI and the Easter Rising, on both sides of the conflict, against the backdrop of World War I.”
“While researching the exhibition, we found that a number of the surgeons associated with the College, who treated wounded civilians, soldiers and insurgents alike, were interconnected in many ways before, during and after the time of the Rising.”
One of the surgeons featured in the exhibition is Sir Thomas Myles who was a Fellow of RCSI and was elected President of the College in 1900. “Myles was a believer in Home Rule but he also believed that opposing political sides should be on an equal footing. So he became involved in gun-running for the Irish Citizen Army bringing guns in on his yacht in response to Sir Edward Carson and the Ulster Unionists having carried out a similar expedition in 1914.”
Another prominent surgeon involved in the Easter Rising was Lieu-Col Francis Richard Tobin, a Licentiate of the College and loyal veteran soldier for 20 years. “Tobin attended the wounded James Connolly in Dublin Castle Hospital and a strong friendship developed between these individuals from opposite sides; military man and revolutionary,” Meadhbh said.
A hub for the women of the Rising
The Stephen’s Green Irish Citizen Army garrison contained the largest number of women members to take part in the Rising. Many of these women carried out first aid and medical treatment on those who were wounded in the fighting.
Madeleine ffrench-Mullen, the daughter of a Royal Navy surgeon, attended injured comrades in the RCSI College Hall over Easter Week. In 1919 ffrench-Mullen and her friend, Dr. Kathleen Lynn, set up St Ultan’s Hospital in central Dublin, the first hospital for infants in Ireland.
Countess Constance Markievicz, along with several other rebels, was the first to force her way in the front hall door of the College, holding the porter at gunpoint, before making her
way to the roof. On surrendering, despite an offer to bring her by motor car to Dublin Castle, Markievicz insisted that she preferred to march out with her men and share their fate.
Although Markievicz is the most well-known of the women in RCSI during the Rising, under her command was Margaret Skinnider who also played a prominent role in the garrison as a scout, message runner and sniper.
While preparing for the 2016 exhibition, RCSI’s archivist Meadhbh Murphy was informed of a potentially extraordinary, long-lost artefact associated with RCSI and the Rising.
Margaret Skinnider’s great-niece got in touch with RCSI in early 2015 about some fascinating historic material currently located in Australia. Most notably, the tricolour flag which was
flown over the College during the Rising.
“Margaret was shot four times and at the time of surrendering was taken to hospital, the only member of the garrison not to be arrested and held in Richmond Barracks. Many eyewitness accounts state that Countess Markievicz hid her will in the lining of Margaret’s coat. It is also reputed that the tricolour was secreted on Margaret to insure it escaped falling into the British Army’s possession.’
“We are delighted that the tricolour and many other wonderful artefacts such as Margaret’s Cumann na mBan belt and brooch, which are of immense historical significance, will be coming to RCSI for our 2016 exhibition.”
These artefacts are just a few of a wealth of material, some of which is on display to the public for the first time, that will feature in RCSI’s exhibition. RCSI will also host a visual spectacle on Culture Night 2016, taking place in September.
“I encourage anyone who has an interest in the historic events of Easter 1916 to come along to the RCSI events in 2016. From an original bullet hole in one of the internal doors, to rooms that remain identical to when the rebels occupied the building, it is an opportunity to experience a piece of living history,” Meadhbh concluded.
Janet Wilkinson, grand-niece of Margaret Skinnider, presenting artefact’s that will be on display during RCSI’s exhibition, to Mr Declan Magee, President of RCSI.
RCSI 2016 EXHIBITION AND LECTURE SERIES
23RD MARCH - 17TH APRIL 2016
Wednesday 23rd March Dr. Mary McAuliffe
– RCSI and 1916
Thursday 24th March Padraig Yeates
– Exploring the British Empire in 1916 and Dublin’s place within it
Tuesday 29th March Paul O’Brien ‘Shootout
-The Battle for St Stephens Green’
Wednesday 30th March Tony Kinsella ‘Blood and Bandages
–Medicine and the Easter Rising’
Thursday 31st March Lisa Godson & Joanna Bruck ‘Stuff Matters
–The Material Culture of 1916’
Friday 1st April Comdt Victor Laing
– ‘The Rising: A statement of intent, successes and failures’
Saturday 2nd April Brian Hughes
‘Michael Mallin’
Thursday 7th April Padraig Allen
– ‘St. John Ambulance and the Easter Rising’
For further information and bookings visit www.rcsi.ie/2016
Welcoming environment
Small classes
Internationally recognised programmes
Interesting course work
Baccalaureate in Theology & Arts (BAth)
CAO code MU001
Baccalaureate in Theology (BTh)
CAO code MU002
Mature Students Welcome
Theological Studies (Part-time)
Pastoral Theology
Pastoral Liturgy
MTh in Theology (one or two years) MLM in Liturgical Music PhD in Theology
Licentiate in Divinity (STL) Doctoral Degree in Divinity (DD)
The exhibition The Birth of a Nation is quite simply the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the County Museum, Dundalk.
This was the proverbial once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a chance (and indeed a privilege) to work with some of the most important artefacts in Irish history – artefacts which have shaped, moulded and directed the very nature in which the country and we as a race have developed. These artefacts include Robert Emmet’s proclamation and deathmask; Daniel O’Connell’s lifemask; a letter by Thomas Meagher containing the first reference to the tricolour; items owned by every one of the Proclamation’s signatories (including draft manuscripts of plays by Patrick Pearse and Thomas MacDonagh); the map of Kerry used by Roger Casement when shipping arms into Ireland; a sketch by Constance Markievicz; as well as an original copy of the Proclamation of Independence.
Perhaps most importantly by the very nature of the collection this was an opportunity to examine the Rising not as an end in itself but as part of a larger picture. This was the chance to put the events of that Easter Week against the background of Oliver Cromwell in Ireland (and the devastating effect he had in Drogheda); the Battle of the Boyne; the rebellions of Tone and Emmet as well as World War 1. In essence, to provide an overview of Irish history articulated
through contemporary artefacts owned or strongly associated with some of Ireland’s most revered historical figures.
Museum exhibitions are generally a long time in the planning and this is no exception, taking approximately 18 months in the making (ranging from meetings with stakeholders, initial drawings, internal planning meetings, revisions etc). An abiding feature of the exhibition is the use of personal papers which reveal much about the personalities of their owners. Perhaps the most evocative of these is the letter from Patrick Fogarty to his mother. Having been imprisoned for his role in the Rising he writes from his cell:
I hope in your next letter, you will be sure I will be out very soon, as I did not know that I was going out for such trouble, on Easter Monday. As I thought it was only for a march, and when I do get home, I promise you I will be more careful, not to bring such worry to you any more.
It is quite easy to conjure up the almost stereotypical image of the apologetic son imploring his mother’s forgiveness with the timeless promise of ‘I won’t do that again, ... I promise.’
Elsewhere a diary entry refers to shots being fired in the vicinity of Kilmainham Gaol with the hope expressed that those
imprisoned will soon be rescued by their comrades, and then the realisation dawns that the shots are those of the firing squads, the executions have begun. With this realisation one can almost see the writer’s hope of freedom being savagely extinguished.
Of course it is too easy to become embroiled in the political and militaristic feel that naturally comes to the fore. As a counter to this the exhibition also features items highlighting the cultural renaissance that was taking part at the time. Key amongst these is a letter from W B Yeats suggesting several names as possible Board members for the Abbey, whilst such items provide some respite from the political situation the inclusion of a GAA programme for a Gaelic Football match between Kerry and Wexford with Harry Boland as referee is another reminder of how the national question impacted upon all aspects of Irish society.
Ultimately the exhibition is a salient reminder of the nature of Irish history and despite our desire and protestations to the contrary this is a story that defies a simple black and white analysis, it requires the visitor to examine previously held conceptions with a open mind as one visitor wrote in our comments book - Now I understand whereas before I just knew.
The Birth of a Nation will run until the end of April 2016 and admission is free. More information may be had by checking www.dundalkmuseum.ie Tel: 042 9392999
A diary entry refers to shots being fired in the vicinity of Kilmainham Gaol with the hope expressed that those imprisoned will soon be rescued by their comrades, and then the realisation dawns that the shots are those of the firing squads, the executions have begun. With this realisation one can almost see the writer’s hope of freedom being savagely extinguished.
Friday, 10th June & Saturday, 11th June 2016
Teagasc, in partnership with Galway County Council, will host a major national event this year commemorating Farming and Country Life 1916-2016.
The event seeks to reflect on developments in farming and country life across Ireland over the last century.
There will be a series of highly interactive villages that will explore all aspects of farming and country life in Ireland. Villages at the event will include:
• The 1916 Rising
• Farm Family and Rural Life
• The Land
• Education and Co-operation
• Mechanization of Farming
• Livestock
• Sporting and Cultural Life
1916 and the ancient spirit of the Irish
In 1967, Frankie, a young boy not yet 10 years old, sat by his grandfather’s kitchen table and watched him eat, he was a gentle man with kind eyes and a broad smile. But Frankie was impatient for him to finish because he had a ‘good’ question to ask him, not like the other ‘silly’ questions he had asked him yesterday.
“Granda, was 1916 important?” He asked, full of childish innocence. The old man, who unbeknownst to the young boy had cancer and less than a year to live, was a veteran of the 1916 Easter Rebellion and asking him such a question was akin to asking Nelson Mandela ‘was apartheid important’.
Before answering he rearranged the table ware; moving the butter dish, the milk jug, the jam pot, salt cellar and so on. “This was the GPO, the headquarters of the Rising,” he said, tapping the butter dish. This was Dublin Castle… College of Surgeons…, Bolands…, Mount Street…, and this was Jacobs, this is where I was.
He explained the strategic importance of each of these locations, occupied by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, during Easter Week. It was a day by day account of what happened when 1,600 lightly armed men and women stood against 20,000 British soldiers, with heavy artillery.
“Noble act or folly their courage was never questioned.”
From time to time his mind wandered, Frankie was oblivious to any mood change but Granny, who was by the cooker, could see he was reliving certain moments, visiting old ghosts, friend and foe. He had joined the Volunteers to fight for social justice and an independent Ireland and much had been done in its pursuit.
After several hours his story was told, he had passed the baton of history. “But always remember Frankie” he said, placing his hand on the boys head, “we didn’t know an independent Ireland was coming. The men and women of 1916
“But always remember Frankie” he said, placing his hand on the boys head, “we didn’t know an independent Ireland was coming. The men and women of 1916 got their courage from the ancient spirit of the Irish. It was the ancient spirit of the Irish that cracked the British Empire.”
got their courage from the ancient spirit of the Irish. It was the ancient spirit of the Irish that cracked the British Empire.”
Mick Smith died of cancer and Frankie went on to study history at Trinity College Dublin, ever mindful that Irishness is not confined to a time or place but is an ancient spirit that spans millennia and continents.
Now, on the centenary of the 1916 Rising he has set about
illuminating the 10,000 year old Irish spirit that inspired 1,600 men and women to declare to the British Empire ‘This is not your country. We are not your people.’
Story of the Irish is Ireland’s most unique visitor attraction, located in a new purpose built 17,000 sq. ft. premises in Smithfield, Dublin 7. It is a theatrical presentation of Ireland’s ancient history and uses live theatre, cinema and special effects to immerse the visitor in the 10,000 year old Spirit of the Irish.
Mick Smith
It is a visitor ‘experience’ that touches the emotions of the audience, nevertheless, all historical content is factual and so it is suitable for both history enthusiasts and those with no existing knowledge of Irish heritage.
This is a “must see” for anyone who wants to put the 1916 Rising into context, but be prepared for an emotional journey.
Why not study for your History Masters at the University of Limerick?
Why not study for your History Masters at the University of Limerick? The Department of History offers the following taught programmes:
Why not study for your History Masters at the University of Limerick? The Department of History offers the following taught programmes:
The Department of History offers the following taught programmes:
MA in History (one-year, full-time)
MA in the History of Family (one-year full-time or two-year part-time, also available online)
in the History of Family (one-year full-time or two-year part-time, also available online)
The Department of History is an award-winning vibrant department committed to excellence in research and teaching. Its members are acknowledged leaders in their respective fields and each contributes to postgraduate teaching and supervision.
Both programmes combine taught modules and a research dissertation of c.20,000 words. Students choose from a menu of core and optional modules including historical methods, gender history, public history (with an innovative shortterm internship with a cultural institution), Irish, European and International history. Each programme will prepare you for a rewarding career in both the public and private sectors; if considering further research, you will have an excellent foundation for the Ph.D. degree.
The Department of History is an award-winning vibrant department committed to excellence in research and teaching. Its members are acknowledged leaders in their respective fields and each contributes to postgraduate teaching and supervision. Both programmes combine taught modules and a research dissertation of c.20,000 words. Students choose from a menu of core and optional modules including historical methods, gender history, public history (with an innovative short-term internship with a cultural institution), Irish, European and International history. Each programme will prepare you for a rewarding career in both the public and private sectors; if considering further research, you will have an excellent foundation for the Ph.D. degree.
The Department of History is an award-winning vibrant department committed to excellence in research and teaching. Its members are acknowledged leaders in their respective fields and each contributes to postgraduate teaching and supervision. Both programmes combine taught modules and a research dissertation of c.20,000 words. Students choose from a menu of core and optional modules including historical methods, gender history, public history (with an innovative short-term internship with a cultural institution), Irish, European and International history. Each programme will prepare you for a rewarding career in both the public and private sectors; if considering further research, you will have an excellent foundation for the Ph.D. degree.
Applicants should have, or expect to gain, a first class or a second class honours degree in history or in a cognate area. Applicants with approved equivalent qualifications, or substantial relevant professional experience may also be considered for admission.
Applicants should have, or expect to gain, a first class or a second class honours degree in history or in a cognate area. Applicants with approved equivalent qualifications, or substantial relevant professional experience may also be considered for admission. Further information: http://www.ul.ie/ULH/postgraduate-studies
For a brochure and application form contact:
Further information: http://www.ul.ie/ULH/postgraduate-studies
For a brochure and application form contact:
Postgraduate Admissions Office Graduate School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +353-61-234377
Graduate School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
Tel: +353-61-234377 Fax: +353-61-233287
Fax: +353-61-233287
Email: postgradadmissions@ul.ie
Applicants should have, or expect to gain, a first class or a second class honours degree in history or in a cognate area. Applicants with approved equivalent qualifications, or substantial relevant professional experience may also be considered for admission.
Email: postgradadmissions@ul.ie
Further information: http://www.ul.ie/ULH/postgraduate-studies
The Department of History at the University of Limerick (UL) is the youngest and one of the smallest in the country yet it has an international reputation for excellence. Created in 2002, it has a full-time faculty of eight and three teaching assistants.Professor Anthony McElligott at the Department of History talks to Aideen Sutton.
As a small department it cannot compete with Dublin’s big universities: UCD and TCD; but it more than holds its own vis-à-vis other universities around the country. The Department teaches between 550 and 600 students across a range of programmes over their four-year cycle of studies. Its programmes comprise a very strong offering in Irish, European (with a particular focus on Germany, Spain and France), and Irish-American history from the 1500s to the present day. And the Department has just made a new faculty appointment in Middle Eastern political, urban and cultural history, adding to
While any centenary is clearly significant, the question to be asked is for whom it is significant. On the one hand, the Easter Rising and the Proclamation is primarily significant as the occasion when the Irish Republic was declared and, as such, it is a foundational moment on a par with France’s Bastille Day or the 4th of July in the USA.
its teaching portfolio spanning social, cultural and gender, as well as statecraft and politics in the past.
“We offer three Masters Programmes, one of which we deliver to the local community with our sister institution MIC. In the three years to 2014, we graduated 80 MA students. Our Masters in History of Family programme is unique to Ireland and is delivered online and from the campus,” explained Head
“We find that employers like the well-rounded and intellectually critical graduate we produce. What is important to point out, is that our success as a teaching department is underpinned by our individual research. Sometimes there is a misconception about what people do in universities. I recently spoke with parents of prospective students and they appeared to think that lecturing at third level is like teaching at second level,” said Professor McElligott.
“We do not use a set syllabus to teach, we create it ourselves. We are the people who research and write the texts and scholarly articles. Indeed, we are a very strong research based department. Dr Ruan O’Donnell (Senior Lecturer) has just published the second volume of an important three volume history on IRA prisoners in the North and UK: Special Category: The IRA in English Prisons, covering the years 1975-1985. His biography of Padraig Pearse will be launched at the GPO later next month as part of the Decade of Centenaries. Meanwhile my colleague, Professor Bernadette Whelan’s (Associate Professor) book American government in Ireland, a history of the US consular Service 1790-1913 is the standard bearer in the field of Irish-American history, while the book she published with two colleagues from Queen’s Belfast and Galway, Reading the Irishwoman: Studies in Cultural Encounters and Exchange, 1714-1960 is testimony to the riches to be gained from interdisciplinary approaches to the past.
“One of our younger stars, Dr Ciara Breathnach, wrote the definitive history of people and poverty in the west of Ireland, The Congested Districts Board of Ireland, 1891-1923, poverty and development in the West of Ireland, while another colleague, Dr Richard Kirwan is an award-winning scholar – as his book Empowerment and Representation at the University in Early Modern Germany: Helmstedt and Würzburg, 15761634, demonstrates. And my own book published last year on the Weimer Republic and the early days of the Third Reich is now required reading on history courses in the USA, UK and in Germany.
“Other colleagues are also very active. In the past two years as a department we published six monographs which is quite a lot for a small department. And Bernadette received a
special commendation for her research in Irish women’s history, indeed, she is renowned scholar in that area, as Ciara is in the history of poverty and medicine in Ireland. Indeed, two of our junior colleagues, Dr David Fleming and Dr Alistair Malcolm are currently Fulbright Scholar Montana University and Visiting Fellow, University of St Andrews respectively, each completing a major study in their areas of expertise (18th Century Ireland and 17th Century Spanish Court Politics).
“Two of my colleagues are members of the Royal Irish Academy, one of the oldest and most august academic bodies in the world (established in 1785), which is a great honour –and we are the only department in the university to hold this honour; two are members of the Royal Historical Society in the UK and one is an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and she is the Ministerial nominee to the Board of the Heritage Council of Ireland. Some of us also hold visiting professorships in the USA and in Europe, or even further afield.
“That speaks to the quality and international standing of the Department. We might be the youngest Department in the country and one of the smallest in the country but we definitely punch above our weight for a department of its size.”
The Munster region is the major catchment for students attending UL’s Department of History but it also attracts students from elsewhere in the country. The modern and spacious campus with its social and sporting facilities is a major attraction. Increasingly UL is attracting larger numbers of students from the UK and the North as well as a very strong presence of American Study Abroad and European students via the Erasmus scheme.
“We have a diverse range of students of many nationalities and backgrounds, and we have a very positive policy on mature students and students coming through less traditional channels,” continued Prof McElligott.
“While some find it a culture shock when they get here, it is incumbent on us as public servants to help integrate them and ease their experience while here; my colleagues are pretty good at that.
“We are also a young Department in other respects, my
colleagues are in their 30s and 40s with a couple of exceptions - I am in my 60s,” he said and continued, “the age and gender profile of any department can be significant for students in terms of how they might relate to their subject but also in terms of how faculty are seen to relate to them. Colleagues are approachable and their enthusiasm quickly rubs off onto students. While not a golden rule, mature students find they can relate to and have greater confidence in, let’s say, with colleagues of ‘more mature years’ perhaps because there is a perception of shared generational experiences.
“We are very passionate about our subject and what we do which partly explain the good relations with students; we are accessible and students like to study with us”.
Part of UL’s contribution to the Decade of Centenary celebrations will be the launch in February at the GPO in Dublin of Dr Ruan O’Donnell’s new biography of Padraig Pearse. The department is also engaged in a year-long programme of events in Limerick, in partnership with the City Archives, the Hunt Museum and of course with its sister institution MIC.
As an historian, Prof McElligott believes that while any centenary is clearly significant, the question to be asked is for whom it is significant. On the one hand, the Easter Rising and the Proclamation is primarily significant as the occasion when the Irish Republic was declared and, as such, it is a foundational moment on a par with France’s Bastille Day or the 4th of July in the USA.
Its significance should lie in the opportunity it gives us to examine our historical conscience as a state and a nation and how Ireland as a sovereign state and as a society has developed since 1916. For historians the centenary is an excellent opportunity to reassess this event in its historical context and to question its various resonances in the present. Newly available sources, some of which are digital, facilitate a far more in depth consideration of Easter Week.
“The president of the Royal Irish Academy, Professor Mary Daly made clear in a talk she gave at UL in 2013 when the department launched its programme of seminars dealing with the Decade of Centenaries (her talk can be listened to at http:// www.ul.ie/ULH/podcasts-and-videos), the commemorations comprise a series of parallel events sponsored by the state, political parties, social and cultural organizations, private interests and community groups. As such, a very wide spectrum
of society is represented and there is no single narrative. “I can see that with all the local committees and events being organised up and down the country,” said Prof McElligott.
“Thus while the government will do its own thing to claim the past and validate its actions, the real history making is taking place in local communities outside of formal spaces. We therefore have an interesting development in that the history of the Rising will be utilized by politicians and political parties who wish to claim the event for themselves, the real inheritors of the Easter Rising, namely the people of Ireland, will connect to that tradition in their own way. In some ways, the commemoration both projects a sense of ‘Irishness’ defined by the Proclamation and the act of rebellion, as well as exposing the gap between the political elite and people.
“There is going to be a lot of flag waving. But what significance is it for ordinary people on the ground? How does it speak to Irish non-nationals?” he asked. The Centenary is of tremendous significance for it forces us not only to think about the grander political issue which underpins the Proclamation, but more importantly those issues of equality and freedom from oppression and discrimination encapsulated in the words ‘ cherishing all the children of the nation equally’ whatever their colour, creed, gender or political persuasion.”
Thus there is a huge difference, he said, between the centenary being celebrated by ordinary communities and that which is being fashioned by the state.
Looking at the central document of the Easter 1916 Rising, the Proclamation, 100 years on, the question to ask is: what is it about and how much of its ideals have been achieved?
Prof McElligott’s answer is that probably about 80% of the proclamation’s aspirations have been fulfilled. However, not everyone will necessarily agree with that verdict. The history of the Rising and its relevance or impact has generated a vast historical literature and conflicting interpretations. Until very recently, approaches to the history of the Rising reflected a partisanship that frequently echoed the positions at the time. Today, while some authors continue to engage in this Civil War ‘fisticuffs’, much of this has been superseded by more nuanced and sober scholarly analysis. Rather than being a history that divided, a more integrated and inclusive history is being offered by a younger generation of historians, such as Dr Diane Urquhart from the Institute for Irish Studies at Liverpool
University or Dr Daithi O Corrain from St Patrick’s College Drumcondra.
While the ideals of the Proclamation were advanced for any society in 1916, their assertion revealed the democratic impulse of its authors, who, according to McElligott, cannot be seen in ‘Irish isolation’, for they were very much part of an international movement of national liberation and social and political emancipation in the first half of the 20th Century.
“Take the ideal from the Proclamation of ‘the right of the people of Ireland to ownership of Ireland and unfettered control of Irish destiny’ but today the day-to-day lives of ordinary people is still being determined by government policies which sometimes do not even originate in Ireland!” he said.
“The question of sovereignty and selfdetermination was altered by the imposition of partition in 1921 and latterly by the role of the so-called Troika. Nonetheless, the strikingly modern tone of the document retains its appeal in the present. And it is sometimes echoed at a societal level, for instance, in relation to its appeal for ‘civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities’.
“Recent developments in equal rights for gay people shows that Ireland is at the vanguard of that development European wide, yet in other areas we are lagging behind. Today Irish society is incredibly progressive in many ways and recent developments bear that out with the positive response of the Irish people to the refugee crisis.
Catriona Crowe
Looking at the central document of the Easter 1916 Rising, the Proclamation, 100 years on, the question to ask is: what is it about and how much of its ideals have been achieved? Prof McElligott’s answer is that probably about 80% of the proclamation’s aspirations have been fulfilled.
“In 1916, Ireland had some of the worst social conditions encountered anywhere in Britain or Europe. Social poverty and the exclusion it implies in Ireland at the beginning of the 21st century should not be on our lips for debate, it should be taken as a given that there is none. And
Vin O’Connell
yet, not all people can exercise the right to housing, the right to good education, the right to work.
“We are still living in an age of emigration - sometimes when asked what I do for a living, I say I work in the export industry - producing Irish graduates for export!
“As a critical people, we need to look behind the rhetoric of the official commemoration programme. A key theme of the Proclamation was the question of the ownership of Ireland – it was significant in 1916, and the theme resonates in our present day: in very concrete terms, who has ownership of Ireland and its resources? Recent conflicts over taxation, privatization of utilities and so forth, tell us that the struggle implicit in the Proclamation is perhaps not over,” he said.
“Also, what about the very foundation of democracy: the local state? What has happened to it since 1921? We probably now live in one of the most centralized states in Europe. Ever since the foundation of the state power and resources have been drawn to the centre at the expense of local government – and this process, begun under de Valera in the 1930s, has intensified in the past eight years or so. Living and symptomatic examples of this must be both the Higher Education Authority and the HSE – two entities that are not only hierarchically centralized but aloof from their constituents. In this regard they have replaced the Catholic Church. The lack of democratic processes in these large bodies indicates to me that some of the ideals of Easter 1916 have not been met, but as a society, if not as a state, we have moved in the right direction.”
The status of Irish Republicanism prior to the proclamation has been largely concerned with the expression of a militaristic
Ogham is the first known written language of Ireland. Many Irish names make their first appearence in history on the Ogham stones. By having your name inscribed in Ogham you can share a piece of Ireland’s history, as more than two thousand years later this ancient script is still in use.
Celebrating 100 years of the 1916 Rising.
In 1970, Irish Silversmith Michael Hillard was inspired to design the original History of Ireland collection from the carvings found on celtic high crosses throughout Ireland, dating back to the 5th century. Since then the designs have evolved, becoming more contemporary but the designer’s inspiration and message remain as a constant reminder of our history.
Each piece in the History of Ireland collection is engraved with 12 symbols that represent some of the most historical eras in Irish history. It begins in the Neolithic age with the Celtic swirl, then to St. Patrick, the magnificent Round towers from 9th century Ireland, the Vikings, the Norman invasion, the Battle of the Boyne, United Irishmen, the Irish Flag, the Great Famine, Emigration, the GPO and ends with the Partition of Ireland. The GPO building is synonymous as a symbol of the 1916 Rising, celebrating its centenary this Easter.
The Easter Rising was organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, with the aim to end British rule in Ireland and form a Republic. On the morning of the 24th April 1916, the GPO was chosen as the headquarters of the military operation. Padraig Pearse declared the proclamation of the Republic on the front steps. Pearse began: “Irishmen and Irishwomen: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she
receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom…”
After days of relentless shelling by the British forces, the Republican military council was finally forced from their headquarters when the GPO caught fire. At first the Rising seemed to achieve little, however after all seven signatories of the proclamation were executed, outrage echoed throughout Ireland and beyond. Support for the cause grew and 6 years later Ireland was declared an independent state.
To mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, each piece will be stamped with a commemorative limited edition hallmark released by the Assay Office at Dublin Castle. Available in Sterling Silver and 14ct Gold each piece of jewellery is crafted in the finest detail to the highest standard, using centuries old craftsmanship.
Find out more at www.historyofireland.ie
Coillte, Ireland’s national forestry company, manages 445,000 hectares of land across Ireland to deliver environmental and social benefits for all to enjoy.
We plant a staggering 15 million trees per year, replacing those that we harvest, sowing the seeds of a healthy Irish forestry industry for decades to come.
The Irish Volunteers were quite well organised in north Kildare; Lieutenant Eamonn O’ Kelly arrived in Maynooth on Holy Thursday 1916, aware of the plan for an insurrection on Easter Sunday, having being appointed to his position as a County Organiser by Padriag Pearse.
O’ Kelly told Domhnall Ua Buachalla, the local leader of the force, to assemble his men on Easter Sunday in Maynooth town, and from there proceed to Bodenstown Churchyard, to meet with other Kildare Volunteers.
Counter-orders caused confusion, no sooner had the men committed themselves to a rising than word came through via a dispatch from Dublin that the mobilisation was called off.
It would be Easter Monday evening before they knew for sure an insurrection was underway. The men were armed, though they didn’t carry rifles but rather single shotguns and roughly 40 rounds of ammunition.
At 7.15pm on Easter Monday 1916, with the Rising well underway, 15 men left the town of Maynooth receiving a blessing from the then president of St Patrick’s College to march to Dublin.
They walked along the Royal Canal to Leixlip, then taking
the railway tracks, marching on to Dublin through Glasnevin Cemetery. Arriving at the GPO, Padraig Pearse greeted them by saying “Your actions in marching from Kildare, even if you do no more in the Rebellion, will gain you a place in history”.
Domhnall Ua Buachalla – who later became Governer General of the Free State -Liam O’Regan, Oliver Ryan, Tim Tyrrell, Jack Graves, Tom Harris, Patrick Kirwan, Joe Ledwidge, Jack Maguire, Matthew Maguire, Tom Mangan, Ted O’Kelly, Pat Weafer, Patrick Colgan and Tom Byrne were the 15 Volunteers.
These 15 men did, as Pearse predicted, gain their place in history and are known to this day as the ‘Maynooth 15’.
In 2013, members of the community in Maynooth gathered at a public meeting to form the Maynooth 1916 Centenary Committee, a non-political group made up of representatives from the local scouts, brass & reed band, historical society and Ex-Defence Forces organisations.
Former Ceremonial Sergeant of the Defence Forces, Paul Clarke explained that no one knew what to expect from that first meeting. However, local support from the business and local communities ensured that the committee was galvanised and ready to hold an Easter Parade in 2014.
The Parade drew great crowds with family members of the ‘Maynooth 15’ in attendance. In 2015, the committee was asked to march in the St Patrick’s Day Parade and the Easter Parade was even a bigger occasion.
“We decided to go all out for 2016. We received grants from Kildare County Council, Maynooth University and St Patrick’s College and we are holding fundraising events such as table quizzes and bag packing to fund our activities,” said Sgt Clarke.
The Maynooth 1916 Centenary Committee has been receiving huge support from the local community, said committee member Dr Ken Maddock of Maynooth University.
“The local Tidy Towns committee has been brilliant; they were out at 7am on New Year’s Day carrying out a clean-up of the town ahead of our first ceremony,” said Dr Maddock.
“This centenary has galvanised the whole community. This is a community commemoration of 15 men from the community 100 years ago by the community of today.”
The Maynooth 1916 Centenary celebrations commenced on New Year’s Day with the ‘Maynooth 15’ Ceremonial Flag raising in the town Square, where a monument in honour of the 1916 Volunteers stands. The flag was designed by Sgt Paul Clarke and he had the honour of hoisting it; it will fly in the Square for the year and will be taken down during a closing ceremony on 31st December.
For the next couple of months, the committee members will be visiting all the schools in Maynooth to give talks to students on the ‘Maynooth 15’. The next major event takes place on 28th March with a wreath laying ceremony in The Square which will include the reading of the proclamation, a minute’s silence, the playing of the Last Post and the raising
“This centenary has galvanised the whole community. This is a community commemoration of 15 men from the community 100 years ago by the community of today.”
of the national flag to full mast, the playing of Reveille and the National Anthem. This ceremony will be followed by a display by the Irish Military Group, Irish dancing displays, band recitals, live traditional music, children’s activities and a battle re-enactment. There will also be a play on the ‘Maynooth 15’ outside the site of the former shop on Main Street run by Domhnall Ua Buachalla’s family.
On 23rd April, the committee and members of the public will retrace the steps of the ‘Maynooth 15’ from the College gates in the town to the GPO in Dublin. They will be met at the GPO by the Mayor of Dublin who will recite the words said to the ‘Maynooth 15’ by Padraig Pearse in 1916.
The Committee will keep the memory of the ‘Maynooth 15’ alive by taking part in local events during National Heritage Week from 22nd to 28th August and the official closing of the Maynooth 2016 Centenary celebrations and the lowering of the ‘Maynooth 15’ town flag will take place on 31st December.
“We have linked up with 13 family members of the ‘Maynooth 15’ – a lot of them did not have families,” explained Sgt Clarke.
“This year people will be coming from the States and Australia as well as from all over the country for the Maynooth 1916 centenary celebrations.”
Sheila O’Leary, the 94-year-old daughter of Maynooth Volunteer Tom Byrne, attended the flag raising ceremony in Maynooth on New Year’s Day. She was emotional but Dr Maddock said that her grandson told him that she had been so excited that her father was being honoured and remembered; it meant so much to her.
“People are telling us they appreciate what we are doing so much. For that reason alone, we are so glad that we got involved in organising these commemoration events to the ‘Maynooth 15’,” said Sgt Clarke.
The Committee plans to maintain an Easter Parade as an annual event to keep the memory of the ‘Maynooth 15’ alive in the minds of the local community.
One of the north Kildare Volunteers in the 1916 Easter Rising, who is lying in an unmarked grave in Glasnevin Cemetery, will have a suitable plaque erected to honour and commemorate him this year.
Maynooth based author and playwright, Martina Reilly, while researching the Rebellion for a play she has written on the 15 Maynooth Volunteers who took part in the Rising, located Oliver Ryan’s grave in Glasnevin.
Oliver Ryan, the son of Cecelia Ryan, was born in 1887 in a north Dublin workhouse. His sister Frances was blind and they had a poverty stricken childhood with their mother spending time in the Richmond Hospital.
Oliver arrived in Maynooth in 1911 to work in the kitchens in St Patrick’s College and in 1916, he joined with 14 other north Kildare Volunteers to march to the GPO on Easter Monday evening when word came through that the insurrection had gone ahead.
The human story of the ‘Maynooth 15’ who marched from the town along the banks of the Royal Canal to Leixlip and then along the railway tracks, then through Glasnevin Cemetery before reaching the GPO captured Martina’s imagination.
Led by Domhnall Ua Buachalla, who went on to become Governor General of the Free State, the Volunteers were ordinary men with little or no military backgrounds. Many of them had never before held or fired a gun.
Deciding to take on a moving re-enactment of the ‘Maynooth 15’s’ journey to Dublin and participating in the Rising, Martina began researching witness statements and other 1916 Rising archives in the National Library.
“I decided to concentrate on one of the lesser known Maynooth volunteers and I thought that would be more interesting, so the play is set through the eyes of Oliver Ryan,” explained Martina.
“Oliver only joined the Volunteers on Easter Monday when they arrived at the college to receive a blessing from the then president. He had his own gun and he set off with the other Volunteers for the GPO.
“I found his sister Frances’ grave in Glasnevin and while I also found Oliver’s, it is unmarked as his grave plot was resold. I contacted the National Graves’ Association and they gave me a lot of information and I thought that something
should be done to mark his grave.
“Kildare County Council had already given me funding for the play but they are very interested in a proper memorial to Oliver Ryan and they have agreed to pay for a plaque,” she said.
“I am now in talks with Glasnevin Cemetery and hopefully a memorial can be sorted out soon. I am delighted that if anything is to come out of the play, it will be to remember a life; that the life of Oliver Ryan will be remembered.”
Maynooth Drama Group, An Nuadha Players were approached by Martina to take on the task of ensuring that her play ‘Conquered Not We Were’ is performed.
“We were delighted to get behind Martina as she has been a member of our group for some time and we have performed her plays in the past,” said An Nuadha Players’ Chairman, Rian Glynn.
“When she asked us, no one had any doubts or objections about jumping onto it straight away. This is not just a story about 1916, it is a story about Maynooth and we were eager to give is as much support as we possibly could.”
Rehearsals for ‘Conquered Not We Were’ are well underway and this massive undertaking will be performed on 26th and 28th March. The outdoor moving play will start in St Patrick’s College and follow the route of the ‘Maynooth 15’ as they marched out of the town. As walking along the canal bank had to be ruled out for health and safety reasons, this section of the ‘Maynooth 15’s’ march will be replicated along Carton Avenue with the GPO scenes taking place in Carton House.
“The play will go ahead no matter what the weather is like, so we may have to warned the audiences to come along with warm coats and umbrellas!” quipped Martina.
“I have stuck to the facts of the ‘Maynooth 15’ but in trying to humanise them, I have tried to put into the script what I think they might have talked about as they marched on their journey into the GPO.
“That is where the dramatic licence comes in. You can never get a full portrait of someone as everyone who knew a person has their own views on the kind of person they were.”
Many of the women who played a key role in the Easter Rebellion were engaged in two separate but interconnected struggles - the fight to become citizens of an independent nation and the fight to be treated as equal citizens.
Around 500 invited guests and members of the public attended the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham to mark international Women’s Day and pay tribute to the women involved in the 1916 Rising.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Críona Ní Dhálaigh, Tánaiste
Joan Burton, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys, Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, Director of the Arts Council Orlaith McBride and Chair of Culture Ireland Mary McCarthy were all in attendance to hear a keynote address from President Michael D. Higgins, who was met by an all-female Captain’s Honour Guard made up of members of the Army, Navy and Airs Corps.
In his address, the President said that: “as we come together to honour the women of 1916 it is appropriate that we recall... the part they played in laying the foundations of the Ireland in which we live, and that we reflect on all that remains to be done if we are to live up to the dreams of equality and justice that animated those women of our past”.
President Higgins highlighted that the women of the Rising had to overcome many obstacles as they sought to join the rebellion and he outlined how after the Easter Rising women continued to play a huge part throughout the revolutionary period.
“Given the context of the early 20th Century, a time infused by cultural and social ideals of domesticity and respectability for women, when the conventional path for them was to tend to the affairs of home, not public ones, those women from our past were truly, boundary breakers,” President Higgins said.
“As we reflect...on the contribution women of the Irish revolutionary movement, the irony of their subsequent marginalisation in the first five decades of our independence appears more starkly.”
Rose McNamara, the officer in command of the female battaliion at the Marrowbone Lane Distillery, presented herself and 21 other women to the British at the surrender.
The President’s speech was followed by a performance of new music by Simon O’Connor, an extract from ‘Left BehindSongs of the 1916 Widows’ performed by members of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
President Higgins also viewed a specially commissioned ‘Living for Ireland’ quilt, in which each panel was designed by a woman activist to commemorate the 77 women held in Richmond Barracks in 1916.
Countess Markievicz who was one of the women held in Richmond Barracks was undoubtedly the female lead of the Easter Rising. A charismatic revolutionary, politician, suffragette and socialist, she had a remarkable life before and after 1916.
In the early stages of the fighting she famously shot a policeman in the head with a pistol and later she and a group of female fighters carried out a number of sniper attacks on British troops in the city centre and afterwards demanded they be allowed to bomb the Shelbourne Hotel. Their commanding officer Michael Malinn initially refused on the grounds that the risks were “too great”.
Countess Markievicz was indignant, and responded saying the Proclamation stated women were equal and should have the same right to risk their lives as men. Malinn relented, and a number of women were shot on their mission to the Shelbourne.
Although Countess Marievicz was sentenced to death for her part in the Rising, her sentence was commuted to life in prison on account of her gender. Later, when other nations were still fighting to secure voting rights for women, Markievicz had become one of the first women in the world to hold a cabinet position, as Minister for Labour in the Irish Republic from 1919-1922.
The Proclamation itself was a radical endorsement of equal rights for women in Irish society. “The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and
Irishwoman,” it reads. “The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally.”
The right of Irish women (over 30) to vote was granted in 1918 while American women won their 80-year campaign for the vote in 1920..
More than 100 women are said to have taken part directly in the Rising. Many were members of the republican organisation Cumann na mBan, which declared in its constitution an explicit commitment to the use of force by arms against crown forces in Ireland. The group was anchored in two powerful ideologies which drove the socio-political transformation of Ireland at the time –feminism and nationalism.
Weapons training was a core part of Cumman na mBan’s activities, having sworn in its constitution to “teach its members first aid, drill, signalling and rifle practice in order to aid the men of Ireland”. Under its constitution, the organisation’s primary aim was to “advance the cause of Irish liberty”.
The rebel women of 1916 fought bravely alongside their male colleagues and were not confined, as is commonly believed, to nursing duties or other tasks traditionally associated with women.On Easter Monday as the Rising began, 40 women entered the General Post Office with their male counterparts. One of them – Winifred Carney –arrived armed with a Webley revolver and a typewriter. By nightfall female insurgents were established in all the major rebel strongholds dotted across the city – bar one.
Under the command of Sean Connolly, a contingent of ten men and nine women armed with revolvers launched an attack on the gates of Dublin Castle and after failing to gain entry, they instead took over City Hall.
Dr Kathleen Lynn, who was the only officer present, eventually surrendered this position to the British forces. But the British refused to accept surrender from a woman and seemed confused by the women they encountered throughout the city, initially asking them to “go home”.
Many like Kathleen Lynn were eventually arrested and were sentenced to death, but after staging hunger strikes succeeded in having their sentences commuted to life imprisonment and were eventually released.
In the years that followed, women continued to play a high
profile in the emerging Republic. All over the country in small towns and remote rural areas, women from all walks of life were supporting the war effort, hiding men who were on the run, organising fundraising events and their lives in the fight for freedom.
A London Newspaper of the time, The Sunday Graphic, published an article headlined “Irish Gunwoman Menace”, describing Irish women as “trigger happy harpies” and in a pastoral letter of 1922, the Catholic hierarchy urged all women to desist from revolutionary activitities.
Eamon de Valera apparently refused, in defiance of the orders of Pearse and Connolly, to allow women fighters into Boland’s Mill.
One Cumann na mBan member, Sighle Bean Ui Donnachadha, remarked: “De Valera refused absolutely to have Cumann na mBan girls in the posts. The result, I believe, was that the garrison there did not stand up to the siege as well as in other posts.”
Among the last people to leave the GPO were Cumann na mBan members Winnie Carney, Julia Grenan and Elizabeth O’Farrell. Grenan was a dispatch carrier during Easter week and brought information from the GPO to garrisons around the city.
In the GPO, Pearse selected Farrell to present the surrender to the British authorities. She dodged sniper fire and dealt with belligerent British authorities while criss-crossing the city trying to convince Rising leaders that the decision to capitulate was genuine.
Rose McNamara, the officer in command of the female battaliion at the Marrowbone Lane Distillery, presented herself and 21 other women to the British at the surrender.
An account of that event, held at Military Archives, Rathmines, records: “The women of the garrison could have evaded arrest but they marched down four deep in uniform along with the men. An attempt was made to get them to sign a statement recanting their stand but this failed. Miss McNamara who led the contingent went to the British OC (Officer Commanding) and explained they were part of the rebel contingent and were surrendering with the rest.”
Recalling the events before being brought to Richmond Barracks, McNamara said: “The men gave each of us their small arms to do as we liked with, thinking we were going to go home, but we were not going to leave the men we were with all the week to their fate; we decided to go along with them and be with them to the end, whatever our fate might be.”
Ireland’s local authorities are centrally involved in the planning of events and celebrations to mark 1916 centenary
Local Authorities throughout the country will play a central role to ensure that 1916 Commemorations will be relevant and tangible for every citizen. Local Government’s role is to represent, lead and serve local communities, and County/City Councils are pleased to play their part in a special way in coordinating local Centenary Programmes.
Thanks to the positive engagement of Local Authorities with Ireland 2016, a County/City Centenary Programme has been developed in each of the 31 Council areas. Over 1800 rich and diverse community driven events and activities are set to take place throughout the country to commemorate and celebrate Ireland 2016.
Such is the variety of activities planned, from arts and cultural events to youth theatre, historical tours and film festivals, there is something for every citizen in the country to
remember, celebrate and learn about our history. They include dance music and literary events, exhibitions and displays of military memorabilia, lectures and talks on various 1916 themes, commemorative walks, street theatre and parades.
Pat Gallagher, Chairperson, County and City Management Association (CCMA) and Chief Executive of Westmeath County Council said that achieving a calendar of over 1800 activities that represents every aspect of local communities throughout Ireland was a testament to the commitment of the Local Authorities and the communities that they serve.
“This hard work will make sure that there will be full citizen engagement in 1916-related events, involving the broadest possible community and voluntary participation in local communities throughout the country.
Local Authorities have reached into the heart of
Chairperson of the County and City Management Association (CCMA) and Chief Executive of Westmeath County Council
DONEGAL: Cllr. Ciaran Brogan, Cathaoirleach Donegal County Council, Seamus Neely, Chief Executive, Donegal County Council and Joe McHugh, Minister of State with special guest centenarian Patrick Gillespie from Strabane at the launch of the Donegal 2016 Commemoration Programme and Education Pack in the County House, Lifford on Monday 18 January 2016.
communities to commemorate and celebrate Ireland’s historic past by supporting and assisting hundreds of groups, individuals and organisations who are working on their own 1916 commemorations,” he said.
Local Authorities are also liaising with a range of stakeholders including those in education, arts, culture, sports and business, as well organisations representing a range of interests in local communities. All activities are in keeping with the Government’s commitment to respecting all traditions
on this island equally, and contribute to developing a greater understanding of our shared history, in all of its diversity.
The list of activities also embrace seven distinct programme strands: State Ceremonials; Historical Reflection; An Teanga Bheo; Youth and Imagination; Cultural Expression; Community Participation; and Global and Diaspora.
Full details of all activities in your area are listed on your Local Authority website and on the national Ireland 2016 website: www.ireland.ie.
Civil Defence is a statutory volunteer-based organisation with almost 4,000 trained active members on its volunteer register. The role of Civil Defence is to provide effective support to the front-line emergency services and other community supports as directed. Aideen Sutton talks to Stephen Hall Principal Officer and Head of Civil Defence Branch in the Department of Defence about their plans to celebrate the centenary.
A contingent of 100 Civil Defence volunteers are currently being trained in foot drills to be ready to march in the military parade in Dublin on Easter Sunday.
“Civil Defence is all about volunteers and the essence of the organisation is its ethos of volunteerism,” said Stephen Hall Principal Officer and Head of Civil Defence Branch in the Department of Defence.
“Civil Defence are honoured to be asked to participate in
this historic occasion. These 100 volunteers will not only be representing the present members of Civil Defence but will also honour the contribution of past members of the organisation to Irish society.
“Civil Defence will be also be involved locally in all the local authority events and commemorations around the country. We are assisting in the preparation and delivery of local events and we will provide support, where required.”
Civil Defence has been maintaining a voluntary commitment to assist local communities since its inception in 1950. And their work has helped to deliver on some of the ideals laid out in the proclamation.
Civil Defence volunteers are drawn from the local community and have a long and proud history of assisting their communities in times of adversity and in times of celebration and commemoration.
“There are equal opportunities in Civil Defence; men and women of the age of 18 and above and all nationalities are welcome to join. The ‘pursuit of happiness of all men’ ideal of the proclamation can be applied to Civil Defence. The duties performed by Civil Defence volunteers is a positive example of active citizenship. Volunteers often give comfort and support to people in difficult situations. It reassures people that they are not on their own, that others are there to help,” said Mr Hall.
The origins of Civil Defence can be traced back to the Air Raid Precautions Act of 1939. Civil Defence was established by Government decision in 1951 under the provisions of the Air Raid Precautions Act which provided the basis for establishing an organisation that could care for a community in the aftermath of a major disaster. Under the Civil Defence Act 2002, a State Authority known as the Civil Defence Board was established to manage and develop Civil Defence at national level. On 1st January 2013 the Civil Defence Board was
dissolved in accordance with the Civil Defence Act 2012. The functions rested in the Civil Defence Board were transferred back to the Minister for Defence.
So, today, Civil Defence is a joint partnership between the Department of Defence and local authorities. Civil Defence policy is set down by the Minister for Defence through the Civil Defence Branch of the Department of Defence, based in Benamore, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary. The Civil Defence Branch Headquarters, with a staff complement of 27, serves as a National Control Centre for the organisation and forms a crucial hub for the Civil Defence national communications network.
The Civil Defence Branch of the Department is responsible for the strategic management and development of Civil Defence at national level. As well as grant aid, policy advice and support, the Department provides other supports to local Civil Defence units such as central training for local instructors in a “train the trainer” system through the Civil Defence College in Roscrea. The Department also supplies vehicles, uniforms and personal protective equipment for volunteers and a wide range of other equipment to local authorities for Civil Defence use.
Civil Defence services are delivered at local level by the relevant Local Authority. Each local authority has a Civil Defence Officer (CDO), who is a full time paid employee of that local authority, responsible for the day-to-day management of Civil Defence matters and delivery of services under the overall
direction of the relevant Chief Executive City or County Manager.
Civil Defence is funded by way of a grant from the Defence Vote. Funding for Civil Defence operations at local level is shared on a 70/30 basis between the Department of Defence and local authorities by way of an annual grant to each authority.
“After that, Civil Defence is all voluntary: we have almost 4,000 volunteers on our register,” said Mr Hall.
“Our unpaid volunteers are the core of the organisation. They may get small expenses for travel and subsistence, or for instructors delivering courses but this is minimal. There is no doubt that the State benefits hugely from the voluntary efforts of Civil Defence members. Volunteers make themselves available for training at evening times and weekends. Operational tasks and duties can be at any time of the day or night, in all types of weather, most recently evidenced by the hundreds of Civil Defence members who were on active duty during the severe weather events across the country in the Winter of 2015/16.”
Volunteers are certified from Cardiac First Response (CFR) to Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) through Civil Defence. Civil Defence also qualifies volunteers in Occupational First Aid. Volunteers are qualified to responder and instructor standard. A large number of volunteers, who work full-time in the statutory ambulance services, provide their expertise and skills to assist the Civil Defence College provide training to volunteers.
Volunteers provide first aid at national events, local events, sporting events and concerts. Civil Defence has access to the appropriate equipment required for administration of patient care within each standard. Civil Defence is authorised to use PHECC’s Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG’s). Recertification, up-skilling and Continuous Professional Competency (CPC) are provided for all Civil Defence volunteers, to ensure they maintain their high standard of pre-hospital patient care.
The White Paper on Defence, which was published in 2015 sets out the future policy direction for Civil Defence. Civil Defence will continue to be developed around its central strategic objective of supporting the Principal Response Agencies in a variety of emergency and non-emergency situations. This embraces the large number of support roles under the Framework for Major Emergency Management.
Mr Hall explained that Civil Defence’s core services are derived from casualty, search and rescue, auxiliary fire service, radiation monitoring, welfare and communications. No other voluntary organisation offers the range of supports that Civil Defence can to the frontline services
Volunteers join Civil Defence through the local authority for their area and, in time, having undergone training and gained experience at local level may progress and qualify as Instructors. Civil Defence Volunteer Instructors from all over the country come to Civil Defence Headquarters in Roscrea and the Phoenix Training Centre in Dublin to be trained in a wide variety of programmes. When trained, Instructors return to their respective local authority areas and pass on the benefit of their knowledge and experience to the Volunteers based there.
The level of training provided has enabled volunteer students to qualify on some courses to the same professional standards as full-time front-line personnel, which is a distinct advantage to students in developing their careers outside of Civil Defence. The range of disciplines and skills in which members are trained and the multidisciplined approach to training volunteers makes Civil Defence unique in terms of response capability.
The Civil Defence College, which is part of the Civil Defence Branch, is recognised as a training institution by regulatory bodies such as the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) and by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI).
“Providing assistance to the Garda in search and rescue and recovery operations for missing persons, both on land and in the water, is a regular feature of Civil Defence operations. Civil Defence often provides a large number of highly trained volunteers for a search which can be for a sustained and prolonged period of time,” explained Mr Hall.
“Civil Defence is continuing to develop its search and rescue capability in support of An Garda Síochána. This includes the expansion of its Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) capability where training of a number of volunteers in the use of the system is underway.
`“Civil Defence provides a second line support to the fire service. Volunteer skills include pumping and transfer of water. Volunteers are qualified as instructors in Water Awareness and Flood Response; which informs volunteers of the dangers and difficulties working near water. This may be during a missing persons search or a flood event. These qualifications are invaluable in flooding and other environmental emergencies and were seen to be use to great effect in the flooding incidents across the country during December 2015 and January 2016.”
The Welfare service provided by Civil Defence is divided into two areas; Food Preparation and Safety and Evacuation of Displaced people. Setting up of evacuation centres and registering people attending such centres is a role allocated to Civil Defence under the Major Emergency Framework. Civil Defence supports the Primary Response Agencies during such emergencies, specifically in the registration, feeding and other supports to people in need.
Civil Defence has continued to evolve from its ARP and cold war functions. Mr Hall concluded by saying “Sustained investment in equipment and training combined with the strategic function of supporting the front-line services in emergency response, means that Civil Defence is well positioned to meet the challenges of today and those that we will face in the future”.
Civil Defence is a volunteer based organization that supports the front line emergency services. We also assist our local communities. Civil Defence has 4,000 volunteer members throughout Ireland. We have volunteers trained in each of the following services: Casualty
Search and Rescue
Auxiliary Fire Service Radiation Monitoring
Welfare
Communications
We support the frontline emergency services in dealing with severe weather, flooding, major accidents, fire fighting and searching for missing people. Civil Defence supports hundreds of community events throughout the year. These include large events such as air shows, tall ships, concerts, festivals and sports events. We also support many smaller local events.
www.civildefence.ie
The Cententary of the Easter Rising is of huge importance and communities throughout the county of Cork are geared up for local commemorations and projects right throughout the year. Aideen Sutton talks to Conor Nelligan, Heritage Officer and 2016 County Co-ordinator, Cork County Council
Of the 1,800 plus events taking place around the country, the County Cork 2016 Centenary Programme contains proposals for over 300 such events and undertakings. Heritage Officer and 2016 County Co-ordinator with Cork County Council, Conor Nelligan said that such a comprehensive plan, containing close to one sixth of all events taking place nationally, shows the level of enthusiasm for commemorating the Centenary of 1916 in the County of Cork.
“While the Easter Rising is often only associated with Dublin, here in Cork we would contend that the full story of the Rising cannot be told without due regard to the Rebel County” stated Mr Nelligan.
“Two of the proclamation signatories, James Connolly and Thomas McDonagh, spent a considerable part of their working lives in Cork, and it was a Skibbereen man by the name of Gearóid Ó Súilleabhán who was asked by Pádraig Pearse to raise the tricolour over the GPO during the Easter Rising” said Mr. Nelligan.
With respect to the sixteen executions that followed the Rising, the only execution in Ireland, which took place outside of Dublin, was in Cork City, where Castlelyons native Thomas Kent was executed.
“Another Corkman who died was Drinagh man Seán Hurley, the only Cork Volunteer to have been killed during the events of
Easter Week in Dublin. Seán Hurley is of course also the person to have introduced Michael Collins to the IRB in London and perhaps without Seán, Michael Collins would not have become such a prominent figure in Irish history,” said Mr. Nelligan.
Cork has further connections with the Easter Rising Mr Nelligan noted. “The actual decision to go ahead with the Rising was made by only five men late on the eve of Easter Sunday including Corkman Diarmuid Lynch. Lynch was a prominent member of the Supreme Council of the IRB and was chosen by Pádraig Pearse to identify the best location for the landing of the German ship, the Aud, which it was hoped would provide over 20,000 rifles to the Volunteers. The Aud never reached its intended destination, and after having been escorted by the British to Queenstown (Cobh), it was scuttled near Daunt’s Rock in Cork Harbour on April 22nd 1916 by its captain, Karl Spindler”.
All in all when you scratch the surface, the associations between Cork and 1916 become very clear. The aftermath of the Rising in the Rebel County is even clearer, Mr. Nelligan added.
“In 1916, over 1,000 volunteers mobilised for Easter Sunday in the County of Cork, ready to fight for the cause. While they waited in expectation, there were eight countermanding orders from Dublin. “They were told the Rising is on, then it is off, then it is on again,” he said.
“Two of the proclamation signatories, James Connolly and Thomas McDonagh, spent a considerable part of their working lives in Cork.
“The last order that they got from the Chief of Staff of the Irish Volunteers, Eoin McNeill was that it was off, so they stood down. They only found out later that the Rising had gone ahead in Dublin.
“Cork got a bit of spotlight placed on it as to why it had not taken part, why had it not been involved in the Rising. But, the volunteers had only followed orders from Dublin. When the War of Independence came a few years later, Cork was the epicentre of activity and as noted by Gerry White of the Defence Forces, who gave the eulogy at Thomas Kent’s reinterment in September 2015, there was a strong feeling for atonement in the County.
“One hundred years on it is so important to remember all of those who paved the way for the Ireland of today,” said Mr. Nelligan.
Cork County Council, along with many other local authorities in the country, advertised a 1916 commemoration fund for community groups and in Cork, over 100 applications were received from around the county.
All local authorities received over 120,000 euro in grant aid from the Government towards 2016 commemorations and in Cork this amount was matched and enhanced to add value to the events, undertakings and initiatives being undertaken.
One of Cork’s flagship 1916 commemoration events takes place on March 28th, the centenary of Easter Monday 1916. The city and county will be taking part in a nationally synchronised event at 1.15pm when a wreath will be laid on the Grand Parade in the city centre. Mr Nelligan said that this will be a very large event and thousands of people are expected to attend. Another state ceremonial event will take place on May 9th to mark the centenary of the execution of Thomas Kent.
Other ceremonial events taking place throughout the county include a community event for Seán Hurley in Drinagh on May 1st and commemorative events for Thomas Kent in Fermoy on May 2nd and in Castlelyons on May 15th.
There will be re-enactment walks to commemorate the many volunteer companies who walked to locations to collect the guns
from The Aud, which did not come to fruition.
“Dozens of heritage groups have lectures, projects and other such historical events planned and Cork County Council will host an Irish language conference during Seachtain na Gaeilge in early March.
Cork is home to two Gaeltachts -Oileán Chléire and Múscraí – and both areas will see a number of commemorative events as gaelige,” said Mr Nelligan.
It was a Skibbereen man by the name of Gearóid Ó Súilleabhán who was asked by Pádraig Pearse to raise the tricolour over the GPO during the Easter Rising
The only execution in Ireland, which took place outside of Dublin, was in Cork City, where Castlelyons native Thomas Kent was executed.
“Schools are also a very important element of the centenary commemorations. Each school in the country is receiving an Irish flag and a copy of the Proclamation from the Defence Forces and here in Cork they will furthermore be participating in projects, debates and the making of documentaries.
“A piece of pipe music has been commissioned called the Thomas Kent Lament and there will be drama, art exhibitions, poetry and storytelling performances throughout the year.
“The 300 plus community events will also comprise of festivals and get togethers including a road bowling competition in West Cork for Seán Hurley and a number of commemorative GAA tournaments has also been proposed” he said.
“We will be reaching out to the Cork diaspora with talks
“Another
of course also the person to have introduced Michael
“In 1916, over 1,000 volunteers mobilised for Easter Sunday in the County of Cork, ready to fight for the cause. While they waited in expectation, there were eight countermanding orders from Dublin. “They were told the Rising is on, then it is off, then it is on again,”
impacting on people overseas-there will be one looking at the impact of 1916 on Poland. Towns around the county which are twinned with other European towns will be getting involved as well, one twinning group from Germany is coming over on April 22nd for the commemoration of the Aud boat, given the strong German connection.”
The central role being played by Cork County Council in commemorations to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising is not a departure in terms of the scope and responsibilities of the local authority.
Mr Nelligan said that his role as Heritage Officer sees him involved in the coordinating of flagship events and projects every year such as National Heritage Week.
“There were more than 170 events in County Cork for National Heritage Week last year; with respect to the 1916 centenary it is similar, but clearly on a much larger scale and for the full year,” he said.
“There are so many groups involved and the local authority is providing an important advisory and supportive role.
“With the public getting involved in community to honour their local heroes and what happened locally in 1916, the Council has a role to promote and support the aspirations of communities in honouring those who went before them.
“The local authority is in a great position to offer such support to groups to undertake their proposals. We have great working
relationships with Community Councils, Tidy Town groups and historical societies.”
Mr Nelligan accepts that his role in co-ordinating the 1916 centenary events is a significant add-on to his role as Heritage Officer.
“County Cork’s size and population is one tenth of the country, so there is a serious workload there. The office has been inundated with 1916 related queries and requests,” he said.
“But it is an honour to be involved, at the end of the day we are all about supporting communities. There is only one centenary, we are not afraid of taking on what is necessary and if it involves the burning of the midnight oil from time to time that is the least that can be done, particularly given what we are commemorating,” said Mr. Nelligan.
“We will do what we can to ensure we do a good job in Cork County.
“We have an all-party 1916 Centenary Commemoration Committee under chairman Cllr Frank O’Flynn, and this committee is at the heart of 1916 commemorations in the county,” he continued.
“All strands of the County Council are giving support from the Council Executive to Mayor John Paul O’Shea, Chief Executive Tim Lucey and Senior Executive Officer Corporate Affairs, Sean O’Callaghan.
“Myself and my colleague, David Foley are working around the clock on all things 2016.
“There is an unbelievable level of enthusiasm from the community groups. We are so lucky here in County Cork to have such a wonderful community spirit throughout the entire county,” he added.
It is hoped that 2016 will be a year to live long in the minds of the Irish, not least here in the County of Cork.
There are over 1800 undertakings proposed nationwide for the 1916/2016 commemorations with over 300 of these taking place in the County of Cork - being undertaken by more than 100 local organisers and many sections of Cork County Council’s executive including the Arts, Library, Corporate, Heritage, Tourism and Irish Sections County Cork 2016 Programme is available at all local libraries in County Cork. www.corkcoco.ie/heritage www.ireland.ie
Some of the events planned for Galway City include:
• Remembering Éamonn Ceannt - a week-long celebration of the life and work of one of the seven signatories to the 1916 Proclamation and his Galway links;
• Revolution in Galway 1913 -1923 - a new dedicated gallery at Galway City Museum;
• ‘Seacht mBua an Éirí Amach’ - the first compete translation and publication in English of Pádraic Ó Conaire’s short stories inspired by the Rising;
• A series of community and local library based lectures and events across the city proposed and run by community organisations.
Áirítear ar na himeachtaí atá beartaithe i gCathair na Gaillimhe:
• Remembering Éamonn Ceannt – ceiliúradh seachtaine ar shaol agus ar shaothar duine de shínitheoirí Fhorógra 1916, agus a cheangal le Gaillimh;
• Réabhlóid i nGaillimh 1913-1923 – Gailearaí Tiomnaithe nua i Músaem Cathrach na Gaillimhe;
• ‘Seacht mBua an Éirí Amach’ – an chéad aistriúchán iomlán go Béarla ar ghearrscéalta Phádraic Uí Chonaire, a d’eascair as eachtraí Éirí Amach na Cásca 1916, chomh maith lena fhoilsiú;
• Sraith léachtaí agus imeachtaí pobail agus leabharlainne ar fud na cathrach, arna mholadh agus arna reachtáil ag eagraíochtaí pobail.
Níos mó le fáil anseo - More information here: www.galwaycity.ie
Although it is often thought that nothing happened in Galway City in 1916, in fact a lot did. Circumstances conspired to ensure that a lot less military action occurred than planned. Galway City and County played a pivotal role in the events of Easter Week 1916.
“In this remarkable photograph taken at Galway’s Town Hall during the 1913 Gaelic League Oireachtas and Árd Fheis are many of the political and military elite of the subsequent Irish Revolution 1916-1923, and indeed that of the independent Irish state to which it gave birth. This historic group photograph is tantamount to a Who’s who of the “coming revolution,” with as many as perhaps half the signatories of the 1916 proclamation (including Pádraig Pearse, Seán Mac Diarmada and Éamonn Ceannt) as well three future Presidents of Ireland (Douglas Hyde, Seán T. O’Kelly and Eamon de Valera) being present.”
The plans for the Rising in Galway City envisaged the takeover of Colonial Buildings and Moon’s shop on the junction of William Street, Williamsgate Street and Eglinton Street combined with attacks on the RIC Barracks at Eglinton Street, Dominick Street and Salthill. This was to be co-ordinated with an attempt to block or control rail traffic in and out of the city. An attack on Renmore Military Barracks was envisaged in some historical accounts and the proposed take-over of the university is recorded in other sources. The taking of control of all post offices was vital to the plans and a plan to cut the railway line between Oranmore and Galway to prevent British Army reinforcements from reaching Galway City was envisaged.
The possibility of blowing up the Galway-Clifden railway line was considered according to some sources, and contradictory sources suggest an attack on Royal Air Corps personnel was also planned.
Certain of the local business owners notably Martin McDonagh (Máirtín Mór) and Joseph Young were to be detained
to prevent or thwart the mobilisation of the Redmondite National Volunteers. Several businessmen had also worked for years to establish the Galway Munitions Factory which, however, only made its first shells in 1918.
As it happened, National Volunteers did patrol with the British Army and RIC and were present too at the ambush at Carnmore Cross when a RIC Constable, Patrick Whelan was shot dead. He was to be the only fatality of the Rising in the Galway area. Whelan was based in the RIC Station at Eglinton Street in Galway City and is buried at the New Cemetery, Bohermore.
Many veterans of the Rising, of the War Of Independence and of the Civil War - along with British Army personnel - are buried in the Bohermore and Rahoon Cemeteries. Much of the population of the City was initially hostile in the immediate aftermath of the Rising. There was a dependency on servicemen and remittances from the Royal Navy in places like Claddagh and in the dock areas. There was in old Fenian and Land War
The possibility of blowing up the Galway-Clifden railway line was considered according to some sources, and contradictory sources suggest an attack on Royal Air Corps personnel was also planned.
tradition in areas such as Rahoon, Barna and Castlegar which was supportive of the IRB and later formed the nucleus of the Advanced Republican groups.
During the course of rising, Colm O’Gaora records the beating he got from local Galway women when he came from Mayo to Galway on the basis that Galway had risen. Some of the loyalist population of the town hung out large Union Jacks and cheered the shelling of Ballindooley Cross, Ballindooley village and Oranmore old cemetery. by Royal Navy ships in Galway Bay.
Galway City Centenary Programme 2016
Along with the ideas and projects developed by the Galway City Council 2016 Steering Group, 18 separate projects have emerged thus far as part of the Galway City Centenary programme. This programme was adopted unanimously by the members of Galway City Council at its meeting held on 14th September.
The programme especially reflects the strength of Galway City’s sense of heritage and culture with very strong elements within the Historical Recollection and Cultural Celebration strands. Alongside a very strong series of community-based projects there will be a brand new exhibition “Revolution in Galway” covering an entire floor of Galway City Museum.
The flagship event in Galway City’s programme will be the festival “Remembering Eamon Ceannt” which will take place from 13th to 19th June 2016. This will be a week-long celebration of musician, piper, teacher and revolutionary Eamon Ceannt throughout the City of Galway. Ceannt’s role in the Rising, his cultural and political legacy, will be explored and celebrated in a series of concerts, conferences and seminars and visits to sites of relevance to his life and will culminate in an international parade of pipes and pipers through the streets of Galway with bands, musicians and performers from Ireland, North America and Europe.
Alongside a very strong series of community-based projects there will be a brand new exhibition “Revolution in Galway” covering an entire floor of Galway City Museum.
It was officially announced yesterday morning that Thomas Kent, of Coole, near Fermoy, was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out yesterday morning.
- From an Irish Examiner article published in 1916.
Search the Irish Examiner’s digitised newspaper archive today www.irishexaminer.com/archive
OSI is one of the nations oldest state bodies - Phil Dunphy (OSI) gives us a brief history.
Historic 1:2,500 mapping in Cork (source: GeoHive)
The Ordnance Survey of Ireland was founded in 1824 to map all of Ireland at a scale of six inches to one mile (1:10,560). This series was completed by 1847, making Ireland the first country in the world to be mapped entirely at such a large scale. A new, more detailed map series was authorised in 1887, covering the whole country at 1:2,500, or 25 inches to one mile. This series was completed in 1913. OSi’s historic mapping is available to see, free of charge, on www.geohive.ie
The Ordnance Survey of Ireland was quite dormant in the decades following the formation of the State in 1922. Staff numbers had fallen from a 19th century high of 2,100 to 214. Limited budgets and staffing levels kept any new mapping ventures to a minimum for the post-independence decades.
After World War Two, concerns began to arise about the now-aging mapping, and a new Irish National Grid was introduced. This was based on a Transverse Mercator Projection for all Ireland, to provide a modern framework upon which to attach modern 20th century large-scale mapping.
During the war, aerial photography was developed as a tool to target high-altitude bombing accurately, and to assess the resulting damage. From this, the science of photogrammetry developed, which allows features to be accurately mapped from the air and resulted in major cost savings from a reduced need for field staff. Also, more effective processing and printing systems allowed the reduced staff to confidently begin an overhaul of state mapping. The 1960’s saw the introduction of a new urban mapping system, covering all urban areas at a scale of 1:1,000. This scale allows the display of features in great detail, such as fire hydrants, manholes, street lighting, or house numbers are all surveyed. By the 1990’s the decision was made to produce a new rural
map series, still at 1:2,500 in developed areas, and at 1:5,000 in the majority of the rural countryside. Crucially, this was the first OSi product to be based completely on computerised technology for its production. This mapping series was completed in 2005 and was based heavily on photogrammetry as the source for capturing data.
Small-scale mapping also underwent major developments in the 1990’s - the successful 1:50,000 ‘Discovery Series’, suitable for travel and outdoor enthusiasts, was an immediate success and quickly became a favourite with all sectors of map users. Currently, several sheets of a new 1:25,000 ‘Adventure Series’ is in development, focussing on areas of high outdoor activity such as the Kerry and Wicklow Mountains, and the Shannon Lakes.
Ordnance Survey Ireland was established as a State Body in 2001, with a fresh legislative mandate. This gave the organisation a new impetus to use new technology in developing digital mapping for the nation’s benefit.
Computerisation has revolutionised OSi’s activities in the last two decades, starting with the core mapping itself. All OSi data is now in digital form and all the features that appear on OSi maps are now held in one single database called PRIME2. This infrastructure is designed to support and enable data from public and private bodies that use digital spatial data in their work. A sign of the times, perhaps, OSi’s now draws 80% of its revenue from digital goods and services, the remaining 20% coming from an ever-decreasing demand for paper products.
As a sign of OSi’s confidence as it approaches its third century of service, it has recently launched its innovative GeoHive service on www.geohive.ie where OSi acts as a host for definitive, authoritative State datasets which can be freely accessed and used by the public for research and analysis.
So, as OSi has always been through its long history, it remains firmly established as a leader in mapping, and in cutting-edge technology. Not of course as an end in itself, but to fulfil its mandate in supporting the economic growth and social development of Ireland.
That was the dream of the 1916 revolutionaries.
Few areas of Irish life were left untouched by the Easter Rising and St. Patrick’s College Maynooth, which had several members directly involved, was no exception.
The Easter Rising was a pivotal event in Ireland’s social and political history, led by men and women with desires for a new Ireland, one which would guarantee religious and civil liberty and ensure the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation. On Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, the General Post Office in Dublin was occupied by a number of insurgents from various backgrounds and classes, united in their hopes and aspirations for an Irish republic. The conflict which ensued lasted for six long days and resulted in the deaths of over 250 civilians, 130 members of the crown forces and over 60 insurgents.
The Rising had a direct impact on many corners of Irish life. St. Patrick’s College Maynooth, which was founded in 1795 as the national Catholic seminary of Ireland, was no exception. Several members of the College staff were actively involved in the Rising with others working to protect and support those on the run from the British forces. On the day of the Rising a contingency of fifteen men, representing the ‘Maynooth Volunteers’ and led by local man Donal Buckley [Domhnall Ua Buachalla], stopped at the College hoping to receive a blessing from Msgr. John F Hogan (President) before
Vol XIII, No. 19, 6 May 1916. ‘A journal devoted to the cause of Irish independence, Irish Literature, and the interests of the Irish Race. Editor: Michael O’Reilly’.
they travelled to Dublin where they took their place in Irish history. It is alleged that President Hogan initially refused to bless the men exclaiming that they ‘were poor fools who were going to be slaughtered’.1 Hogan eventually relented and asked the Volunteers to kneel down before administering the blessing. John Kenny, personal servant to Hogan, was a member of the Maynooth Volunteers but failed to join the contingency in Dublin, in accordance with the wishes of the college President. Oliver Ryan, indoor staff member of Maynooth College, joined the Maynooth Volunteers on Easter Monday when ‘from under his overcoat he produced a .22 rifle and ammunition’.2 Ryan was later arrested and detained in Frongoch internment camp before returning to Maynooth in July 1916.3
Perhaps one of the most influential figures from Maynooth College at this time was Fr Thomas Fahy, who was ordained for the Diocese of Clonfert in 1912 and appointed Professor of Classics in 1915. Fr Fahy was on vacation in Esker, Co. Galway during Easter week, and assumed the role of Chaplain to the Irish Volunteers , regularly visiting the Volunteers and hearing confession.4 Fr Fahy later addressed the Volunteers at Lime Park, urging them to disband due to the advancement of British troops. One of the Volunteers, John Broderick, stayed with Fr Fahy for a time before travelling to the house of another priest, Fr Melvin, at Attymon, Co. Galway. Broderick then stayed with his brother, a curate at Killoran, before moving to the Cistercian Monastery, Roscrea and later Mount
MCA161/8/4. Signatures of Irish Volunteers that were interned in the ‘Frongoch’ internment camp in Wales. Includes the signature of Donal Buckley (Domhnaill Ua Buachalla) from Maynooth, June 1916.
Melleray. After staying in several other places Broderick finally arrived in Dublin and remained there until September 1916 when Fr Fahy arranged for him to work at Maynooth College.5 Broderick stayed working at the College until June 1917. Alf Monahan [Ailbhe O Monachain] was also on the run following the Rising and was given work at Maynooth College, assuming the name ‘Joe Maguire’. Fr Fahy also helped Frank Hynes, Captain of the Athenry Volunteers, to secure work at the College. Hynes later recalled how Fr Fahy cycled a distance of forty-five miles from Maynooth to Shinrone, Co. Offaly, where Hynes was staying with the Culligan family, to offer him a position at the College. Hynes accepted the job, working for three months at Maynooth College during which he ‘was foundered from running from 6.30 a.m. till 9.30 p.m. for 61/2d. per day’.6
As for the conduct of Maynooth students during the Rising, Msgr John F Hogan reported diplomatically to the Trustees that the college was otherwise quiet during Easter Week, which is in stark contrast to the personal accounts of many former students, some of which noted the tension and excitement in the College.7 Jim Madden believes that seminarian John Fahy became a leader of the student body during Easter week when students actively took part in drilling around the campus.8 At one stage, a drilling squad ventured on to open ground in front of Rhetoric House, just as President Hogan turned the corner. The drill-sergeant had the presence of mind to step into the ranks and Hogan contended himself with saying ‘You’d be well advised to disband, gentlemen.’
Overall, Maynooth College played an important role during the Easter Rising. During the 50th Anniversary Commemorations of the Rising, the President of Maynooth College, Msgr Gerard Mitchell, invited the surviving 1916 Maynooth veterans to the College in order to officially mark and acknowledge the role they played on what was very much a national stage.
1. Military Archives, ,Bureau of Military History WS850, Patrick Colgan, p. 8. 2. MA, BMH WS850, Patrick Colgan, p.9. 3.Kildare Observer, 29 July 1916. 4.MA, BMH WS383, Very Rev. Dr Thomas Fahy, pp. 4-5. 5.MA, BMH WS344, John Broderick, pp. 4-5 6.MA, BMH WS446, Frank Hynes, p. 35. 7.Corish, Patrick J ‘Maynooth College 1795 – 1995), Dublin, 1995 p.303 8.MA, BMH WS298, Frank Hynes, p. 22
For generations ESB has supported the arts in Ireland, recognising the important role Ireland’s artists play in recording and interpreting social and economic progress, engaging communities and stimulating innovation and creativity.
And because of this, ESB and Electric Ireland have been unanimously selected to receive the Judges’ Special Recognition Award for Portfolio of Investment for our partnerships in 2015 with Science Gallery Dublin, Feis Ceoil Association, National Concert Hall, Martin Gale, RHA, Electric Picnic, Clare Memory Orchestra, Wicklow Choral Society and No. 29, the Georgian House Museum.
ESB, harnessing all our potential for a brighter future.
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Before the foundation of the ESB in 1927, electrical power was not entirely unknown in Ireland. But it was small, local, uncoordinated, haphazard and of limited value. Electricity generation and supply was managed by about 300 small private companies, who supplied for the most part large private houses, small localised workshops and some electrical lighting. Some local authorities also had small generators that were used to provide limited public lighting and in some cases power for trams. Electricity usage even when available was the prerogative of the privileged because of the high unit cost. The Irish Free State had the second lowest consumption of electricity in Europe. It was the successful completion of the Shannon Scheme and the establishment of the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) in 1927 that brought electricity out of the dark ages and into the mainstream of Irish life.
Widespread affordable and reliable electricity utterly transformed what was a predominantly rural way of life in all its aspects - economic, social, and cultural. There were many milestones in that process. Hydro Schemes on the Liffey, Lee, and Erne (which was the first real example of cross border cooperation) were all based on self sufficiency and also improved water supply and drainage. The successful promotion and implementation of the Rural Electrification Scheme on a phased basis between 1946 – 1978, made possible a rapid expansion, bringing electricity to over 400,000 rural homes and expanding agricultural output in rural areas.
Life in Ireland up to the mid 1930’s in cities homes, on the farm and in rural households was dictated by the availability of daylight. There was no running water available because water pumps depended on a supply of electricity. Heating and cooking depended on solid fuel or timber and turf, which in most cases had to be cut and harvested by the family.
Cooking was confined to the open hearth or the range. It was difficult to maintain hygiene, especially in the home and in the dairy, with neither hot nor cold running water and without any form of refrigeration. Industrial development, even that based on small scale operations, was not feasible without electricity supplies.
Life in Ireland up to the mid 1930’s in cities, homes, on the farm and in rural households was dictated by the availability of daylight. There was no running water available because water pumps depended on a supply of electricity.
Turf was a valuable component in a deliberate policy of diversity of fuel source. Cooperation with Bord na Mona enabled electricity production from turf power stations which peaked at a little over one third of total electricity output to the National Grid in the late 1960’s, gradually dropping to its present level of about 5% of national output. Turlough Hill Pumped Storage Station and Moneypoint Coal Fired Station were major projects that expanded generating capacity but also improved security and flexibility of generating capacity. It can probably be claimed that without the benefit of a widespread rural electricity supply system, Ireland would have been unable to contemplate membership of the European Economic Community.
Over the last nine decades electricity has changed the way of life for all in Ireland. It has provided a welcome release from drudgery in many homes and most farm tasks are now automated. Convenience living became a reality with the availability of irons, kettles, cookers, washing machines, fridges, radios and televisions. These shaped the design of the modern home, leading in the last few decades to the widespread use of home computers, laptops and now tablets and iPads. The electric water pump eliminated the need to draw water from the well on a daily basis. Electric milking parlours, infra red heaters for piglets and chickens ushered in a new automated way to farm management with very significant gains in yields and productivity. Electric lighting, heating, and the use of electrical equipment such as grinders and welding machines increased farmers’s options and flexibility.
Electricity has facilitated industrial and commercial
Today, climate change and new technologies are fundamentally changing the way electricity is generated, transmitted and consumed.
It can probably be claimed that without the benefit of a widespread rural electricity supply system, Ireland would have been unable to contemplate membership of the European Economic Community.
development both in cities and towns and across the rural landscape. Transport has been automated. Trains, boats, planes, ships and cars all rely to a greater or lesser extent on electricity for their control systems. Now we have arrived at the sophisticated stage where smart metering and smart networks are transforming how the customer is serviced. Technology is enabling much more control to be put in the hands of not just the industrialists, but also commercial enterprises and more recently individual customers.
Over the last three decades the pace of change has accelerated
in the electricity sector. ESB is no longer a monopoly, but a competitive player in the generation and supply markets. Today, climate change and new technologies are fundamentally changing the way electricity is generated, transmitted and consumed.
Embracing this change, ESB has taken a further step by adopting a pioneering sustainability strategy and is leading the way towards a decarbonised future. It is investing in low carbon generation, especially renewables, building smart networks and maintaining secure, reliable and competitive energy supplies.
Supporting Ireland’s future in a sustainable manner is and always will be, at the core of everything we do.
This fantastic exhibition will be showcasing in venues all along the Irish coastline in 2016.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights ar e a maritime or ganisation delivering an essential safety ser vice ar ound the coast of Ir eland, pr otecting the marine envir onment, and suppor ting the marine industr y and coastal communities.
Fr om 1914 to 1923 Irish Lights faced the immense challenges of global war and national r evolution. The dr eadful vista hit Irish Lights har d and shook the ser vice to its foundations.
This exhibition uses unique sour ces to set the scene and r eveal the stor y of how, thr ough the daunting events of a nationdefining r evolution and ‘the Gr eat War’, Irish Lights continued its mission to ensur e safety at sea for all
When Edwar d VII had visited Ir eland in 1911 the Commissioners had behind them a centur y of exemplar y achievement in ensuring maritime safety
At that time, Irish Lights’ mission was to ensur e the safety of the international sea lanes of f Ir eland for transatlantic liners, car go and naval vessels and local traf fic. These wer e amongst the most significant sea lanes in the world Ir eland’s lighthouses wer e, and r emain, waypoints of international impor tance.
Working with lightkeepers and lightshipmen along the coast, the Commissioners wer e an experienced gr oup of naval of ficers, engineers, politicians, businessmen and ship-owners. They cooperated closely with the Boar d of Trade in London, the Coastguar d, the Royal Navy and the shipping lines to pr otect and mark the constantly evolving Irish seascape. Today their successors r emain the General Lighthouse Authority for the whole of Ir eland.
Using gr ound-br eaking new technology to pr otect the seafar er, the twentieth centur y seemed to pr omise nothing but fur ther pr ogr ess.
But over the following ten years Irish Lights was batter ed by events both traumatic and hither to unimaginable.
As the war at sea raged ar ound the Irish coast, Irish Lights’ vessels wer e attacked and sunk by U-boats, while young members of their staf f - who had eagerly joined the Colours - wer e dying on the fr ontlines in the First World War.
Though peace came to Eur ope in 1918, the island of Ir eland was soon gripped by r evolution and political change and Irish Lights was caught up in the conflict.
The stor y explor es how Irish Lights coped during this tumultuous period and became the successful maritime or ganisation it is today.
This stor y will be told in this wonder ful exhibition, coming to a venue near you in 2016
For mor e infor mation on the exhibition please visit: www.irishlights.ie
Facebook: /commissionersofirishlights
Twitter: @irishlights
Safety at sea through war and upheaval
This fantastic exhibition will be showcasing in venues all along the Irish coastline in 2016.
This exhibition captures the history of Irish Lights, and the history of the island of Ireland itself, its ever-changing coasts and shorelines, and the history of the people who lived along our island’s seaboard.
What emerges is a neverbefore told story of devotion to duty, science, engineering and physical endeavour, world war, revolution and change. It is also a deeply personal story of those who worked with and built up Irish Lights and who devoted their lives to protecting the coastline for the safety of all.
Through the nineteenth century the number of Ireland’s lighthouses increased from fourteen to seventy-four, with eleven lightships placed around the east and south coasts.
The exhibition explores how Irish Lights, with its origins in the late-eighteenth century, and coming of age in the certainties of the nineteenth, faced the challenges of global and national uncertainty in the early twentieth century. Precisely, the exhibition details Irish Lights’ history between 1911 and 1923.
Irish Lights’ mission, then as now, was to ensure the safety of the international sea lanes off Ireland for transatlantic liners, cargo and naval vessels and local traffic. These were amongst the most significant sea lanes in the world. Ireland’s lighthouses were waypoints of international importance.
The completion of the Fastnet lighthouse off the Cork coast in 1904 marked a pinnacle of modern engineering.
In the pre-first world war years Irish Lights’ operations continued to exude the optimism of the early twentieth century. The organisation ran in a solid Victorian or Edwardian manner from its headquarters which were then at the Carlisle Building on d’Olier Street in central Dublin. Mass travel was still by sea, manned flight was in its infancy and the possibilities of human scientific and technological progress appeared infinite. Irish Lights exuded confidence in its mission and in its ability to fulfil it.
Every Friday, the Commissioners of Irish Lights met at the Carlisle Building at 1.00pm sharp to oversee the operation of the lighthouses and lightships around Ireland’s coast. Working with lightkeepers and lightshipmen along the coast, the Commissioners were an experienced group of naval officers, engineers, politicians, businessmen and ship-owners. They co-operated closely with the Board of Trade in London, the Coastguard, the Royal Navy and the shipping lines to protect and mark the Irish seascape.
Then, like now, Irish Lights were interested in the latest technology to protect seafarers. Irish Lights tested newly-developed diaphone fog signals near Dublin at Baily and Kish stations in those years. Operated by compressed air, mechanised diaphone signals were viewed as more reliable and effective than their ‘explosive’ counterparts. Irish Lights also experimented with ‘Submarine Bells’, which used submerged mechanical systems to transmit sound through water to warn passing ships of nearby hazards.
Britain’s declaration of war on Germany in August 1914 had a pronounced effect on Irish Lights. For the next four years, lightkeepers and lightshipmen observed an unforgiving war at sea off the Irish coast. They submitted regular reports of submarine sightings, the sinking of naval and mercantile shipping and the activities of mine sweepers and other patrols protecting Ireland’s coast.
World War I would place Irish Lights under enormous strain; and the tumultuous years which followed were fraught with uncertainty and frustration for the organisation.
This exhibition explores these years, and other incredible events, such as; the Easter Rising of 1916, the Anglo-Irish War of 1919–1921, and the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights are a modern maritime organisation delivering an essential safety service around the coast of Ireland, protecting the marine environment, and supporting the marine industry and coastal communities.
For more information on the exhibition please visit: www.irishlights.ieFacebook - commissionersofirishlights and Twitter - @irishlights
Corporate Chauffeurs Services are a Dublin-based, Irish company offering outstanding chauffeur facilities in all areas of Corporate, Leisure, V.I.P. and Private Transport in Ireland. Established over 18 years ago, we have gained vast experience and have a superb reputation in the provision of Chauffeur & Transport services to both our Corporate, Government & Private Customers.
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We work in close liaison with all the Five Star Hotels in Dublin, Wicklow and surrounding areas and have extensive experience in touring with American,
European and Irish Tour Operators, we are also in a position to customise tours to both your clients requirements and budgets and clients will be looked after by our experienced driver guides who operate our luxury vehicles. Our meetings and concierge team will also be available at all times to manage all of your transport requirements from start to finish and at the same time provide an onsite coordinator to ensure that clients receive a prompt and efficient service
Our fleet range from Mercedes, Audi vehicles to luxury mini-coaches and up to 50-Seater luxury coaches. Helicopter transport can also be provided. Our vehicles are all top quality, are fully air conditioned and are maintained in pristine condition. For further information on these vehicles please view on www.corporatechauffeurs.ie.
There are many stories reverberating around nationalism, loyalty and belonging. Piecing together and finding in them a new understanding is what this is about. Many such stories tell of the utter tragedy that pulled families, neighbours old and young apart.
One such is Sebastian Barry’s ‘On Canaan’s Side’. The protagonist is a young Irish girl who falls for a Black and Tan. The British Government offered soldiers returning from war in Europe a minimum wage to join the Black and Tans and the rest is history.
My grandfather in-law was a P.E. Instructor in Winchester College.
When he taught there another important person was following his instructions.
His name was Jack White.
JAMES ROBERT - ‘JACK WHITE’’
Born in 1879 in Broughshance, County Antrim, Ireland: - Died in 1946 Jack was to become a Lieutenant in The Gordon Highlanders. He was the only son of Field Marshal Sir George Stuart White and was educated at Winchester College and later, Sandhurst. At the age of 18 he fought in the Boer War in South Africa. White started to develop a dislike for the British ruling classes while in South Africa. According to legend at the battle of Doorknop he was one of the first to go over the top. Looking back, he saw one 17 year-old youth frozen in fright in the trench. An officer cried ‘shoot him’, White turned his pistol on the officer in charge and replied ‘Do so and I’ll shoot you’.
JAMES CONNOLLY
Around the same time in Glasgow, Scotland, a man named James Connolly was working at anything he could find. James Connolly was born on 5 June 1868 at 107 Cowgate, Edinburgh, in an area of the city known as “Little Ireland.” James Connolly was one of the greatest political thinkers to emerge in the early twentieth century. Much has been written about him. He came to Dublin and together with Jack White established the WWU.
JIM LARKIN
James (Jim) Larkin (21 January 1876 – 30 January 1947) was an Irish trade union leader and socialist activist, born to Irish parents in Liverpool, England. James Connolly and Big Jim Larkin led the first industrial workers strike in history now known as The Lock Out. Big Jim Larkin is commemorated in monumental form in the middle of O’Connell Street, Dublin City.
I became fascinated when I discovered the British Officer who had been somewhat forgotten or just maybe written out of history. How did he come to be active in the Industrial Workers Union in Dublin and with James Connolly?
Like all history the favourite spirits are the ones who last in the memory, the romantic heroes, the bigger than life persons, the courageous in the face of terror, the survivors. James Connolly was executed though so badly injured he could not stand up to face the firing squad. This fact alone aroused the sentiments of all decent people at home and abroad especially in America which at that time had a large Irish population. World opinion turned against the British authority in Ireland and this set in motion the events that would eventually lead to Ireland
becoming a Republic. The death of James Connolly and all the leaders of the 1916 Proclamation was the catalyst to forming the Republic of Ireland.
A medal commemorating James Connolly and the hold-out of the battle of The Easter Rising 1916 in the General Post Office is on view in the GPO Museum Dublin. It is a fitting tribute to a man of history, a little man in stature, a big man of the world.
This is the commemorative medal issued for James Connolly by the grandson of Henry James, the man from Winchester.
Thomas J. Gear can be reached at www.thomasgear.com to view the medal. Also available from Martin Gear Jewellers Marys Street Dublin, tel +353 1 8728726, mobile: 086 08539000.
Concern Worldwide, Ireland’s leading humanitarian agency, is supporting farmers in Malawi to improve their nutritional intake by promoting the growth and consumption of the orange-fleshed sweet potato.
While the sweet potato has become a trendy vegetable among health conscious consumers here, little was known about the crop in Malawi with farmers largely unaware of its nutritional benefits, until now.
Concern with support from Irish Aid, is partnering with the International Potato Centre to promote the growth and consumption of the sweet potato in its livelihoods programmes.
Caoimhe De Barra, country director in Malawi for Concern Worldwide, said the programme has been so successful, her team are working hard to keep up with demand for planting material.
‘Since July 2014, Concern has reached over 2500 farmers who have been introduced to different varieties of sweet potato and have been trained in how to cultivate this nutritious crop so the programme has been very successful so far,’ she said.
Traditionally, Malawian farmers’ prefer maize as their staple food source; however, the nutritional benefits from maize are less than other crops such as the sweet potato, which is rich in vitamin A and is vital to the development of growing children.
‘Undernutrition is a serious issue,’ she emphasised.
‘Two in five children are stunted because they are not getting enough nutritious food to eat. Orange fleshed sweet potato is very high in Vitamin A, which is essential for the development of
a child’s brain and for their physical development. It is estimated that 10 per cent of Malawi’s GDP is lost because so many people don’t get good quality food as children,’ she added.
Caoimhe explained that typically, farmers rely on one rainfed harvest per year but since adopting the sweet potato, harvests are becoming more frequent.
‘Some farmers in Nsanje District in Southern Malawi, who were the earliest adopters of sweet potato, have had three harvests in the past 14 months! This has enormous benefits in terms of regular food supply as well as generating cash income through sale of the produce,’ explained Caoimhe.
Concern trains groups of farmers in how to select the sweet potato variety that works best for them, in terms of yield, taste and market value.
Concern also delivers cooking demonstrations on diverse ways of utilizing the sweet potato while ensuring to retain its optimal nutritional value.
‘The cooking demonstrations are very popular,’ she said.
‘Farmers typically only know one or two ways of preparing of sweet potato such as boiling. We introduce them to different ways of cooking them such as using it in stews, soups, breads or doughnuts, which increases the likelihood of regular consumption
of sweet potato. However, as we are working with very poor farmers, the cooking methods which use fewest ingredients are most likely to be adopted. Families will often not have enough money to buy flour, oil, salt or sugar, so we have to make sure that we are giving them realistic options for preparing the food.’
Caoimhe said the multiplication of the planting material ‘vines’ is a key part of the work Concern does.
‘I recently visited a farmer who had increased his income significantly by producing vines for distribution to other farmers. The project creates a viable income as both the vines and the orange fleshed sweet potato are sought after in local markets.’
Although farming in Ireland takes place on a different scale and in a very different market environment than Malawi, Irish farmers can draw comparisons from the everyday struggles they face.
‘There is a common thread between Ireland and Malawi because farmers everywhere are dependent on some forces which are outside their control, such as the weather and understand the stresses that comes along with that unpredictability. However, too little rain or too much rain in Malawi can threaten a child’s survival. Keeping your children in school and fed well so that their long term future is protected is a constant battle for parents here,’ said Caoimhe.
Concern, with its reputation as a technical leader on the prevention and treatment of undernutrition in Malawi for many years, is also engaging in advocacy at national level
Orange fleshed sweet potato is very high in Vitamin A, which is essential for the development of a child’s brain and for their physical development. It is estimated that 10 per cent of Malawi’s GDP is lost because so many people don’t get good quality food as children
with Government authorities to promote the adoption and consumption of sweet potato.
‘Our goal is to ensure that the poorest families in Malawi are able to live healthier and more productive lives through improved access to and consumption of nutritious food,’ she concluded.
Situated at the northern fringe of the M50 in Coolock, it is just a short drive from about anywhere in Dublin. Avoid sitting in traffic for hours then paying a fortune for your parking. Drop into Northside Shopping Centre and have a superb shopping experience, with ample free parking and some of the top names in Irish fashion and home-wares, you are sure to find exactly what you want.
With more than 70 outlets including, Dunnes Stores, New Look, Superquinn, Hickeys Pharmacy, Shoe Zone, Kenny Shoes & Sports, Lifestyle Sports, Subway, Peter Marks,Heatons,JDKingofTrainers and many many more top quality retail outlets, it is time you make Northside Shopping Centre your first choice for shopping.
Opening Hours Mon-Wed 9am-6pm | Thurs & Fri 9am-9pm Sat 9am-6pm | Sun 12am-6pm
Bring the story of 1916 to life with a Dublin Bus Tour.
2016 will be a special year for Dublin as it marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most important events in Irish History. Dublin City was the centre of monumental change during Easter 1916, when rebels took over the General Post Office (GPO) and proclaimed Irish Independence for “Irish men and Irish women”.
The story of 1916 lends itself to dramatic retelling, and a great way to hear of the events surrounding this historic week is on a Dublin Bus Tour. Follow the path of the Irish heroes with Dublin’s favourite city tour, from touching the bullet holes that still remain in the walls of the General Post Office on O’Connell Street, to tracing the event through newspapers in the National Library, then on to Collins Barracks and Kilmainham Gaol where the rebels were jailed and later executed.
Hop-off at the Shelbourne Hotel, where up to 100 British soldiers camped on the hotel’s roof during the Easter Rising. While there, take a stroll through Saint Stephen’s Green, a 9 hectare (22 acre) park landscaped with flowerbeds, trees and a lake at the top of Dublin’s famous Grafton Street. The 1887 bandstand is still the focal point for free daytime concerts in summer. During the 1916 Rising groundskeeper of the day James Kearney wouldn’t let the rising disrupt his feeding of
the park’s ducks, so a ceasefire was called daily during the rising for the ducks to be fed!
As well as detailing the fascinating history of Dublin, your experienced guides will entertain you with insights, stories
and even songs from Dublin past and present, while bringing you straight to the front door of Dublin’s most iconic and significant attractions like the Book of Kells in Trinity College, The Guinness Storehouse (voted Europe’s leading tourist Attraction 2015) and Dublin Zoo.
All Dublin Bus Tour customers receive a free walking tour by Pat Liddy. Pat is one of Dublin’s favourite historians and is particularly knowledgeable when it comes to the Easter Rising.
Dublin Sightseeing are excited to announce that in February 2016 we will launch a new bus Tour which will bring passengers back in time to the week of 1916 Easter Rising. Reconstructing the routes and stories of lesser known rebels, join our actors on board our specially designed bus to animate the action of the Rising. Through the eye-witness testimonies of those involved, we invite you to traverse the significant events of the week, immersing yourself in an adrenaline fuelled experience.
Passengers will be brought to see all the key locations, hear harrowing tales of struggle and bravery, witness dramatic re-enactments and learn of all the key players of this most
“Follow the path of the Irish heroes with Dublin’s favourite city tour, from touching the bullet holes that still remain in the walls of the General Post Office on O’Connell Street, to tracing the event through newspapers in the National Library, then on to Collins Barracks and Kilmainham Gaol where the rebels were jailed and later executed.”
eventful week in our nation’s history.
The tour will operate daily, and more details will follow on our website www.dublinsightseeing.ie. Dublin Sightseeing have operated bus tours in and around Dublin City and County for over 28 years and their tours include the Hop-On Hop-Off city tour, Coast & Castle tour to Malahide Castle and Howth and the Glendalough & Powerscourt Gardens Tour.
For additional information visit www.dublinsightseeing.ie, or email info@ dublinsightseeing.ie.
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Its proximity to Dublin meant that Kildare played an active part in the Easter Rising and these connections to the rebellion of 1916 are being commemorated by local communities across the county this year writes Aideen Sutton.
Kildare County Council received an initial 91 applications to its call last year for grant aid for community groups wishing to host centenary commemoration events. Government funding of 30,000 euro was received and which additional funding from Council resources approved by each of the county’s five Municipal Districts, a total of approximately 90,000 euro was made available.
The Council formed a Decade of Commemorations Committee which last year produced a programme of events on themes relevant to Kildare from projects and communityled activities such as concerts, school pageants, book launches, drama, musical and dance performances, art exhibitions, lectures and seminars.
This Decade of Commemoration programme got underway last October but the number of events has now risen to 142 as more and more communities began coming forward with
ideas. The Council’s is currently in the process of compiling and publishing a revised programme of events.
Kildare Executive Librarian, Mario Corrigan said that the centenary of the 1916 Rising is very significant for County Kildare and people are now very definitely recognising the importance of its commemoration.
“I think the whole county is only waking up now to the centenary; possibly with Rebellion on RTE 1 and with launch of the Revolution Papers,” said Mr Corrigan.
“Schools have only been contacting us for visits since early January; they are only preparing for 1916 now but everyone is giving a big push now.
“We are doing everything possible to make programme of events as varied as possible. We do not want to just do something for one day, we want to have a legacy of material as well so when people do try to understand what did we do in
2016, we will have at least produced something worthwhile.
“We want to have physical reminders so that in 50 years’ time, people can look back and see and know how County Kildare commemorated the centenary of 1916.”
The Kildare Decade of Commemoration programme got underway last October with a week-long programme of events, commencing with the launch of Kildare historian Thomas Nelson’s book ‘Through Peace and War: Kildare County Council in the Years of Revolution 1899-1926’ in the Council’s headquarters in Naas. The closing event was the unveiling of a life-size statue to the patriot John Devoy, ‘the Greatest of the Fenians,’ took place at Poplar Square, Naas, on 25 October 2015 by the Kildare Mayor and American Ambassador.
The John Devoy Memorial Committee was founded in Naas by local man Seamus Curran in 2008. The Committee struggled to attract funding in the recessionary period until the County Kildare Association of New York offered help. A New York John Devoy Memorial Committee was set up as a subcommittee of the County Kildare Association and quite quickly raised $45,000 to erect the statue. The location for the monument was chosen by the Naas and New York Committees with the agreement of Kildare County Council. Cast by Celbridge based sculptor Jarlath Daly, the life-size statue of John Devoy was erected near to where Devoy worked and across the street from Our Lady and St David’s Catholic Church, where he was condemned from the pulpit, in 1865, by Fr Hughes for his political activities in the name of Irish freedom. The project has revived interest in this great hero, largely forgotten by history.
During this week of commemorations, Terry Golway’s, Irish rebel: John Devoy and America’s fight for Ireland’s freedom, was re-published by Merrion Press, Sallins. A new book by Kildare Historian-in-Residence, James Durney, Foremost and Ready: Kildare and the 1916 Rising was also launched. There were many other events, including County Kildare Federation of Local History Groups’ annual seminar in Kilcullen Heritage Centre with guest speaker, Adhamhnán Ó Súilleabháin, who delivered an illustrated talk on his grandfather, 1916 veteran, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, from Maynooth.
“We will have St Patrick’s Day and Easter Parades throughout the county but as they are the types of events we hoped to get
anyway, we wanted to look beyond that,” said Mr Corrigan.
“We are organising five concerts, one for each municipal district in the county, with music, poetry and songs from the period, all with a Kildare slant.
“The idea is that the 1916 commemorations should run for a whole year, not just for one day- it was December 1916 when the Kildare prisoners returned home.
“Another great event we are holding in August will be the erection of a statue to the great explorer Ernest Shackleton, who was born in Kilkee near Castledermot. As the Rising broke out in Dublin, on other side of world Shackleton and Tom Crean were getting into a lifeboat, the James Caird, to sail from Elephant Island to the Island of South George Island after his ship Endurance had sunk.
“A Kildare man, David Butler is producing a graphic novel based on Shackleton’s amazing journey which will be published by Collins Press.”
Mr Corrigan said that he expects the current programme of 142 events to rise even further as the year progresses.
“We have been very surprised by the variety and level of community involvement,” he said.
“Local people throughout Kildare are being very active and are very proud, they are really proud to be involved in commemorating the 1916 centenary.
“When we started canvassing last year for communities to organise events, the one thing people were very adamant about was that events would be all inclusive. They wanted the events to be not just about the military history but about the impact the Rising had on the local people 100 years ago.
“It was also important that events would be relevant, appropriate and sensitive. It is very important to celebrate in style but with dignity as well.”
To ensure that all commemoration events could be delivered, Kildare County Council’s Library and Arts Services created a new role of County Historian-In-Residence especially for the 1916 centenary.
There is a huge amount of work involved and with some of it, e.g. erecting statues, being outside the general remit of the Library and Arts services, we created this new role,” explained Mr Corrigan.
“The Decade of Commemoration Committee has been working since last year, providing great support; everyone is working together to make it a comprehensive commemoration and having the Mayor of Kildare on the committee is a great coup for us.”
Kildare historian James Durney, appointed as County Kildare Historian-In-Residence has taken on the task of being an events facilitator and co-ordinator, overseeing all the events throughout the county.
“It is great to have a Historian-In-residence as people can come to me for advice and assistance and I help them out with research etc.,” said Mr Durney.
“This is my particular area of expertise; I am particularly interested in this period of Ireland’s history as it relates to Kildare.”
Mr Durney published his fourth book on the period last November, ‘Foremost and Ready. Kildare and the 1916 Rising’. He has also written ‘In a Time of War, Kildare 1914 to 1918’, ‘The War of Independence in Kildare’ and ‘The Civil War in Kildare’.
“I am really interested in Kildare and its history and my latest book details everything about Kildare’s involvement in the Rising.
“I am speaking to groups to help them get their bearings around 1916, to ensure that what they do is historically correct. It is important that things are not one-sided; people had relatives on both sides of the Rising and it affected everyone on all strands of life,” he said.
“Apart from Dublin, Kildare was one of the areas most affected. Within hours, troops from The Curragh Camp and Newbridge were on trains heading to Dublin to suppress the rebellion.
“People in some areas of Kildare saw the red skies of Dublin blazing and refugees from Dublin were streaming out to Newbridge, Maynooth and Leixlip to get away from the fighting in Dublin.”
Mr Durney believes that the programme of community commemorative events in Kildare is hard to be rivalled within the country.
“Myself and Executive Librarian Mario Corrigan are making presentations to schools, in one week recently, we saw 1,000 school children,” he said.
“We are adapting our presentation to suit the different
needs of primary and secondary school children. For instance, we bring replica guns and uniforms from the period to primary schools as a child of seven cannot understand 1916 and visual content makes it easier to get their attention and explain.
“We are receiving a great reaction from school children, they are very interested. Their teachers are preparing them well, they are studying the period and doing projects and making flags etc.”
Mr Durney is very pleased with the week-long series of events which commenced the Decade of Commemorations programme last October. Since then, he said that other major events have included the premiere of a documentary on John Devoy ‘Devoy-the Greatest of Fenians’ by Donal Higgins in the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge in January. Little Stories Little Prints. A 1916 Commemorative Visual Arts Project through Printmaking, supported by the Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee was launched in the Little Museum of Dublin, also in January. This exhibition will be in Riverbank Arts Centre in April and a number of workshops will be held throughout the County Kildare Library network commencing in March.
And the Decade of Commemorations Committee, with assistance from James Durney and Mario Corrigan, is currently preparing for an exhibition on Eamonn O Modhrain, a Kildare man, who was imprisoned in Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire and Frongoch in Wales.
“This is a huge undertaking but it will be an important one. A relative of his found stuff in the attic. Some of it includes original letters never exhibited before which Eamonn wrote from Frongoch. We are putting that together at the moment to be launched at end of February in Newbridge,” said Mr Durney.
“’Irish Life and Lore’ by Maurice O’Keeffe will be coming to Newbridge for a Kildare launch on Holy Thursday and I am particularly delighted that this compilation of audio recordings with the sons, daughters, grandchildren and other close relatives of those central to events at Easter 1916 is coming to Kildare as I helped Maurice identify some of the participants.
“My role as Historian-In-Residence is proving to be a very busy period but it is all good as it is a really interesting period. I am really enjoying this, as I was not alive in 1916, the next best thing is to be here for 2016.”
Derek Molyneux, author of ‘When the Clock Struck in 1916 - Close Quarter Combat in the Easter Rising’ talks to Jimmy Geoghegan about the battles that broke out throughout the city during the Easter rebellion.
They came from shops, factories, homes and offices to play their part in one of the most tumultuous events in Irish history.
One moment they were ordinary citizens going about their everyday business the next they were revolutionaries looking to take on the mighty British empire, then one of the greatest the world had ever seen.
The men and woman who made up the Irish rebel force in 1916 were just that; ordinary people who became insurgents.
The story of what these men and women experienced during the dramatic events of Easter week are contained in ‘When the Clock Struck in 1916 – Close Quarter Combat in the Easter Rising.’ The fortunes and misfortunes of others caught up in the fighting are also explored.
Written by Derek Molyneux and Darren Kelly, the book examines in great detail the battles that broke out in various parts of Dublin during that week.
The writers explore how those ordinary people grappled with the trauma, the terror and the pain that they encountered in the war zone.
The authors also take a look at what it was like to be a British solider during the Rising. What it was like to be fighting a war among the streets of what was an unfamiliar city.
Some of the British soldiers were veterans of trench warfare in the First World War, that still raged on, but nothing had prepared them for conditions and the savagery they were to encounter among the streets of the Irish capital.
Molyneaux and Kelly studied many aspects of 1916 but the more they read about Easter week the more they discovered there was a gap in the kind of information and detail that ended up in books about the Rising.
“When I started to look more into what happened in Dublin and read about it I said to myself that an awful lot appears to have escaped everybody,” says Derek Molyneaux a Dubliner who lives in Kinnegad.
“There are plenty of books out there, many of them academic in nature but none of them that would appeal to someone like me who would go into a bookshop, pick up a book, look at it and say: ‘My God did that really happen on our streets.’
“The more we went into it, it just became addictive and in no small part because there is such a wealth of human stories.”
Much of the raw material for the book came from British military records and witness statements from people who were there. The authors also drew on their own extensive knowledge of events.
In ‘When the Clock Struck in 1916’ the authors seek to recreate the conditions rebels had to contend with such as the lack of sleep and the chronic shortage of food.
Other harsh realities were looked at. Molyneaux points out that “huge bullets” were used in the fighting and when they found a target the result could be gruesome indeed.
The authors don’t spare the readers when it comes to evoking what it was like during the madcap, helter-skelter scenes that developed during battles.
“Plumes of gun smoke shot from the building’s smashed windows as the rounds flew at the soldiers, knocking them from their saddles as both they and their horses fell to the ground screaming under the onslaught,” is how a battle that took place as the Four Courts is partly described. The starkness of the details makes the whiff of cordite almost palpable.
Fighting in the warren of little streets behind the Four Courts was among the most vicious of the Rising as British forces sought to drive out volunteers who were in that area, surrounded, yet well able to inflict damage on their enemies.
“There was a 30-hour battle that went on there (around King Street). The battle was so vicious and intense that the British started a massacre of civilians in complete frustration because of what was been done to them in streets they were totally unfamiliar with and they weren’t trained for,” commented Derek Moyneux.
A writer with a long-standing, keen interest in history, Molyneux says that while the Irish rebels were ordinary people who literally came from their homes and workplaces to stage a revolution they were far from innocents going out on the streets and hoping for the best.
“I think it’s important to get across that the rebels were a lot more professional and well-trained than I think is generally perceived.
“Plumes of gun smoke shot from the building’s smashed windows as the rounds flew at the soldiers, knocking them from their saddles as both they and their horses fell to the ground screaming under the onslaught.”
“When I was in school doing history years ago the loose impression we were given was that a bunch of poets with pikes and pistols, albeit well meaning, took over a few buildings in Dublin. The British sent up a battleship (The Helga) up the Liffey and bombed them out and they came out waving the white flag.”
The truth, Derek Molyneux adds was much more complex. He points out, for instance, that The Helga bombed Liberty Hall but the building was already evacuated.
He adds that while the rebels were bombed out of the GPO they didn’t come out with white flags but sought to escape out to Moore Street.
The nitty, gritty detail associated with the intense gun battles are explored in the book. There was a lot of sniper duels that took place around the city and Molyneux points out how rebels often didn’t have to use binoculars to pick up enemy targets.
The weather was very pleasant during Easter week, with bright sunshine and even this was used by the rebels to their advantage.
“The British were naively going around with their bayonets fixed and the sun was reflecting off the bayonets but perhaps even more disturbingly their belt buckles were giving them away so that they (rebel snipers) were aiming for their belt buckles,” he points out.
Soon after the Rising erupted food became an issue for the rebels. Starvation was a big problem especially for those insurgents who were quartered in St Stephen’s Green.
In the Jacobs biscuit factory that was occupied by the rebels, there was an ample supply of food but there were problems there also.
“Even in Jacobs biscuit factory you had more casualties due to sickness because there was so many biscuits there but very little other food,” Derek Molyneux adds.
Inside the GPO the rebels were well stocked with food, much of it “liberated” from the nearby Metropole Hotel, and Desmond Fitzgerald, the father of later Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald, was put in charge of dishing it out.
“A lot of the volunteers were giving out about Desmond Fitzgerald, they were calling him a stingy old git basically. They were going hungry but he was giving them very meagre portions. He wasn’t going to dish out the food willy, nilly.”
In one of the more bizarre images of the war Molyneux points to the testament of a volunteer Liam Tannan who was describing how the bombed out GPO was evacuated.
“In his witness statement he recounted how he saw the most peculiar things such as volunteers running across the street, under fire, carrying trays of eggs. When they were evacuating the GPO they were bringing the food with them.”
In examining the various battles that erupted throughout the city the authors studied the logistics involved such as the width of a road junction, angels snipers had to shoot out.
Such detail are very much part of ‘When the Clock Struck in 1916,’ a book that takes a fresh look at the Rising that caused such disruption in Dublin and kick-started a series of events that in a few short years was to eventually lead to the formation of the Irish Free State.
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Justice is at the heart of all of Trócaire’s work, both overseas and in Ireland. The organisation provides humanitarian assistance and long-term support to communities in over 20 developing countries and campaigns on justice issues in addition to raising awareness about the root causes of poverty and inequality.
The men and women of the 1916 Rising envisaged a new Ireland which, in the words of the Proclamation, “guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and [which] declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally.”
Looking back, the foundations for Trócaire were laid over forty years ago, with a similar vision and hope for a different part of the world, beyond Ireland. Just as The Proclamation looked forward to a nation established on principles of selfdetermination; Trócaire was established with a belief that developing nations and their citizens must be able to actively participate in their own development, not simply be fed the crumbs of rich nations’ prosperity.
Trócaire was established in 1973 not just to feed the hungry, but to question why they had no food. Its founding letter from the Catholic Bishops of Ireland said: ‘We are a
rich nation to some extent because others are poor. Part of our prosperity is due to the fact that people in developing countries are not getting a fair deal.’
The organisation and its early leaders established the agency as a voice for the forgotten and the oppressed. Shortly after its foundation Trócaire became involved in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, a struggle which lasted for almost two decades At the time Trócaire challenged the Irish government to condemn the oppression of apartheid and in March 1986 the government announced a ban on imports of fruit and vegetables from South Africa.
Trócaire’s long-term development work has always been rooted in equality and human rights. Its founding mandate states; ‘Abroad [Trócaire] will give whatever help lies within its resources to the areas of greatest need among the developing countries. At home, it will try to make us all more aware of the needs of those countries and of our duties
towards them. These duties are no longer a matter of charity but of simple justice.’
Overcoming poverty is about so much more than practical support; it’s about justice and people realising their rights.
Trócaire’s history is owned by the people, parishes and communities here in Ireland, who for over forty years have devoted unyielding support and empathy toward the world’s suffering people. It is also owned by its brave partner organisations overseas, the men and women who work every day to better their own communities. Most importantly, it is owned by the people who benefit from Trócaire’s work and who cast their hope for a better future in their shared humanity with Irish people.
Many countries around the world have been inspired by Ireland’s history and have taken comfort in the support we have provided to them in a multitude of ways.
El Salvador’s civil war lasted over ten years claiming 75,000 lives and forcing over a million people from their homes. A UN peace accord was signed in 1992, but amnesty
was granted to armed forces against the calls of victims.
Trócaire’s commitment to finding justice in El Salvador supported organisations that took international court cases to reverse this amnesty and in 2003 they succeeded, leading to cases going through the courts.
In 1991 Somalia was plunged into a devastating famine caused by a crippling civil war. President Mary Robinson’s visit to the region, the first of any head of state, focused international attention on the crisis and demanded that world leaders act to protect starving Somali people. With support from Ireland, Trócaire rebuilt clinics, schools and restored water sources.
Today the Gedo programme in Somalia consists of over 50 health posts, three hospitals and eleven primary schools, staffed by local Somali people and reaching over 220,000 people.
Ireland’s legacy of courage and compassion has spread through Trócaire, across the world and provided countless families and communities with the support and strength they need to build a better future for themselves and generations to come.
JJ Rhatigan & Company – ‘Setting Standards’ in Irish Construction for over 60 years.
JJ Rhatigan & Company has been operating in Ireland since 1952, establishing itself as a leading construction company delivering high quality, sustainable building projects across a wide range of sectors from Education, Healthcare, Commercial and Hotel & Leisure to Medical Technology, Pharmaceutical and Food Processing. With over 250 direct employees, the company has significantly contributed to the Construction Sector nationwide.
Over the past 60 years, JJ Rhatigan & Company has been at the forefront of construction, recognising the need for sustainable development in delivering a more advanced and competitive infrastructure in Ireland. To this end, Education has always been a key sector for the company and one of the first sectors it embarked on in the 1960s. Since then, the company has completed numerous schools nationwide facilitating Ireland’s reputation for having a highly educated population. John F. Kennedy Memorial School, Oughterard Secondary School, Borrisokane Community College and Dunshaughlin Community School are amongst the company’s portfolio.
More recently, JJ Rhatigan & Company has completed the Design and Build of ten schools across the country as part of the NDFA Bundle 1 & 3 Projects which include Duleek Boys and Girls School and Watergrasshill National School. Furthermore, JJ Rhatigan & Company has delivered a number of world-class third level education facilities such as St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, The Science Research Building, The AHSSRB, The Arts Millennium Building, and The Life Course Studies Building all at The National University of Ireland, Galway.
As a company that recognises Ireland’s reputation for
having a strong national research ecosystem, JJ Rhatigan & Company has been involved in the construction of numerous research facilities across the country. In 2011, JJ Rhatigan & Company built the Tierney Building which houses LERO, the Irish Software Research Centre at the University of Limerick. The centre is one of the most highly regarded software-related research centres in the world, bringing together leading University research teams with Industry partners.
Most recently, the company completed the phased construction and full fit out of The UCC Beaufort Maritime and Energy Research Building, the largest integrated maritime and energy research centre in the world and a centre that is leading the way in the continuing shift towards a resourceefficient and low-carbon global economy. And sustainability in construction is a key priority for JJ Rhatigan & Company.
According to Ger Ronayne, Regional Director at JJ Rhatigan & Company “over the past number of years, we have worked with numerous design teams and clients to ensure that our developments are self-sustainable and eco-friendly where possible”. The company was awarded LEED Gold and ‘Sustainable Project of the Year 2014’ for the Medtronic Customer Innovation Centre, where energy efficient features within the building resulted in a 20% energy saving when compared to a standard (non LEED Gold) building design. The NUIG Life Course Studies Building was also awarded ‘Sustainable Project of the Year 2015’. Moreover, the Company has just commenced construction on the Garda Regional and Divisional Headquarters in Galway which is set to achieve an A energy rating.
Over the years, JJ Rhatigan & Company has worked
with many Multinational Companies (MNCs) in Ireland. The expansion of Foreign Direct Investment has resulted in a growth in the construction and fit out of Industrial/ Manufacturing facilities. JJ Rhatigan & Company has worked in collaboration with the IDA in the development of facilities, including manufacturing facilities, cleanrooms and laboratories, for the Medtech and Pharma sectors. Key clients include Johnson & Johnson, ConorMed Systems, KCI and PPI. The Healthcare sector further adds to the company’s area of knowledge and expertise. Having completed projects including Ballinamore Primary Care Centre, Highfield Hospital, as well as extension projects at Bon Secours Galway, Wexford Hospital and the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick, the company was recently awarded the contract for the construction of 14 Primary Care Centres nationwide. It is clear that JJ Rhatigan & Companies holds true to its
ethos of ‘Setting Standards’ in quality construction. With several developments underway, including the Primary Care Centres PPP Project and Charlemont Street Regeneration Project, the Company continues to build for a better future for Ireland. “We have the experience, capabilities and skillset to deliver best in class buildings” says Ronayne, with the company’s expertise spanning from Traditional, Design & Build and PPP projects to Refurbishment and Fit-out projects. “With continued growth we are expanding our presence, with offices now in Galway, Dublin, Cork, Sligo and London. We continue to embrace new and more advanced technologies and processes such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and are the first Irish company to adopt Autodesk BIM 360 across our business. The level of repeat business we continue to get is testament to the relationships and trust we have built with our clients over the years and something we hope will continue in the future.”
No matter our age, the majority of people want to stay independent and live at home for as long as possible. However, as we get older, it can become difficult to maintain independence and live at home without additional support. Ed Murphy, Founder and CEO of Home Instead Senior Care in Ireland, talks about the importance of help at home.
Just because an older person is having more problems at home does not mean that it’s time for institutional care. The first step is determining if professional care is necessary to support the needs and desires of the older person. Sometimes these are difficult conversations to have with someone who is convinced that he or she does not need help. The best argument in this instance is to acknowledge their desire to stay at home:
“You know, Mary, I want you to stay at home too, however, that might be more difficult if you fall or get sick. A little extra help could keep you safe and independent at home for a longer time”.
Home care might be ideal for someone who is recovering from an illness or surgery, such as a knee replacement, and needs help around the home. The need for assistance can be just as much emotional as physical. An older person who loses a spouse can become depressed and lonely to the point her own health suffers. Or a widower’s increasing forgetfulness can put him at risk of forgetting to pay the bills, or worse, forgetting to take his medication.
Home Instead Senior Care is Ireland’s largest private home care provider, enabling older people to maintain their independence and live a happy, healthy and independent life at home. Our first office was set up in Leopardstown in 2005 and last year we delivered over 1,250,000 hours of care to over 4,000 people across the country.
Our network of 22 home care offices provide a range of services that are tailored to the individual’s needs and preferences. These services range from Companionship to Post Hospital Care, to Palliative Care through to Care for people with Dementia, Alzheimer’s, disabilities and chronic health conditions. Our philosophy is to put relationship before task when it comes to providing care.
To help older people maintain their independence, we boast a nationwide team of professional CAREGivers who want to make a difference in the lives of older people. CAREGivers are professionally trained to the highest standard, including training
Instead Senior
is Ireland’s largest private home care provider, enabling older people to maintain their independence and live a happy, healthy and independent life at home.
in challenging areas such as Alzheimer’s and dementia care. We also take the time to carefully match clients with the most suitable CAREGivers based on their individual preferences and personalities.
A major project in the pipeline involves educating family caregivers and retailers in the local community.
Complimentary dementia care training has been rolled out throughout the country, entitled, “CARE” (Changing Ageing Through Research and Education), the programme is a unique research-based training approach for caregivers.
Designed by renowned experts in the field of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care, the programme focuses on personalising the care experience and looks at practical
ways of dealing with some of the most common issues associated with dementia.
Given the ageing population, we think home care is becoming more relevant than ever before to families across the country. According to CSO data, by 2026 it is projected that 16% of the population will be over 65 years of age - they currently make up 11% of the population. The “oldest-old” population of the over 80’s will rise from 128,000 in 2011 to between 470,000 and 484,000 in 2046. As part of the care continuum, we are united with the public sector in our vested interest in providing quality, professional care for our ageing population.
Home Instead are collecting testimonials from their clients and their families who have been told stories from loved ones about the 1916 rising and its impact on their family life and the local community. To read these stories please visit HomeInstead.ie/Dublin1916. If you have a story to share visit the website and tell your 1916 family story.
Readers of Public Sector Times can also order a complimentary 1916 wall planner to celebrate the centenary. To request your wall planner please email info@ homeinstead.ie with your name and address. Don’t forget to include 1916 wall planner as the subject heading!
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1916 – 2016: A Time for Reflection?
Primo Specialist Vehicle Conversions was established in 2007 and since then has produced world class engineered vehicle designs, both for Ireland, and on a Global scale. Since its inception, Primo has become a name to rely on for vehicles conversions in Ireland.
The Ferbane-based company provides vehicle modification and reconfiguration for a wide variety of vehicle applications, and are fully committed to providing a quality, reliable and safe service.
They have particular expertise in the design and build of technically advanced vehicle solutions such as Frontline Ambulances, Garda Vehicles, Rapid Response Units, Personnel and Accessibility vehicles - the variety of vehicle types is substantial and continues to grow.
Ted Dunican, Managing Director and a qualified Electrical Engineer explains: ‘We specialise in creating solutions. A great deal of Primo’s trade is one off, bespoke solutions. Many of our customers know exactly what they want, and we work with them to make it a reality.’
Designing a good product can only be done with a good team, and at Primo we have a skilled workforce of staff members whom also have a passion for the work they do, which is a key ingredient to any successful organisation.
business partner Noel Kerrigan is head of the technical department at Primo, Noel a qualified automotive craftsman is also a member of the Technical Inspectorate for Ireland & UK in relation to vehicle design.
In 2014, Primo designed and built a riot vehicle for An Garda Siochana. The riot vehicle was a new design and a first of its kind, which needed extensive research and CAD (Computer Aided Design) models by Primo, before manufacture or commitment to our customer commenced. Safety of the personnel in the vehicle was of paramount importance, but functionality to ensure public order was of equal importance. The Primo technical review team and the Garda Technical Workgroup together have now produced the riot vehicle of the future for Irish law enforcement.
Primo have a growing list of satisfied customers. Primo’s client list includes blue chip names such as the HSE, Irish Coast Guard, RTE, ESB, Irish Red Cross, the Order of Malta, Airport Police, Dublin Fire Brigade, and the Defence Forces.
‘Vehicle conversion is a very competitive business,’ Ted remarks. Primo SVC is always looking to other markets, so as not to rest on one product type. With Primo been able to offer various products, it makes us more resilient. In conjunction with VCS, we have also formed a partnership with VFS
(Victoria Forge) in Southampton UK. VFS specialise in the design and supply of premium quality tipper and drop side bodies. Primo has secured exclusivity for Ireland on all VFS products. All Primo VFS models including any optional equipment (where necessary), are certified to 2007/46/EC –the framework directive for EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval (EC WVTA) - implemented into law by all EC member states.
Noel says: ‘2015 so far has been a busy year. On top of our bespoke conversions, we have been fortunate to secure a contract with the ESB, converting close to 400 vans this year,’ stated Ted. ‘We have also achieved and implemented ISO.
Conformity to international standards helps reassure customers that products are safe, efficient and good for the environment.’
‘We are currently extremely busy and have work orders confirmed until August 2016, with tenders pending. With regards to the Easter Rising Centenary, we will perhaps reflect rather than celebrate the 1916 anniversary. We are going to plant some trees at the Primo premises to honour those who died for what we have today’, concludes Ted.
If you wish to know more about Primo and their quality conversions, look them up on facebook, or their website www.primocoachworks.com.
Iconic images from the Easter Rising woven into a 100% premium cotton tapestry throw blanket. Only $100/€130. Measures 137 x 137 cm (54 x 54”).
Our outreach volunteers provide information and practical support concerning the following areas:
• The Funeral
• The Inquest
• Entitlements
• What to say to children
• How to deal with the neighbours
• Help the person to clarify their personal grief
• Connect the person to other support services in their area
• Provide information on suicide and attempted suicide
• Be there, as a friend, for the person.
Our Living Links listening/support service is free of charge and available to any person in the community including emergency personnel, gardai and clergy etc., who have in any way been affected by suicide.
The Living Links listening/support service is free of charge and available to any person in the community including emergency personnel, gardai and clergy etc.,
Situated amid the beautiful landscape of North-West Ireland is Eagles Flying, the largest centre for birds of prey and owls in the country.
Nestled in the green hills of south Sligo, Irelands´ largest sanctuary for Raptors and Owls, the Irish Raptor Research Centre / Eagles Flying is situated on more than 27 ha of mature parklands near Ballymote. Currently it is home of more than 100 Eagles, Hawks, Owls, Falcons and Vultures. Altogether there are more than 450 birds and animals out of 85 different species in the centre.
Established in 1999 as an institution for research on birds of prey, parts of the area where opened to the public in 2003. Only a few years later it was one of the major tourist attractions in the northern part of Ireland. Ten-thousands of visitors flock to see the spectacular Bird Shows with Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, Vultures and Owls of different species.
Twice daily scientists train these birds for visitors and give information about the biology of these magnificent creatures.
They also answer questions from the audience. During these entertaining interactive Bird Shows visitors can experience different types of birds of prey flying right over their head or landing beside them. Some have a wingspan of up to 3 metres. It is also possible to touch some of them and some members of the audience may even have one flying to their bare hand. At Eagles Flying they developed a very special, friendly way of working with raptors and other animals and there is no risk whatsoever for any member of the audience. These shows are unique - you have never been that close to raptors!
During the shows, starting at 11 am and 3 pm every day and lasting for approximately one hour, the birds are presented in their natural habitat – not in an arena. Before and after the shows the visitors can walk the park lands and enjoy the birds
displayed in aviaries or on perches close to the walking path. Staff will give information on the birds and answer questions.
For the ones who prefer it more cuddly; there is also a large supervised Petting-Zoo. Here, visitors can get hands-on with guinea-pigs, pigs, rabbits, lambs, goats, donkeys, ferrets, and many more. Rosie the 350 kg pig gives kids a proper piggyback ride, Grizzly, the raccoon, is a gifted pickpocket, Tui and Allan, the tame foxes make perfect (live) fur collars for fashion conscious ladies and Monty, the 4 meter Python, even makes a perfect scarf for at least 6 people at a time.
The most time and resource consuming section is the Animal Rescue Department. Animals and birds in need are taken on, medicated and made fit for rehabilitation. Problem animals, passed on by animal rescue groups, are treated and
healed to a very high percentage.
Eagles Flying is also accredited as EU-Zoo and cooperates with other Zoos on an international basis breeding endangered species. The sanctuary is especially renowned for its successful breeding programme of Himalayan Vultures, some of the largest birds of prey in the World. They have a wingspan of more than 3 metres and reach a weight of nearly 14 kg. There are only a few Zoos in the World keeping these stately birds and Eagles Flying probably has the largest captive group of this species . The show area can seat more than 550 people per show. In case of rain, the shows can be presented indoors
For more information such as directions or rates you can visit www.eaglesflying.com.
From the assembling of the armies to the trials and executions, the momentous events of the 1916 Rising remain part of our lives, a century later.
Now, in an exclusive 10-part collection we commemorate the individuals whose actions changed our history forever - the revolutionaries, the politicians, the women and the unsung heroes.
A unique collection of supplements dedicated to recalling the legacy of the events of 1916. Continue your collection, fortnightly on Thursdays, free only in the Irish Independent.
RCSI holds a special position in the historical events of the 1916 Easter Rising. Despite being a focal point for the Rising, remarkably, the RCSI building on St Stephen’s Green still stands in its original form today as it did in 1916.
To commemorate these events, our landmark building will host a special programme of exhibitions, displays and lectures in 2016.
A special exhibition and public lecture series from 23rd March – 17th April 2016.
A visual spectacle telling the history of RCSI and our iconic building takes place on Friday 16th September 2016. For more information visit rcsi.ie/2016