0:00:03 > 0:00:07This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10Hello, ladies. Can I just slip this on for a second?
0:00:10 > 0:00:14My show Mrs Brown's Boys and the character of Mrs Brown
0:00:14 > 0:00:16are deeply rooted in the city of Dublin.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Agnes Brown is a true Dubliner, as am I.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22One, two.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25And ours is a city with an extraordinary tale to tell.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Exactly 100 years ago, in Easter week 1916,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36a band of Irish rebels
0:00:36 > 0:00:38seized control of prominent buildings in inner Dublin.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42For six days they held out against the might of the British Empire
0:00:42 > 0:00:45before they were shelled into surrender.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48The Easter Rising sent shock waves through the Empire
0:00:48 > 0:00:51and signalled the birth of today's Irish Republic.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56My relationship with the 1916 Rising is personal.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00Three of the rebels who held Dublin city that week
0:01:00 > 0:01:05were my uncles - Liam, Peadar and Jim, who was just 17.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11The funny thing is that nobody in my family
0:01:11 > 0:01:14really spoke about what my uncles did in 1916.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Oh, I knew about the Rising and I learned about the Rising, but...
0:01:18 > 0:01:22..I never knew anything about my family's part in it.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26So on this, the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising,
0:01:26 > 0:01:28I'm going to retrace my uncles' steps
0:01:28 > 0:01:32and in doing so tell you the story of 1916.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34And it's an extraordinary story,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38a story of subterfuge, of violence,
0:01:38 > 0:01:40of cockups, catastrophes...
0:01:42 > 0:01:46..but also one of idealism and sacrifice.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51# ..the foggy dew. #
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Dublin is my home town.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07I'm always delighted by the warmth of the reaction I get here.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10- It's like this is unreal.- Isn't it? - Yeah. Oh, my God. Meeting you!
0:02:11 > 0:02:14At the moment, the centenary of the Easter Rising
0:02:14 > 0:02:16is absolutely everywhere.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18And just when you think you can get away from it
0:02:18 > 0:02:21by going into a shop to get a bit of chocolate... Uh-uh.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24They've got Easter Rising chocolate, as well.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30- When somebody says 1916, what do you think of?- The Easter Rising.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Are you excited about celebrating it?
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Yeah, I think we should be celebrating it.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37And, do you think, was it an important time?
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Aye, it was very important.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Oh, for sure, yeah. We have to celebrate it.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Yeah, especially all the happenings that went on and everything.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Do your family ever talk about the Rising? Your grandad or your...?
0:02:47 > 0:02:48My grandad, yeah. Quite a bit.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51His, er... His dad was in it.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54It's worth marking because it was a pivotal moment in our history.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Given its popularity today,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06the remarkable thing about the Easter Rising is that,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09militarily, it was an absolute failure.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11It only took off in Dublin,
0:03:11 > 0:03:12not the rest of the country.
0:03:12 > 0:03:13And within six days,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16the British authorities were back in complete control.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Another extraordinary thing is that, at the time...
0:03:20 > 0:03:23..it wasn't even popular with ordinary Dubliners,
0:03:23 > 0:03:24never mind the rest of the country.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29A lot of people thought that the rebels themselves were mad.
0:03:29 > 0:03:30So the question is this...
0:03:32 > 0:03:35How did a rising with such little popular support
0:03:35 > 0:03:36and even less chance of success
0:03:36 > 0:03:38get started in the first place?
0:03:39 > 0:03:41And then, how did that go on to become central
0:03:41 > 0:03:44to the heart and soul of modern Ireland?
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Oh, and...what part did my family play in it?
0:03:49 > 0:03:53TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC
0:03:55 > 0:03:57- David.- Yes, punter.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00Er...
0:04:00 > 0:04:02A pint of dark.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Our story begins four years before the Easter Rising,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08in the autumn of 1912.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10At the time, my father and his family
0:04:10 > 0:04:14were living above the O'Carroll hardware shop in Dublin's Northside.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17This is the family, my family.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19That's my dad.
0:04:19 > 0:04:20That's my grandparents.
0:04:20 > 0:04:26The ones we're going to concentrate on mainly are Liam, Jim and Peadar.
0:04:26 > 0:04:27That's Micheal.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29He was too young during the Rising to really take part.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Well, they say too young. But I just don't think his mammy would let him.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34But the other three did.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37For generations, my family had been committed rebels.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Unlike today, the Ireland they lived in
0:04:39 > 0:04:41was all part of the United Kingdom.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45But my family came from a long tradition of Irish nationalists,
0:04:45 > 0:04:49who wanted Ireland to be an independent country.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Ireland was first invaded by England as far back as the 12th century.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Irish nationalists believed that
0:05:01 > 0:05:03the 700 years of British rule that followed
0:05:03 > 0:05:05had been bad for the Irish people.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07They had collective memories
0:05:07 > 0:05:09of the native Catholic population being oppressed,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12of the poor being forced from their homes in land wars
0:05:12 > 0:05:15and a million people starving
0:05:15 > 0:05:17in the Great Famine of the mid-19th century.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Over the centuries,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23the Irish had staged repeated failed rebellions,
0:05:23 > 0:05:25and though their leaders had become martyrs
0:05:25 > 0:05:26to the cause of Irish freedom,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Britain remained firmly in control.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Or so it seemed.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Nothing represented British power in Ireland more than this...
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Dublin Castle.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40I'm here to meet Fintan O'Toole,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42who knows just how the Irish felt about British rule.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44- Fintan, how are you? - Hiya, Brendan. How are you?
0:05:44 > 0:05:46- Good to see you.- You, too.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Well, here we are.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51- Yeah.- The site of the power of Britain.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54I'm trying to get some context on this journey I'm going to start on
0:05:54 > 0:05:56in retracing my uncles' steps.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Was there a genuine feeling by Irish people of being under the yoke?
0:06:00 > 0:06:01Oh, yeah.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04The people who were running this show...
0:06:04 > 0:06:08- You have the Lord Lieutenant, the Viceroy, he's always English.- Yeah.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11The Chief Secretary, who's really like the Prime Minister...
0:06:11 > 0:06:12- TOGETHER:- Always English.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15So it feels like an English administration.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17It's like, you know, how would English people feel
0:06:17 > 0:06:19if London was being run by all these Paddies going over
0:06:19 > 0:06:22and who were not just digging the roads and the tunnels,
0:06:22 > 0:06:23but were actually running the show?
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Technically, Ireland was exactly the same
0:06:25 > 0:06:27as England and Wales and Scotland.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30It was all part of the United Kingdom. We were all equal.
0:06:30 > 0:06:31It didn't feel like that.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33I mean, for a lot of Irish people,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37being part of the United Kingdom just wasn't working.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39If you were to walk five minutes from here,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42you have the worst slums in Europe.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45This was a city of really appalling poverty.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47There had to be huge resentment.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49There's a deep resentment.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51You know, and it's kind of under the surface a lot of the time.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53But it's always there.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Despite the discontent, there seemed little chance of another rebellion.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02And most people saw independence as a pipe dream.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Instead, the majority of Irish people took a pragmatic approach,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08backing a long campaign
0:07:08 > 0:07:11to run more of their own affairs through self-government.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Or Home Rule, as it was called.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18In 1912, MPs in Westminster finally agreed.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25But Protestants in the north of Ireland,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27who saw themselves as British,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29felt threatened by the prospect of Home Rule.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33A new parliament in Dublin would have a Catholic majority.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37They decided to oppose it and formed a militia to resist the change -
0:07:37 > 0:07:39the Ulster Volunteer Force.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43The rest of Ireland was outraged.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Their goal of Home Rule was in jeopardy.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51To defend Home Rule, in the autumn of 1913, Eoin MacNeill,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55a history professor in Dublin, founded another militia...
0:07:56 > 0:07:58..the Irish Volunteers.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02Decades after the Easter Rising,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05the Irish government took eyewitness testimonies from those involved
0:08:05 > 0:08:06in the fight for independence,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09including my uncle Liam.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12His account begins with the first meeting
0:08:12 > 0:08:14of Eoin MacNeill's Irish Volunteers
0:08:14 > 0:08:16in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20I know my uncle Liam was at that meeting
0:08:20 > 0:08:22because of this account he left.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Now, I know a bit about my uncle Peadar
0:08:25 > 0:08:27and a bit about my uncle Jim's involvement in 1916
0:08:27 > 0:08:29but, really, because of this account,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31I know most about uncle Liam.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34So it's him I'm going to follow most closely.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Eoin MacNeill and the other organisers of the Irish Volunteers
0:08:38 > 0:08:42were astonished when 8,000 people turned up for the first meeting.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Historian Diarmaid Ferriter will tell us what happened that night.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48- How are you?- Good to see you. - Good to see you.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Thanks for this. I appreciate it.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54So you've got the 25th November, 1913.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55Tuesday evening.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59What's it looking like to you? What's happening here?
0:08:59 > 0:09:02I would say the atmosphere here was fervent. It's electric.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04There's a bit of tension around.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06There are people banging, trying to get in.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Some of the speakers can't be heard above the din.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11And there's constant requests to calm down.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14- There was music.- There was music? - There was music, yeah.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16There was a brass and reed band here.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18- St James' brass and reed band. - I love It!
0:09:18 > 0:09:20There was a special gallery reserved for women.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22- I could have done a gig. - You could have done.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24"I know you're going to have a revolution,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26"but here's one or two jokes I want to tell you before you start."
0:09:26 > 0:09:29You had that, as well. It is a fervent atmosphere.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31OK, my uncle Liam was a 19-year-old young man.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33So would he have been of the view,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35are people in general here of the view,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38- that what they were starting here was a rebellion?- No.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Not at all. This is not about starting a rebellion.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44This is about defending what has been promised - Home Rule -
0:09:44 > 0:09:47the idea that, because the Ulster Volunteer Force
0:09:47 > 0:09:49has been formed to resist Home Rule,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51we have to have our own organisation in the south
0:09:51 > 0:09:53to defend the imposition of Home Rule.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Somebody like your uncle, who's thinking,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58"Right, is this the beginning of something special?
0:09:58 > 0:09:59"Could I be a part of something new?"
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Even the whole idea of getting a Volunteer uniform...
0:10:02 > 0:10:04- Oh!- ..which eventually comes a couple of months later.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06- And marching and... - And marching and parading
0:10:06 > 0:10:08and then the prospect, maybe, of getting arms.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- I mean, that's a very exciting thing for young people.- Yeah.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13But the reality is that the atmosphere
0:10:13 > 0:10:15has really got tense
0:10:15 > 0:10:17and Ireland is on the verge of civil war,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19because what you have now,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21with the establishment of the Irish Volunteers,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24are two militia organisations.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25They don't have arms yet,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27but they're going to have them within the year.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29What are the British doing?
0:10:29 > 0:10:31What are they doing about these two armed militias in,
0:10:31 > 0:10:33well, part of the Empire?
0:10:33 > 0:10:35The British government is doing very little.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38- I could put it in a ruder way. - Yeah, do.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40What the British government is doing is sweet FA.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42But there are understandable reasons for that.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45If you're going to move against either the Ulster Volunteers
0:10:45 > 0:10:47or the Irish Volunteers or both,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49what kind of carnage is going to ensue?
0:10:49 > 0:10:51And will it be worth intervention?
0:11:00 > 0:11:03But before things came to a head, the First World War was declared.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Home Rule was shelved.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Britain now had much bigger problems than Ireland.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Irish men, including those who had joined the two opposing militias,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18were urged to enlist in the British Army.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23Over the course of the war, 140,000 joined up.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27Among those who did not enlist were committed Irish nationalists,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29including my uncle Liam and his younger brothers.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33They chose to remain in the now depleted Irish Volunteers.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Just a month after the declaration of war,
0:11:42 > 0:11:45the seeds of the future rebellion were sown.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Unbeknownst to the leader
0:11:47 > 0:11:50of the Irish Volunteers, Eoin MacNeill,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52there was a tiny group of men within his organisation
0:11:52 > 0:11:54who had a secret agenda.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56As well as being in the Volunteers,
0:11:56 > 0:11:59these men were also members of a clandestine society
0:11:59 > 0:12:02of extreme nationalists called the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Their aim was to achieve not Home Rule
0:12:07 > 0:12:09but a wholly independent Ireland.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13On the 9th September, 1914,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16they attended a top-secret meeting in Dublin.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Present at the meeting that night were people whose names
0:12:20 > 0:12:23were to go on to become famous in Irish history.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Patrick Pearse.
0:12:26 > 0:12:27Thomas Clarke.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29James Connolly.
0:12:29 > 0:12:30But that was all in the future.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34For now, a decision had to be made.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38At that meeting, they decided to stage a rising.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Some might think it was terrible, even treacherous
0:12:42 > 0:12:45to plan an insurrection when England was at war.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48That wasn't the mind-set of these men.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52The Irish Republican Brotherhood had an old adage...
0:12:52 > 0:12:55"England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity."
0:12:56 > 0:13:00That meant that, given their vastly superior strength,
0:13:00 > 0:13:02the only real time Ireland could strike for independence
0:13:02 > 0:13:04was if England was distracted.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09The European war was the ultimate distraction.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13To these men gathered,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15doing nothing would be shameful.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18The conspirators believed that,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20if they could stage a dramatic revolt,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23it would win the support of the Irish people
0:13:23 > 0:13:28by reigniting the age-old dream of an independent Ireland.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39A military council was formed, consisting ultimately of seven men,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41among them poets and playwrights.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46This somewhat unlikely group, operating in extreme secrecy,
0:13:46 > 0:13:47would plan the Rising.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Their aim was to use Eoin MacNeill's Irish Volunteers
0:13:52 > 0:13:54not against the Ulster Volunteer Force,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57but as a rebel army against the British.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00But knowing the more moderate MacNeill
0:14:00 > 0:14:03would never support an unprovoked revolt,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05they would have to go behind his back.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Their plan for the Rising was bold.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11On Easter Sunday, 1916,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14the Volunteers would be instructed to launch a surprise attack
0:14:14 > 0:14:16across the whole country.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19In Dublin, they would garrison
0:14:19 > 0:14:21prominent buildings and surrounding areas,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23in a ring around the city centre,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26then wait for the British to counterattack.
0:14:26 > 0:14:27To ensure secrecy,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30the Volunteers would not be told of the planned rebellion
0:14:30 > 0:14:32until the very last moment.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41THE CHILDREN RECITE FROM A BOOK
0:14:45 > 0:14:49At the heart of the conspiracy was a headmaster - Patrick Pearse.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53He's now a national hero in Ireland and the school he ran is a museum.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Pearse was a passionate advocate of Irish culture
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and the Irish language.
0:15:00 > 0:15:01Hello, girls.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03- GIRLS:- Hi, Mrs Brown!
0:15:03 > 0:15:05HE CHUCKLES
0:15:05 > 0:15:08How are you doing? So what do you know about this place?
0:15:08 > 0:15:14We know that Patrick Pearse ran the school first and then his sister.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16- Do you think he was an important man, Patrick Pearse?- Yes.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have this country,
0:15:19 > 0:15:23because he fought for Ireland and he taught the children in Irish.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Pearse's school reflected his nationalism and his idealism.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Brian Crowley is the curator of the museum.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34Pearse was very anxious that his school
0:15:34 > 0:15:36would be very different than other schools.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Like, for him, education should be an inspirational experience.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42He doesn't exactly sound like the kind of man
0:15:42 > 0:15:45who's sitting down to plan a war.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47Erm, no.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49I think he was probably, in some ways,
0:15:49 > 0:15:51a very unlikely kind of military figure.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54But if you read his writings,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57there is this kind of idealisation of military sacrifice,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59of being a revolutionary.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01It's a very kind of romantic, theatrical idea
0:16:01 > 0:16:03about what that might be like.
0:16:03 > 0:16:08And he's very much aware that every generation, nearly, in Ireland
0:16:08 > 0:16:10made some gesture towards revolution
0:16:10 > 0:16:13and that if his generation didn't do that,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15then that generation would be the ones that have let go
0:16:15 > 0:16:18of this kind of dream of an independent Ireland.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21I think Pearse felt that this was his moment,
0:16:21 > 0:16:22this was his moment of destiny.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Pearse, who had a key role in the Irish Volunteers
0:16:27 > 0:16:29as Director of Military Organisation,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31gave public speeches.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35My uncle Liam, who by now had an inkling a revolt was being planned,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37remembered hearing him speak.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40My uncle Liam spent quite a bit of time
0:16:40 > 0:16:42taking notes as Pearse was speaking.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45And I think Liam would have followed Pearse anywhere.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48You do get a sense from those who kind of knew him
0:16:48 > 0:16:50that the idealisation, almost, of Pearse that they have
0:16:50 > 0:16:53really seems to be very characteristic
0:16:53 > 0:16:55of his effect on people.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57This is a person that people will follow.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01But the Military Council needed more than Pearse's charisma
0:17:01 > 0:17:03to give the Rising a chance of success.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06They needed weapons.
0:17:06 > 0:17:07And this was a serious problem.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Arms had been smuggled into Ireland,
0:17:11 > 0:17:13but nowhere near enough for all the Volunteers.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Some were training with pikes and hurling sticks.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Only one third had real guns.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22The armoury at the National Museum of Ireland
0:17:22 > 0:17:25holds many of the weapons that remain from that period.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Lar Joye is in charge of them.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Liam mentions in his account,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33"We had a number of Howth guns."
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Howth guns, yeah. You find this one here, this is a Howth rifle.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40A German-made gun. Probably made around 1870.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42An antique, in many ways. A single shot.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46So you're loading every single time. You have to load, fire, load again.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48So compared to what the British Army would have had at the time,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50which was a Lee-Enfield rifle,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52- which could fire 16 or 17 rounds... - This is a Lee-Enfield?
0:17:52 > 0:17:55This is the famous Lee-Enfield, which the British Army were using.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57An amazing sniping weapon.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59I know the Volunteers had some Lee-Enfields.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04In his account, Liam said they often bought guns from British soldiers,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07and in fact he said that his father, my grandfather,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09they had a shop in Manor Street,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11and he used to buy guns off the soldiers.
0:18:11 > 0:18:12They'd come in with a package
0:18:12 > 0:18:15- and he'd give them a few bob. - No, that's very, very common.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17I mean, the Volunteers are desperate to get weapons.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18They're trying to import them.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20And that's the problem of being on an island,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22you're always having to import them.
0:18:22 > 0:18:23But the organisation in Ireland
0:18:23 > 0:18:26that has ready availability of these weapons is the British Army.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29- Were the British not worried about this?- This was a big problem.
0:18:29 > 0:18:30They were trying to stop it.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33But the reality is, soldiers in the British Army,
0:18:33 > 0:18:34they're looking for money.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37I mean, that's how guns were circulated around the city.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42A few black-market guns weren't enough for a rebellion.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45So the Military Council approached Britain's adversary...
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Germany.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Two weeks before Easter, the Germans dispatched a ship to Ireland.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56On board were 20,000 rifles, ten machineguns
0:18:56 > 0:18:59and one million rounds of ammunition.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02It was due to arrive just before the Rising.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08In Dublin, Patrick Pearse issued a mobilisation order,
0:19:08 > 0:19:12calling all Volunteers to parade on Easter Sunday,
0:19:12 > 0:19:14billing it as an important but regular training session.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Then disaster struck.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25The British captured the boat bringing the guns from Germany.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29And worse, the secret plans for rebellion leaked to Eoin MacNeill,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Chief of Staff of the Irish Volunteers.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36MacNeill set off to confront Pearse.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40The two men had known each other for years.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43MacNeill could scarcely believe Pearse had been plotting
0:19:43 > 0:19:45to use the Volunteers behind his back.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49At two o'clock in the morning on Good Friday,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52MacNeill stormed up to Pearse's school.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57MacNeill arrives here in Pearse's study.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Pearse comes clean about the rebellion.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02And MacNeill is furious at being used.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04A huge row breaks out.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07MacNeill tells Pearse he will not back any rebellion
0:20:07 > 0:20:10that could lead to such loss of life.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14And he says, "I will do everything I can to stop it."
0:20:16 > 0:20:19The next day, MacNeill issued a countermanding order.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22"Volunteers completely deceived.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25"All orders for tomorrow Sunday are entirely cancelled."
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Couriers set off to carry the message all around Ireland.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36The following morning, Easter Sunday morning, the 23rd April,
0:20:36 > 0:20:38the date set for the Rising...
0:20:39 > 0:20:42..it became clear that MacNeill had gone one step further
0:20:42 > 0:20:44than just sending out couriers with messages.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47He took an advert in the Sunday Independent.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50"No parades.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53"Irish Volunteer marches cancelled. A sudden order."
0:20:53 > 0:20:55It certainly was!
0:20:55 > 0:20:57"Owing to the very critical position,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59"all orders given to Irish Volunteers
0:20:59 > 0:21:00"for tomorrow, Easter Sunday,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02"are hereby rescinded,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05"and no parades, marches or other movements of Irish Volunteers
0:21:05 > 0:21:07"will take place.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10"Each individual Volunteer will obey this order strictly
0:21:10 > 0:21:13"and in every particular.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16"Signed Eoin MacNeill, Chief of Staff, Irish Volunteers."
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Well, Uncle Liam was just as confused as everybody else.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24In his account he writes,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27"On Sunday morning, there was general confusion..."
0:21:27 > 0:21:28Uh-huh!
0:21:28 > 0:21:31"..because the position was that we had orders to mobilise.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34"We got the contradictory orders in the Sunday Independent
0:21:34 > 0:21:36"and nobody knew what to obey.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38"I went here, there and yonder
0:21:38 > 0:21:41"to try and get some definite information."
0:21:41 > 0:21:43He's running around the city trying to find out what's happening.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46This extraordinary chain of events
0:21:46 > 0:21:49meant that any hope of a major mobilisation was now gone.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53Effectively, the revolution had been cancelled
0:21:53 > 0:21:55by an ad in the newspaper.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58I swear, you couldn't make it up!
0:22:03 > 0:22:07Devastated by the ad, the Military Council had a crisis meeting.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10The German arms were lost, the mobilisation cancelled,
0:22:10 > 0:22:14but even now they never considered abandoning the planned rebellion.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19For them, the point of the Rising was to rise.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21They'd chosen Easter as the perfect time
0:22:21 > 0:22:24to resurrect the Irish people's desire for independence.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29They resolved to go ahead with the revolt the following day...
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Easter Monday.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Easter Monday, 1916, dawned bright and sunny.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47So here we are - Stoneybatter.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49Stoneybatter in Dublin. Cowtown they used to call it.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51My family lived here for years, generations.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53It's a busy street now,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55but that Monday morning,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57Easter Monday in 1916,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59it would have been dead quiet.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02A courier came and knocked at number 92.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04He bangs on the door.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Grandad is heading for the door, but they're not looking for him.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10They're looking for the three boys, because the order is in...
0:23:10 > 0:23:12"Stand to arms. Today's the day."
0:23:12 > 0:23:14After the disappointment of the previous day,
0:23:14 > 0:23:16I don't know whether they were excited or...
0:23:18 > 0:23:19..or scared.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23My dad was five or six years of age, thereabouts.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27So he probably was just kissing them goodbye or waving them off.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30If anybody had been standing on this side of the street...
0:23:31 > 0:23:35..they would have saw three soldiers walking out that door.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40But on the other side of the door, my grandad saw his three sons...
0:23:41 > 0:23:44..heading off and not knowing if they're going to come back.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Easter Monday, 1916,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52whatever way we look at it, it was a big day for the O'Carrolls.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57Through the smiling, sun-drenched bank-holiday crowds,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01my uncles made their way to their designated meeting points.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Jim went to join his unit, while Liam and Peadar,
0:24:04 > 0:24:05who were both in the same company,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07headed to their drill hall.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10They arrived to find
0:24:10 > 0:24:13that only one third of the battalion had turned up.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Because of the confusion of the previous day,
0:24:15 > 0:24:18many Volunteers had missed the new orders to muster.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22In charge of the battalion was Commandant Ned Daly.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Helen Litton is Ned Daly's great-niece.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Lovely to meet you and thanks very much for meeting me here.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33So, Helen, your great-uncle Ned
0:24:33 > 0:24:36stands up in front of this depleted group.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39How did he address them? What did he say to them?
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Well, Ned addressed his men and told them
0:24:41 > 0:24:42that they were going out to fight,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45that this was not just a drill or an exercise,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47that they were about to fight for Ireland's freedom
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and that they should be ready to go out and fight
0:24:50 > 0:24:53the greatest empire in the world and we were starting now.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55Quite a lot of them were taken by surprise.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57They'd joined the Volunteers for the crack.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59- To hang out with the lads.- Exactly.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02But they didn't necessarily see themselves giving their lives.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05- Ned offered them the opportunity to leave.- He did, did he?- He did, yes.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07- Oh, yes.- And some left? - And some left. Yes.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09- How old was Ned?- Ned was 25.
0:25:09 > 0:25:10That's young.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13I just can't even picture what it's like to be 25 years of age
0:25:13 > 0:25:17and have the lives...of 300 men in your hands.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Well, he'd always wanted to be a soldier.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21He was very young to be a commandant.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23But clearly, he had proved his worth,
0:25:23 > 0:25:25that he could command the men.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27And one of them wrote, "He never raised his voice,
0:25:27 > 0:25:28"but you wouldn't disobey him."
0:25:28 > 0:25:30I think Liam and Peadar were in good hands.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33Well, I think so, yes. He knew what he was doing.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35I can't imagine what it would have been like in a hall like this
0:25:35 > 0:25:37with these guys in formation
0:25:37 > 0:25:40and then a 25-year-old man tells them
0:25:40 > 0:25:42that we're about to go out that door now
0:25:42 > 0:25:43and take on the British Empire.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Not only that, but with only a third of the men
0:25:45 > 0:25:47they were supposed to have.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49They shouldered their guns and they marched out the door
0:25:49 > 0:25:53to a rising that surely they must have known had no chance of success.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Oh, well, when you're young, you don't think that way, I think.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59They were young and enthusiastic and optimistic.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01- Invincible.- Yes, exactly.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09Meanwhile, all around the city
0:26:09 > 0:26:12other ordinary members of the Irish Volunteers
0:26:12 > 0:26:15also became rebels by agreeing to take part in the Rising.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21The largest contingent, led by Patrick Pearse and James Connolly,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25marched down the main street, past Dubliners who had no idea
0:26:25 > 0:26:28a rebellion was about to kick off.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31They were heading for the General Post Office.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37At 11:45, James Connolly gave the order to charge the GPO.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40The Volunteers rushed into the building.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42They secured the building. And then they hoisted two flags...
0:26:43 > 0:26:46..a green flag with a gold harp reading "Irish Republic"
0:26:46 > 0:26:50and the then little-known green, white and orange flag.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55The GPO now became the headquarters of the Military Council,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58where the leaders of the Rising declared themselves
0:26:58 > 0:27:01the Provisional Government of the new Irish Republic.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Once the building was secured,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09Pearse, who would have relished the drama of the moment,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12came out and read the proclamation...
0:27:12 > 0:27:14the document declaring an Irish Republic
0:27:14 > 0:27:16and laying out its aspirations.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20It was, in fact, a poetic call to arms.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23"Poblacht na h Eireann."
0:27:23 > 0:27:24People of Ireland.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27"The Provisional Government of the Irish Republic
0:27:27 > 0:27:28"to the people of Ireland.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30"Irishmen and Irishwomen, in the name of God
0:27:30 > 0:27:32"and of the dead generations
0:27:32 > 0:27:35"from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39"Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag
0:27:39 > 0:27:41"and strikes for her freedom.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44"In this supreme hour, the Irish nation must,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47"by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children
0:27:47 > 0:27:50"to sacrifice themselves for the common good,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54"prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which Ireland is called.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59"Signed on behalf of the Provisional Government,
0:27:59 > 0:28:01"Thomas J Clarke, Sean MacDiarmada,
0:28:01 > 0:28:03"Thomas MacDonagh, Patrick Pearse,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05"Eamonn Ceannt,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07"Joseph Plunkett
0:28:07 > 0:28:08"and James Connelly."
0:28:10 > 0:28:12I'm actually getting more attention here today
0:28:12 > 0:28:14than Patrick Pearse got in 1916,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17because nobody had a clue what he was doing.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Hi!
0:28:19 > 0:28:21LAUGHTER
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Standing at Pearse's side was James Connolly,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27a trade union leader who commanded a workers' militia,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29the Irish Citizens' Army.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33They'd joined forces with the Irish Volunteers for the rebellion.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35His great-grandson is Jim Connolly Heron.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38What must your great-grandfather have felt at that moment?
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Well, after Pearse had finished reading the proclamation,
0:28:41 > 0:28:42he turned to him, shook his hand and said,
0:28:42 > 0:28:45"Thanks be to God, Pearse, that we've lived to see this day."
0:28:45 > 0:28:48What do you know about what was going on inside?
0:28:48 > 0:28:50Well, when the Volunteers arrived,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53the first act of the occupation was to take the first floor,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55because that's where the telegraph office was.
0:28:55 > 0:28:56Try and stop communications?
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Trying to stop communications going out to the British Army.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02And then the Volunteers knocked out the windows with their rifle butts
0:29:02 > 0:29:04and create a fortress here.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07For the rest of that week, this became the headquarters
0:29:07 > 0:29:10of the 1916 Provisional Government of the Irish Republic.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13And during the course of that first day,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16word started filtering back from the other garrisons
0:29:16 > 0:29:18that the other great buildings were now held
0:29:18 > 0:29:20in the name of the Irish Republic.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25The British were caught completely off-guard.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28A revolt in part of the United Kingdom at a time of war
0:29:28 > 0:29:30was an outrage.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33In London, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith declare that
0:29:33 > 0:29:36the first duty of government was to restore order
0:29:36 > 0:29:40and stamp out the rebellion with all possible vigour.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Little did he know Britain's vigour would ultimately turn victory
0:29:45 > 0:29:48into something a lot more like defeat.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52At the start of the Rising,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54there were 4,000 British soldiers stationed in barracks
0:29:54 > 0:29:56in and around Dublin.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59These were the first to be mobilised.
0:29:59 > 0:30:00And many thousands of reinforcements
0:30:00 > 0:30:03from other parts of Ireland and Britain were soon on the way.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07The 1,600 rebels were massively outnumbered.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10In Stoneybatter,
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Uncle Liam had been put in charge of his company,
0:30:12 > 0:30:14including his younger brother Peadar,
0:30:14 > 0:30:16and instructed to build barricades.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20I've brought my sons Danny and Eric
0:30:20 > 0:30:23to see where my uncle Liam led the men.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26He's 22 years of age, he's your age.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28His commanding officer doesn't turn up
0:30:28 > 0:30:30so he's now in charge of A Company.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35A Company's supposed to be 120 men but only 28 turn up.
0:30:35 > 0:30:37With 28 men they head off
0:30:37 > 0:30:41- to march against the biggest empire in the world.- Jeez.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Now, this would have been all small, tiny cottages at the time.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48So, he halted the men, he'd have to have stopped here.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51"We erected a double barricade across the street."
0:30:51 > 0:30:55There was one this side and one this side of Red Cow Lane.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59And ordinary Dubliners were kind of going around going, "What? What?
0:30:59 > 0:31:02"Mate! What's the story with the barricade?"
0:31:03 > 0:31:05"British!"
0:31:05 > 0:31:07"What?!"
0:31:07 > 0:31:09"We're rebelling!" "Oh, right!"
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Er, what kind of guns were, like, the rebels up against?
0:31:13 > 0:31:16Like, what guns did the British have and what guns did the rebels have?
0:31:16 > 0:31:19They were outgunned from the very start.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Some of the guys were standing at these barricades with a pike.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27- So they could...- What?- A pike. A pole with a spike on the top of it.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30Not even a... It was kind of like... "Come on.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33"Bit closer.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35"Closer!"
0:31:35 > 0:31:38So in one breath it's foolhardy.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41And then the others...
0:31:41 > 0:31:43I'm talking about these young men standing with
0:31:43 > 0:31:45a pike at a barricade...
0:31:45 > 0:31:49- A lot of courage for them to just stick with it.- It's great.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52I love it. It's amazing to think there was a war here.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56100 years ago, Easter Monday,
0:31:56 > 0:32:01your two great-uncles stood right here. And remember this.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05We're no more than a half a mile away
0:32:05 > 0:32:08from the house they left that morning,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12leaving their mam, dad and my dad behind, as a young kid.
0:32:12 > 0:32:18And they're holding a barricade. Their parents can hear the gunfire.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21- Wow.- Yeah, they must've been...
0:32:21 > 0:32:23They must've been terrified for them.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25I can't even imagine what that would feel like.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28If that was you boys...erm...
0:32:29 > 0:32:32Well, I don't have to tell you, I'd be there standing in front of you.
0:32:32 > 0:32:33Erm...
0:32:33 > 0:32:36CAR SOUNDS HORN REPEATEDLY
0:32:36 > 0:32:38How you doing?
0:32:38 > 0:32:42You'll sell no ice cream at that fucking speed! Er... LAUGHTER
0:32:43 > 0:32:46I can't even imagine what that would be like.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50Just one of you walking out the door would... I'd be screaming, hanging on to you. I'd hope you wouldn't go.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00In the first 48 hours of the rebellion there were sporadic
0:33:00 > 0:33:02actions across the city.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05But in general the British were assessing rebel positions
0:33:05 > 0:33:07and assembling reinforcements.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09So many of the rebels found themselves
0:33:09 > 0:33:11waiting for the action to begin.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13And they had an audience.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17Astonished Dubliners turned out to watch the spectacle.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21If the rebel leaders' goal was to reawaken people's patriotism,
0:33:21 > 0:33:23the first signs were discouraging.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26Most Dubliners were hostile.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29The wives of men serving in the British Army
0:33:29 > 0:33:31ridiculed and taunted the rebels on the barricades.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34It was a dispiriting start to the Rising.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42On the third day, events gathered pace.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47The British imposed martial law on the whole of Ireland,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50even though the rebellion had only really taken off in Dublin.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53And more troop reinforcements from Britain began to arrive.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58The Sherwood Foresters disembarked at Dun Laoghaire Port
0:33:58 > 0:34:01and started their march into the city.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03They were mostly young, inexperienced recruits
0:34:03 > 0:34:06from Nottinghamshire who had joined up to fight the Germans.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09Some even mistook Dublin for France.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13As they marched through the affluent suburbs, they were greeted
0:34:13 > 0:34:16warmly by residents with cheers and cups of tea,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18like an army of liberation.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23But when they reached Northumberland Road the atmosphere changed.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26John McGuigan knows the full story.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29- John, how are you? - Mr O'Carroll, good to see you.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31Thanks very much for meeting me here.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34OK, John, the Foresters would have marched up here in formation
0:34:34 > 0:34:37and got to this junction here.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40There would have been lines of troops on both sides of the road,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43but as they were crossing this junction, er...
0:34:43 > 0:34:46Grace and Malone, two Irish rebels
0:34:46 > 0:34:49that had barricaded themselves into this house, opened fire.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51GUNFIRE
0:34:51 > 0:34:56And suddenly everything changed. Ten Foresters fell in the junction.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58Some were dead, some were wounded.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01And they didn't know where the shots had come from.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03Grace and Malone couldn't miss.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06All they had to do was stick their guns out the window and blast away.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08GUNFIRE
0:35:08 > 0:35:12For the Sherwood Foresters the horror had only just begun.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Number 25 was an outpost.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18Worse awaited them further up Northumberland Road.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23The main body of the rebels are in Clanwilliam House, which used to be
0:35:23 > 0:35:25a Georgian terrace with a commanding view
0:35:25 > 0:35:30all the way down Northumberland Road, all the way along Percy Place.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34There were seven rebels in there and they poured shots upon the British.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37And the British started doing frontal assaults,
0:35:37 > 0:35:40like they were on the bloody Somme. Frontal assaults, charging...
0:35:40 > 0:35:42- Well, that's what they were trained for.- Charging up,
0:35:42 > 0:35:45on the sound of a whistle, up Northumberland Road.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47And they were just being wiped out.
0:35:47 > 0:35:48You then find columns of troops
0:35:48 > 0:35:51crawling along on their bellies and being shot
0:35:51 > 0:35:54and the man behind them climbing over the one in front
0:35:54 > 0:35:55and him being shot.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Northumberland Road was wet with English blood.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01And troops coming along here had to hide behind this low parapet.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05- This here?- Yes, that's it. Er...
0:36:05 > 0:36:07The rebels could see their haversacks moving along.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10- That's 18 inches tall.- That's right.
0:36:10 > 0:36:13The residents of the houses were appalled at the casualties
0:36:13 > 0:36:16and they came out with blankets and sheets
0:36:16 > 0:36:20and started carrying the wounded into their houses, and the rebels
0:36:20 > 0:36:24- fair play to them - stopped firing while that was going on.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28But as soon as it was over, opened fire again, and they could not miss.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30So they're pouring across this bridge,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33they're determined to take this bridge.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Now, John, there's a bridge just there,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40Baggot Street Bridge is just there. Why didn't they just...divert?
0:36:40 > 0:36:45The general said, "No! You must take this bridge at all costs."
0:36:45 > 0:36:49Of course, it was no cost to them, but to these working-class lads
0:36:49 > 0:36:53it was a heavy price to pay, a heavy price to pay.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56Now, the seven rebels that were there, what happened to them?
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Well, eventually, towards the end of the evening, the British had
0:36:59 > 0:37:03a machinegun which was pouring fire into Clanwilliam House.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06That was keeping rebel heads down to a degree.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10They managed to get some men across the bridge,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13heroic actions crossing the bridge - one of the officers was awarded
0:37:13 > 0:37:16the Military Cross for getting across the bridge
0:37:16 > 0:37:18and throwing bombs through the window of Clanwilliam House.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21The hand grenades burst the gas pipes
0:37:21 > 0:37:23and Clanwilliam House began to burn.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28It was overwhelming firepower that brought the end to those...
0:37:28 > 0:37:30brave rebels, and I say brave rebels
0:37:30 > 0:37:33even though they killed many of my countrymen.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41The engagement became known as the Battle of Mount Street Bridge.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46At its end, over 200 British soldiers lay dead or wounded.
0:37:47 > 0:37:52A small group of rebels had held an army brigade for over nine hours.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57I've passed this memorial so many times...
0:37:58 > 0:38:00..and never knew what it was for.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03It's a memorial dedicated to the memory of the men who held
0:38:03 > 0:38:07this bridge, those of them that lost their lives.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10It's nice to see it here, but I hope somewhere...
0:38:10 > 0:38:14somebody's remembering the... the young, raw recruits
0:38:14 > 0:38:17that got off a boat in Dun Laoghaire,
0:38:17 > 0:38:19thinking they were going to fight the Germans,
0:38:19 > 0:38:23and ended up dying... on Mount Street bridge.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33By now the centre of the city was shaking with gunfire.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35The British vessel the Helga
0:38:35 > 0:38:38was shelling rebel garrisons from the river.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Dublin was a warzone.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44And civilians were being caught in the crossfire.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47British Army strategy was to form a cordon
0:38:47 > 0:38:49isolating the key rebel positions,
0:38:49 > 0:38:52the rebel leaders' headquarters at the GPO
0:38:52 > 0:38:55and Commandant Ned Daly's area of command,
0:38:55 > 0:38:58where my uncles Liam and Peadar were stationed.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04Ned Daly's centre of operations was at the Father Matthew Hall.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08Helen, how are you? Good to see you. How are you? Good to see you.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10I'll tell you what I want to see.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14First of all, we're two or three days into the Rising now.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17- The boys, Ned, Liam, they probably haven't slept.- Oh, no.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20They must be exhausted. And they must be running out of stuff.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24But I noticed in Liam's account, he said that Mills bombs,
0:39:24 > 0:39:26home-made grenades, medical supplies,
0:39:26 > 0:39:30the greater portion of this was brought down by members
0:39:30 > 0:39:33of the family and friends to the Father Matthew Hall.
0:39:33 > 0:39:38My uncle Liam and Peadar's younger sisters, brother, mother, father
0:39:38 > 0:39:41- are zipping through bullets. - They are, yes.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45- To bring down supplies.- It was desperately dangerous. They were ducking bullets the whole time.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48And a lot of people died just crossing the street
0:39:48 > 0:39:51- because somebody took a shot at them.- This was a hive of activity?
0:39:51 > 0:39:53This was absolutely the centre of operations here,
0:39:53 > 0:39:55with messengers going backwards and forwards.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57They would have snipers in the upper windows.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01- I can picture me granny with the go-kart and my dad in the pram and...- Yep, stuff underneath.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04- ..Mills bombs underneath the pram and...- They used to do that.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07It was great camouflage. But it was a very dangerous operation.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10- And still they came with food and supplies.- They did, yes.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12- That's incredible.- Amazingly brave.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21By now, Ned Daly had ordered Uncle Liam to join
0:40:21 > 0:40:23the garrison at the Four Courts.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27After the GPO, this was the most prominent building in rebel hands.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32The only information that Liam's and other garrisons had
0:40:32 > 0:40:37about the general state of affairs were rumours, often wild rumours.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39Massed ranks of volunteers from all over Ireland
0:40:39 > 0:40:41were said to be marching on the city.
0:40:41 > 0:40:44Thousands of Germans were coming to the rescue.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Two German warships had arrived in Dublin Bay.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51Of course, it was all nonsense.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56I don't know what Liam thought about the rumours, he doesn't say.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58But he does mention one incident that happened
0:40:58 > 0:41:01when he was garrisoned here.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04This is interesting, because it's the only time Liam
0:41:04 > 0:41:07describes his own part in actually attacking the enemy.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Liam said he was sent up to a group of men
0:41:11 > 0:41:14who were covering the Medical Mission.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16That's the Medical Mission building there, I can see it,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19but you wouldn't cover it from here.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23There must be another entrance or somewhere else I can see it from. Ah.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30Hello?
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Hello, excuse me, it's an emergency!
0:41:33 > 0:41:34Oh, my God.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42So he says that he found the group of men,
0:41:42 > 0:41:47that the men informed him that they saw something suspicious happening.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50It appeared that there was British soldiers
0:41:50 > 0:41:51trapped in Charles Street.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Now, Charles Street you can't see there
0:41:54 > 0:41:57but you can just about see a bit of it.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00This building wouldn't have been here at the time, that's new,
0:42:00 > 0:42:02but beyond that would be Charles Street.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05So they have a straight line...
0:42:05 > 0:42:09of view from here down to Charles Street.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Now, this is interesting.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15"I gathered the impression that a hand grenade was being thrown."
0:42:15 > 0:42:17Because they saw an arm swinging.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19"I ordered the men to fire.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24"The body collapsed out of sight.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26"And the hand grenade dropped."
0:42:26 > 0:42:28It's just interesting that he says "arm".
0:42:28 > 0:42:33And he refers to this British soldier all the time as "the body".
0:42:36 > 0:42:38But it wasn't a body, it was another person.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45It's like he's trying to divorce himself from the horror
0:42:45 > 0:42:47of having to kill someone...
0:42:47 > 0:42:48or maim them.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59On Thursday, day four of the Rising,
0:42:59 > 0:43:02in London, the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04announced that a new commander-in-chief was being
0:43:04 > 0:43:07sent to Dublin to take over the British forces.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13The following morning, General Sir John Maxwell arrived in the city.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16He had been granted sweeping powers to suppress the rebellion
0:43:16 > 0:43:20and now had an impressive 20,000 troops at his disposal.
0:43:20 > 0:43:24He declared he would not hesitate to destroy all buildings within
0:43:24 > 0:43:28any area occupied by the rebels.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31The rebel headquarters at the GPO was now
0:43:31 > 0:43:34isolated by the British cordon.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Commander Patrick Pearse was frantically writing dispatches.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41His comrade, James Connolly, who'd been seriously wounded
0:43:41 > 0:43:44the day before, was still managing to give orders.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47Things in the GPO were now very different from the way
0:43:47 > 0:43:50they were at the start of the week.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52The British had started to bombard the building.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54It was crumbling, it was on fire.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57By Friday evening the top two floors were ablaze, an inferno.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59The rebels were killed trying to move explosives
0:43:59 > 0:44:01away from the flames.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04They needed to get out.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08The exhausted men and women of the garrison prepared to evacuate
0:44:08 > 0:44:12the building into the chaos of the adjacent Henry Street.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17Lachlan Collins can pick up the story.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19On Friday night at about eight o'clock
0:44:19 > 0:44:22they have to evacuate the GPO because it looks like the roof
0:44:22 > 0:44:24is going to cave in on them, which it eventually did.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28There are about 450 men and three women in this evacuation.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30They come out in small groups.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33I mean, there's a machinegun down the end of Henry Street,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37so Patrick Pearse is going to signal them when it's safe to do so.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39- He's raising his sword up and down, OK?- "Go!"
0:44:39 > 0:44:42So you go, you run across from there over to here.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46- At least this laneway is relatively safe, OK?- OK.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49So they come down here. James Connolly, he couldn't run down here.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52No, no. James Connolly had been wounded in the shoulder and the ankle
0:44:52 > 0:44:55so he couldn't walk at all, but they had a stretcher,
0:44:55 > 0:44:57and the lads are running down with him.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59So I'm just trying to get this picture in mind.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02- Smoke, shrapnel, flames, bullets, all the...- Yeah.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06- And these group of men and women carrying a stretcher.- Yeah.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08With a man with a sword.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10Had they any idea where they were going? Were they just running?
0:45:10 > 0:45:12They absolutely knew where they were going.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15They were heading towards, erm, a new headquarters.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17But the problem was that they were hopelessly
0:45:17 > 0:45:20- surrounded by British soldiers at this stage.- Where did they go next?
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Well, I mean, there's great danger, and the bullets are flying
0:45:23 > 0:45:27all over the place, so that's why they decide to occupy the buildings.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31Now, their Provisional Government and many of their officers
0:45:31 > 0:45:35- and the women as well end up in number 16 Moore Street.- Erm...
0:45:35 > 0:45:39- The now-famous Moore Street.- Well, I used to work in it when I was a kid.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42- You did work here.- It's the home of Mrs Brown.- Yeah, of course.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47- I love this fucking street. - Ah, it's great, it's great.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49This is where the Provisional Government ended up
0:45:49 > 0:45:54on the Saturday morning, trying to decide what they could now do.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58So are the British right down the end of Moore Street or halfway up or...
0:45:58 > 0:46:01At the very end of Moore Street, where they're at a barricade.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04The Provisional Government have a council of war, essentially,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07and Pearse and the others decided upon surrender.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09At this stage they were so hopelessly surrounded,
0:46:09 > 0:46:12there was little point for the GPO battalion to fight on,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15so nurse Elizabeth O'Farrell came out of number 15 with a white flag,
0:46:15 > 0:46:20- walked down to the British barricade at the end, and when she got...- Hold on, let me take that picture in.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25Machineguns down there, British troops, and she walks towards them.
0:46:25 > 0:46:27She's an incredibly brave woman.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30Like all the women who fought in the Rising, she is incredibly brave.
0:46:30 > 0:46:31She said to the officer,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35"General Pearse is ready to surrender to General Lowe."
0:46:37 > 0:46:39General Pearse.
0:46:41 > 0:46:43It's over.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48A British Army photographer recorded the moment
0:46:48 > 0:46:50Patrick Pearse surrendered.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Once in custody, Pearse signed a general
0:46:56 > 0:46:59order of surrender to be sent out to the other garrisons.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04My uncle Liam was with his battalion commandant, Ned Daly,
0:47:04 > 0:47:08when Pearse's order to lay down arms arrived at the Four Courts.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15- Helen, how are you? Good to see you.- Lovely to see you.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Well, here we are again, this time in the Four Courts.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22And a very different flavour of the week than when we started.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24Liam says in his account,
0:47:24 > 0:47:28"The order arrived to Commandant Ned Daly to surrender," Liam says.
0:47:28 > 0:47:30"I know he was very reluctant to do so."
0:47:30 > 0:47:33Yeah. Oh, no, he really didn't want to surrender,
0:47:33 > 0:47:36and at least two accounts say he was in tears.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38Apparently Edward Daly was planning just one more sortie,
0:47:38 > 0:47:42planning that night to sort of burst out of the gates at the Four Courts
0:47:42 > 0:47:43and to go down in a blaze of glory.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45But he obeyed his orders.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49Several men were very angry and said, "We could go on fighting," didn't want to give up their arms.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52Er, but he called them to order and said, "Look,
0:47:52 > 0:47:54"this is Patrick Pearse's order, we must obey.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57- "We are soldiers, we must obey." - The commander-in-chief.- Exactly.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00- And he marched them down O'Connell Street.- Chest out, head up?
0:48:00 > 0:48:04Yeah, absolutely. And apparently they were singing.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07And he drew them up in military formation in O'Connell Street
0:48:07 > 0:48:10and handed them over formally to the British officer in charge.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14They were making a point, that this was a proper army, that they
0:48:14 > 0:48:17had done their best and that their country would remember it.
0:48:17 > 0:48:18- How right they were.- Yes.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30After only six days, the Rising was over.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35If ordinary Dubliners had been hostile to the rebellion
0:48:35 > 0:48:38at the start, the deaths of 254 civilians
0:48:38 > 0:48:41and the destruction of the city fuelled their anger.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46As rebel prisoners were led through the streets, crowds gathered
0:48:46 > 0:48:48to jeer at them.
0:48:48 > 0:48:49At that moment,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52it must have seemed that the Rising had been an utter failure,
0:48:52 > 0:48:54that the rebel leaders' dream
0:48:54 > 0:48:57of rekindling the people's desire for independence
0:48:57 > 0:48:59had failed completely.
0:49:01 > 0:49:05Few could have foreseen how British actions over the next weeks
0:49:05 > 0:49:09would totally transform the hearts and minds of most Irish people.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14British commander-in-chief General Maxwell was determined
0:49:14 > 0:49:16to make an example of the rebel leaders.
0:49:16 > 0:49:17He ordered that Patrick Pearse
0:49:17 > 0:49:21and the others were court-martialled in secret.
0:49:23 > 0:49:24They were sentenced to death.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30It was here at Kilmainham Gaol that they were sent to face
0:49:30 > 0:49:31the firing squads.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54Pearse spent the last night before his execution in this cell.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01In his final hours, he wrote a last letter to his mother.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04"Goodbye, dear mother.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08"I am happy except for the great grief of parting from you.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12"This is the death I should have asked for,
0:50:12 > 0:50:16"to die a soldier's death for Ireland and for freedom.
0:50:16 > 0:50:17"We have done right.
0:50:17 > 0:50:19"People will say hard things of us now,
0:50:19 > 0:50:22"but later on they will praise us.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24"Don't grieve for all this,
0:50:24 > 0:50:28"but think of it as a sacrifice which God has asked of me
0:50:28 > 0:50:30"and of you."
0:50:34 > 0:50:38Most of the other leaders were kept in this block too.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41They got visits from their families to say goodbye.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46They wrote letters, letters that they knew would be published,
0:50:46 > 0:50:48saying how proud they were to die for Ireland.
0:50:50 > 0:50:55The executions started on 3rd May, just five days after the surrender.
0:50:56 > 0:51:02One by one, 14 condemned men were brought to face the firing squads,
0:51:02 > 0:51:03two were executed elsewhere.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08To the end, they had faith that the Rising would be vindicated.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27Each man was taken from his cell and marched down to this spot.
0:51:30 > 0:51:34His hands were tied behind his back, he was blindfolded
0:51:34 > 0:51:37and a soldier would come
0:51:37 > 0:51:39and pin a little target just here.
0:51:42 > 0:51:44And then the order was given.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46"Ready,
0:51:46 > 0:51:47"aim..."
0:51:47 > 0:51:48GUNSHOTS
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Patrick Pearse was executed on the first day,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Ned Daly, my uncle Liam's commander, on the second.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04James Connolly, who was badly injured, was the last to be killed.
0:52:04 > 0:52:07They carried him to a chair just at this spot here.
0:52:09 > 0:52:10They strapped him to the chair.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14A priest anointed him, as he did all the others.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20And the priest asked Connolly,
0:52:20 > 0:52:25"Do you forgive those who are about to take your life?"
0:52:25 > 0:52:30And Connolly said, "I respect every man who does his duty."
0:52:37 > 0:52:41The executions had a dramatic impact on public opinion at home
0:52:41 > 0:52:42and abroad.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44While many thought the sentences justified,
0:52:44 > 0:52:49others viewed the men as prisoners of war and were appalled.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52In London, alarmed with the publicity,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, wrote to General Maxwell
0:52:56 > 0:53:00to express concern, but Maxwell continued with the executions.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04Across the Atlantic, Irish Americans denounced the killings,
0:53:04 > 0:53:08bad news when Britain needed America's help in the war.
0:53:08 > 0:53:14And then on 12th May, the same day James Connolly was shot,
0:53:14 > 0:53:18Asquith arrived in Dublin in person to visit the rebel prisoners
0:53:18 > 0:53:20and order an end to the killings.
0:53:22 > 0:53:23Too late.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27There was a transformation already under way in the Irish people.
0:53:27 > 0:53:30Reports of how bravely rebel leaders faced the firing squads,
0:53:30 > 0:53:33mixed with the publication of commemorative mementos,
0:53:33 > 0:53:35finally struck a patriotic chord.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40The general British crackdown made things worse.
0:53:40 > 0:53:433,500 people were arrested,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46many of whom had no involvement in the Rising at all.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51Almost 2,000 were deported to Britain and interred without trial.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57For the Irish people, old resentments began to stir.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04My uncles Liam and Peadar
0:54:04 > 0:54:07were among the Irish prisoners deported to Britain.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10At first the men were scattered around various jails.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13My uncles were in Knutsford, Cheshire,
0:54:13 > 0:54:16but then, in what was to prove an extraordinary own goal,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18the British authorities decided
0:54:18 > 0:54:20to bring them all together in one place.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24After about three months in Knutsford, Liam says
0:54:24 > 0:54:29he was transferred here to Frongoch internment camp in Wales.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33The camp has long been demolished, but in its day it played
0:54:33 > 0:54:37a critical role in reigniting the Irish revolution.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39Lyn Ebenezer knows the story.
0:54:40 > 0:54:42What was here?
0:54:42 > 0:54:47- Give me an idea of the layout.- There would have been around 30 huts,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49each one holding about three dozen prisoners.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51There's something I want to ask you.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54- It intrigues me about Liam's statement.- Ah, right.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56When he's talking about Frongoch,
0:54:56 > 0:54:59"I think it could be safely said that a considerable number
0:54:59 > 0:55:01"of prisoners who got there through accident,
0:55:01 > 0:55:03"rather than their activities..."
0:55:03 > 0:55:05So people were arrested who weren't rebels at all.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09"..left Frongoch confirmed rebels."
0:55:09 > 0:55:11I would quite agree with him there.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14- We hear a lot today about radicalising people.- Yeah.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Well, this is exactly what happened in Frongoch.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19The prisoners had their own curriculum -
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Irish, the Irish language, Irish history,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26but most important of all, military tactics.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30The more experienced people taught the less experienced people,
0:55:30 > 0:55:35they taught others, they taught them under the noses of the guards.
0:55:35 > 0:55:36Morse code they taught.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38My uncles weren't in a prison really,
0:55:38 > 0:55:42- they were in the university of guerrilla warfare.- Exactly.
0:55:42 > 0:55:43It couldn't have worked better
0:55:43 > 0:55:45if the Irish had organised it themselves.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49This was the cauldron, if you like,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53where they were all thrown in together and came out united.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57So the British took the people away...the prisoners away here
0:55:57 > 0:55:59in the belief that this was the end of things?
0:55:59 > 0:56:04It was only the beginning, or a new beginning, I should say.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08They went from here refreshed, ready for the next fight.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10We see that mistake being made time and time again.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13You put prisoners in one place, innocent or not,
0:56:13 > 0:56:16- and they'll all come out as rebels. - It's still happening.- Yeah.
0:56:16 > 0:56:21- When will they ever learn? - We never will, we never will learn.
0:56:21 > 0:56:22Shall we sing that?
0:56:22 > 0:56:29# When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn? #
0:56:29 > 0:56:31We're here every Thursday night.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37Liam, Peadar and most of the other detainees
0:56:37 > 0:56:39were released by Christmas 1916.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45When prisoners returned to Ireland, they were greeted as heroes.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47The British may have crushed the Rising,
0:56:47 > 0:56:49but the executions and crackdowns that followed
0:56:49 > 0:56:54inadvertently delivered everything the rebel leaders had dreamed of.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56The idea of an independent Ireland
0:56:56 > 0:56:58had gathered widespread popular support.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01Soon Volunteer units were reforming
0:57:01 > 0:57:04and a new phase in the revolution had begun.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07This time it would be more successful.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12While six counties would remain part of the UK
0:57:12 > 0:57:13to create Northern Ireland,
0:57:13 > 0:57:20in 1922 the other 26 counties became the new Irish Free State.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34The leaders' bodies still lie where the British put them
0:57:34 > 0:57:36after those executions in 1916.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41They buried them in a mass grave, quicklime grave,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45in an out-of-the-way place, so it wouldn't become a shrine to martyrs.
0:57:47 > 0:57:48Didn't work.
0:57:48 > 0:57:53You know, the leaders have been called dreamers.
0:57:53 > 0:57:57Well, that little-known green and white and orange flag
0:57:57 > 0:57:59that they raised over the GPO that day,
0:57:59 > 0:58:05it now flies as the emblem of an independent Irish Republic,
0:58:05 > 0:58:07and the proclamation that Pearse read out
0:58:07 > 0:58:09in front of the bemused Dubliners,
0:58:09 > 0:58:13that's engraved here on the wall behind their resting place
0:58:13 > 0:58:18and continues to this day to inspire Irish people and the Irish nation.
0:58:20 > 0:58:21Dreamers?
0:58:27 > 0:58:28I'm really proud of my uncles.
0:58:30 > 0:58:33I don't know what it was that got three young men
0:58:33 > 0:58:35to march out of their house to a rebellion
0:58:35 > 0:58:37on Easter Monday morning, 1916.
0:58:37 > 0:58:41Was it youthful folly, was it genuine idealism?
0:58:42 > 0:58:47But I know this, if anybody asks me where I come from,
0:58:47 > 0:58:50I get to say, "The Republic of Ireland".
0:58:53 > 0:58:54I thank them for that.
0:58:55 > 0:58:59# And the world did gaze with deep amaze
0:58:59 > 0:59:02# At those fearless men, but few
0:59:02 > 0:59:06# Who bore the fight so that freedom's light
0:59:06 > 0:59:10# Might shine through the foggy dew
0:59:10 > 0:59:16# Might shine through the foggy
0:59:16 > 0:59:21# Dew. #