The IRB and pre-1916 support

The IRB Planning the Rebellion that Was the 1916 Rising

• The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), a secret revolutionary organisation founded in 1858, played a central role in planning the Easter Rising of 1916.
• The IRB had long sought to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic through armed insurrection.
• By the early 20th century, the organisation had become increasingly radical, believing that only a dramatic and violent uprising could inspire the Irish people to rise against British rule.
• In the years leading up to 1916, the IRB gradually infiltrated key nationalist organisations, including the Irish Volunteers and the Gaelic League, ensuring that its members held influential positions.
• This infiltration allowed the IRB to subtly steer these organisations toward the goal of an armed rebellion.
• The IRB's Military Council, a secretive group within the organisation, was the driving force behind the planning of the Easter Rising. Members of the Military Council, including Thomas Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, Patrick Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, and Éamonn Ceannt, were committed to the idea of a rebellion, even if it had little chance of immediate success.
• The IRB faced significant challenges in planning the Rising. They needed to coordinate the efforts of various nationalist groups, secure weapons, and ensure that the rebellion would have a significant symbolic impact.
• The planners understood that widespread support for the rebellion was unlikely, given the ongoing World War I and the general ambivalence of the Irish population toward a violent uprising.
• However, they believed that even a failed rebellion could serve as a powerful symbol of resistance and might eventually galvanise broader support for Irish independence.
• The IRB's strategy for the Rising involved seizing key locations in Dublin and holding them against British forces for as long as possible.
• The planners hoped that this would inspire uprisings in other parts of the country and that the British response would be so brutal that it would turn public opinion in favour of the rebels.
• Despite the secrecy of their plans, the IRB faced internal challenges, including opposition from Eoin MacNeill, the leader of the Irish Volunteers, who believed that an armed rebellion was premature and would lead to unnecessary loss of life.
• Ultimately, the IRB decided to proceed with the rebellion, setting the date for Easter Monday, 24 April 1916.
• The planners knew that they were unlikely to achieve military victory, but they believed that the sacrifice of the rebels would ignite a broader movement for Irish independence.

"We must be ready to sacrifice all, even ourselves, for the cause of Ireland." - Patrick Pearse

The Concept of Blood Sacrifice and What It Meant (Particularly for Connolly)

• The concept of blood sacrifice was a powerful and controversial idea that played a significant role in the ideology behind the Easter Rising of 1916.

• This concept was particularly influential for leaders like Patrick Pearse and James Connolly, who believed that the willing sacrifice of their lives would serve as a catalyst for a broader national awakening and ultimately lead to Irish independence.

• For Patrick Pearse, the idea of blood sacrifice was deeply rooted in a combination of religious, cultural, and nationalist beliefs. Pearse was heavily influenced by the Irish cultural revival and the romantic nationalism that idealised heroic martyrdom for the cause of Ireland.

• He saw the Rising as a symbolic act that would redeem Ireland from centuries of British domination and inspire future generations to continue the struggle for freedom.

• Pearse often invoked religious imagery, likening the sacrifice of the rebels to the crucifixion of Christ, believing that their deaths would sanctify the cause of Irish independence.

• James Connolly, on the other hand, approached the concept of blood sacrifice from a more pragmatic perspective, though he was not entirely free from its romanticism.

• Connolly was a committed socialist and labour leader who believed that the struggle for Irish independence was inseparable from the fight for workers' rights and social justice.

  • While Connolly recognised the importance of the Rising as a symbolic act, he was more focused on its potential to ignite a broader revolutionary movement.
  • For Connolly, the Rising was about national liberation and overthrowing the capitalist system that oppressed the working class.

• Despite his socialist beliefs, Connolly understood the power of symbolism in the struggle for independence.

• He believed that the rebels' sacrifice would demonstrate the seriousness of their commitment to the cause and that their deaths would serve as a powerful indictment of British rule.

• Despite his knowledge that it would likely end in defeat, Connolly's participation in the Rising was a testament to his belief in the necessity of sacrifice to achieve a greater good.

• The idea of blood sacrifice became a central theme of the Easter Rising, shaping both its planning and its execution.

• The leaders of the Rising were acutely aware that their actions would likely result in their deaths, but they believed that this sacrifice was necessary to awaken the Irish people to the injustice of British rule and to inspire them to continue the struggle for independence.

Roger Casement's Mission to Germany and Its Failure

• Roger Casement was a former British diplomat and a committed Irish nationalist who played a crucial role in the events leading up to the Easter Rising of 1916

• Casement's mission to Germany was part of the broader IRB strategy to secure foreign support for the rebellion.

  

• The IRB believed that Germany, as Britain's enemy in World War I, might be willing to provide arms and military assistance to the Irish rebels in order to weaken Britain's war effort.

• In 1914, Casement travelled to Germany to secure substantial German military support for the planned rebellion in Ireland.

• He hoped to persuade the German government to send arms, ammunition, and even troops to aid the Irish Volunteers in their fight against British rule.

• Casement's mission was ambitious and fraught with difficulties, but he was determined to secure German support as a way to level the playing field against the vastly superior British forces.

• Casement's efforts led to the delivery of a shipment of arms on the German ship Aud, which was intended to arrive in Ireland in time for the Easter Rising.

• However, the mission was plagued by miscommunication and logistical challenges. The Aud, carrying 20,000 rifles and 10 machine guns, was intercepted by the British Navy off the coast of County Kerry.

• The crew scuttled the ship to prevent the weapons from falling into British hands, resulting in the loss of the much-needed arms.

• Meanwhile, Casement himself had attempted to return to Ireland separately, arriving by submarine near Banna Strand on Good Friday, 21 April 1916.

• Exhausted and ill, Casement was quickly captured by the British authorities. His arrest dealt a severe blow to the morale of the rebels and to the overall plans for the Rising.

• Without the expected German arms and with the rebellion already compromised by other factors, the Easter Rising went ahead but was severely weakened.

• Casement's mission to Germany ultimately ended in failure, and he was charged with treason against the British Crown.

• His trial and subsequent execution by hanging on 3 August 1916 further galvanised nationalist sentiment in Ireland.

• Despite the failure of his mission, Casement became a martyr for the cause of Irish independence, and his efforts to secure international support for the rebellion are remembered as a significant, if ultimately unsuccessful, chapter in the story of the Easter Rising.

"In the event of failure, the cause of Irish freedom shall not be lost but made stronger by our example." - Roger Casement

The Days Prior to the Rising

• With arms secured, the IRB plotters now faced the crucial task of convincing Eoin MacNeill, the leader of the Irish Volunteers, to issue the order for a full-scale uprising on Easter Sunday.
• On Wednesday, 19 April, MacNeill was shown a document, allegedly on Dublin Castle notepaper, listing the names of prominent Irish nationalists, including leading members of the Volunteers, who were purportedly about to be arrested.
• Initially, the document seemed genuine, but many later believed it had been forged by IRB members Seán Mac Diarmada and Joseph Plunkett to manipulate MacNeill into supporting the rebellion.
• Convinced by the document and believing that the British would indeed attempt to disarm the Volunteers, MacNeill reluctantly gave the order for the Volunteers to rise on Easter Sunday.
• However, on Thursday evening, 20 April, MacNeill was confronted by Patrick Pearse and Bulmer Hobson. Pearse admitted that the IRB had been planning a rebellion without MacNeill's knowledge.
• Feeling betrayed and realising the extent of the plot, MacNeill, now deeply sceptical of the forged document, immediately cancelled all orders for the planned Volunteer manoeuvres.
• On Friday morning, 21 April, Pearse, Mac Diarmada, and Thomas MacDonagh urgently met with MacNeill again. They informed him that a ship carrying arms from Germany was on its way to Ireland.
• MacNeill realised that if the British discovered the shipment, they would arrest the Volunteer leaders regardless. With this in mind, he changed his position once more and issued a new order for the Volunteers to mobilise on Sunday.
• Unbeknownst to them, the arms had already been lost. The German ship Aud arrived at Tralee Bay early on Friday morning, but with the British Navy on high alert, it was intercepted.
• To avoid capture, the captain of the Aud decided to scuttle the ship, sinking it at 9:28 a.m. on Saturday, 22 April, rather than let the British seize its cargo.
• Meanwhile, Roger Casement, who had been transported to Ireland by a German submarine, landed at Banna Strand, near Tralee, on the morning of Good Friday. Weakened by illness and the journey, he was quickly arrested by the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) after local Volunteers failed to meet him.
• The British authorities, believing they had captured a key figure in the planned uprising, thought the threat had been neutralised.
• By Saturday evening, 22 April, MacNeill had learned of the arms loss and Casement's arrest.
• Realising that the planned rebellion had little chance of success, he once again issued orders to cancel the Sunday manoeuvres. The cancellation notices were sent nationwide and published in the Sunday Independent.

The Meetings on Easter Sunday

• Two critical meetings took place on Sunday, 23 April, which would shape the events of the following day.
• The first meeting occurred at Dublin Castle, where military and police chiefs, along with Under-Secretary Sir Matthew Nathan and Lord Wimborne, the Lord Lieutenant, discussed the situation.
• With the Aud captured and Casement in custody, they believed the immediate threat of rebellion had passed. Lord Wimborne wanted to act decisively by arresting suspected nationalist leaders, but Nathan argued for waiting until Augustine Birrell, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, returned from London.
• Nathan was confident that the situation was under control and saw no urgency in further action.
• The second meeting took place at Liberty Hall, the headquarters of James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army.
• Knowing their chances of success were slim, the rebellion's leaders debated what to do next. Despite the odds, they resolved to proceed with the Rising, aiming to occupy key buildings in Dublin's city centre.
• Connolly, fully aware of the likely outcome, remarked to William O'Brien: "We are going out to be slaughtered."
• These decisions set the stage for the Easter Rising, which would begin the following day, marking a pivotal moment in Ireland's fight for independence.