The History Internal Assessment

To what extent did the Easter Rising Rebellion of 1916 lead to an increase in
British control in Ireland?
000534-0023
Elaura Ligon
(Word Count: 1932)

Part A: Plan of Investigation:

The intent of this investigation will evaluate the validity of this question: to what
extent did the Easter Rising Rebellion in 1916 lead to an increase in British control in
Ireland. By the early 1900s Ireland grew tired of being a joined force with Britain and
decided to fight for independence and the chance to become a Republic after joining with
Britain in 1800, causing Britain to become more controlling over Ireland. This
investigation will be organized chronologically as different elements within the Easter
Rising Rebellion are researched. Irish and British sources such as files from the Irish
Defense Force and historical research made specifically to uncover facts about the Easter
Rising Rebellion will be used to collect information between the time period of 1798 to
1801 as well as 1915 to 1918. By researching the causes and effects of the rebellion, as
well as the aftermath of the rebellion, it will be easier to evaluate whether the Easter
Rising Rebellion had truly caused Britain to enforce more control over Ireland.

Part B: Summary of Evidence:

The Initiation
A German ship lands on the coast of Ireland during World War I, causing
Great Britain to become stricter in their control over Ireland. 1
Civilians accompanied by members of The Irish Brotherhood begin to plan the
Easter Rising Rebellion to start the Irish War for Independence in early April
of 1916, specifically located in the capital city of Dublin. 2
Start of the Rebellion
Civilians and Irish rebels were stationed around the city of Dublin Easter
Monday, April 24, 1916 fighting against British troops attempting to maintain
the violence of the Irish rebels.3
Irish rebels had smuggled weapons shipped to Ireland for the volunteers and
group leaders to use during the rebellion, despite the chance of being arrested
by British officials. 4
Fighting for Home Rule, not only men but women had lined up in trenches
and behind buildings to fight for the Irish Parliament to be repositioned to
Ireland rather than its headquarters within the British Parliament.5
R.M. Knowles. "Easter Rising of 1916." Irish Roots.
http://www.irishroots.org/aoh/rising.htm
2 Knowles
3 Michael McNally. Easter Rising 1916: Birth of the Irish Republic. Great Britain:
Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2007.
4 McNally 13
5 National Archives. "Dublin After The Easter Rising." The National Archives (UK).
http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/dublin-after-the-easter-rising/
1

At the start of the rebellion, Irishmen and women were lead by leaders such as
Charles Stewart Parnell, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, as well as
Arthur Griffith, Patrick Pearse, and James Connolly.6
Though the British troops had larger numbers, they had more casualties than
the Irish, due to their understanding of the area as well as determination to
become a true Republic.7
Confusion was often spread among the Irish rebels and civilians, causing only
an estimated 1,300 people to actually participate in the rebellion, despite the
success it had started to become even with the casualties. Though, more were
wounded than killed, they all still found it to be a worthy cause, not wanting
to be under the reign of the United Kingdom any longer.8
The British troops had created more tension between the Irish troops as the
British Parliament had accepted the capturing of Irish prisoners to be taken
into custody and jailed, most of which werent released until July of 1917.9
There were occasions of British troops shooting civilians out of revenge or
frustration, even if the particular civilians werent partaking in the Easter
Rising Rebellion.10
By the end of the rebellion on April 29th, Patrick Pearse had surrendered to
General Lowe of the British Army without any conditions. However, he was
still executed during which time he made his famous speech, stating that
Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.11

The Aftermath
The beginning of May, all trials of Irish participants were in effect by the
British Parliament, most of which were cases where the accused were guilty
of the crime, and either executed or jailed until December of 1916 or July of
1917.12
In early 1918, soon after the release of the Irish rebels from prison, Michael
Collins of Ireland had aimed to lead yet another republican movement only to
get the participants arrested yet again. This event had lead Irish civilians into a
Civil War with much interference from the British Parliament.13
Part C: Evaluation of Sources:
Knowles
National Archives. "Dublin After The Easter Rising."
National Archives. "Ireland's Easter Rising." The National Archives (UK).
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/easter-rising.htm
9 McNally 16
10 Knowles
11 National Library of Ireland. "The 1916 Rising: Personalities and Perspectives."
National Library of Ireland. http://www.nli.ie/1916/index.html (accessed March 4, 2013).
12 McNally 14
13 Chris Truman. "The Easter Uprising." The Easter Uprising. History Learning Site,
Autumn 2011. Print. 21 May 2013.
6
7
8

The Act of Union, 180014 was one of the sources used for this investigation. It was a book
written by Patrick Buckland in 1998, who is a Dublin Historian certified by the
University of Michigan. The purpose of this book is to explain the effects that the Act of
Union of 1800 had on Ireland as a whole, and how it had stopped Ireland from becoming
an independent republic; resulting in riots and other social and political outcomes within
the region of Ireland. The book was very valuable because it explained the terms of The
Act of Union of 1800, as well as the thoughts and feelings presented by the Irish
parliament before accepting to sign the Act of Union. It also revealed the actions of the
Irish people that followed the signing of the Act of Union in August of 1800. It is limited
however because it does not have information from multiple sources and it is also a very
short book, consisting of no more than 20 pages. It is also very selective in its writing due
to Bucklands biased viewpoint of the Easter Rising Rebellion; he is from Ireland himself
so he sides with the viewpoint of the Irish people rather than being in defense of the
British. This would influence the research within this paper by providing a separate point
of view of the Easter Rising Rebellion rather than a point of view provided by the British.
To overcome this limitation I did extra research on Britains participation in the Easter
Rising Rebellion.
Easter Rising 1916: Birth of the Irish Republic15 is the second evaluated source. It was
written by Michael McNally in 2007 and published in Great Britain. The purpose of this
book is to provide an insight of the Easter Rising Rebellion from the point of view from
someone who has had a personal experience with the rebellion itself. It is valuable
because McNallys grandfather was part of the Easter Rising Rebellion, giving him
particular insights of what happened during the rebellion and how it really played out. It
also provides information on the events prior and following the rebellion, as well as
images and timelines of how the events occurred. It is also limited; though it provides an
ample amount of information, McNally is neither a historian nor was he there during the
event, so his viewpoint is very limited to what he was told and what he researched. It also
neglected to provide further information on what happened years after the rebellion had
ended. I had to overcome this limitation by doing further research on the years after the
rebellion in order to have a complete understanding of the effects of the rebellion.

Part D: Analysis:
Patrick Buckland. The Act of Union, 1800. Dublin: The Warrington Project, 1998.
Michael McNally. Easter Rising 1916: Birth of the Irish Republic. Great Britain:
Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2007.
14
15

Though Ireland had hoped that all of their efforts to regain their independence would pay
off, Great Britain had only created more restraints over Ireland and had created a greater
barrier between the Irish civilians and the Irish Parliament. Though the rebellions ended
there it all started in August of 1800 when the Irish Parliament had the king sign The Act
of Union of 1800. By doing so, the Irish Parliament was moved to Great Britain and was
stationed within the British Parliament for further involvement in their affairs.16 After the
king signed the Act of Union, the civilian population of Ireland had created small riots
and the tension began to build within the Irish regions.17
Over one hundred years after the signing, a German ship carrying ammunition had landed
on the coast of Ireland that was in association with World War I. At the thought that
Ireland may be involved in World War I with Germany, Great Britain enforced more
control over Ireland, in an attempt to avoid a rebellion.18 In doing this, the Irish people
grew tired of the control of Great Britain and began to plan the Easter Rising Rebellion,
which started April 24, 1916 on that Easter Monday.19 Accompanying the Irish civilians
around their stations in Dublin, Ireland were members of The Irish Brotherhood, who
assisted them in using the Easter Rising Rebellion to start the Irish War for Independence.
Irish Militia was also involved in the rebellion, assisting in the smuggling of weapons
from incoming ships brought to the rebels to defend themselves against the British
troops.20
At the beginning of the rebellion, they were lead by Charles Stewart who was the leader
of the Irish Parliamentary Party during the rebellion. Though the British troops came in
larger numbers than the Irish rebels, the British had far more casualties than the Irishmen
and women, due to their understanding of the area as well as their determination to
become an Independent Republic. However, due to confusion amongst the Irish civilians,
only an estimated 1,300 civilians actually participated in the rebellion itself; though the
ones who did fight with the Irish found the casualties to be worth it, not wanting to be
under the reign of the United Kingdom any longer.21 This is further evidence of the desire
of Ireland to become an independent republic despite the Act of Union that was still in
effect from when the king signed the document in 1800. Because of the strict guidelines
of the Act of Union, Ireland couldnt break away from the hold of Great Britain without
nullification of the document by the British Parliament.22 In their eyes, the Easter Rising
Rebellion was one of the only ways to gain their independence, with little success on both
sides.
The British troops had created even more tension between the Irish and the British during
the rebellion. The British began capturing the Irish rebels and jailing them or shooting
random civilians out of frustration with the rebels, even if the particular civilians werent
partaking in the Easter Rising Rebellion with the rebels. By the end of the rebellion on
April 29, 1916, Patrick Pearse had surrendered to General Lowe of the British Army
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

Buckland 13
Act of Union (Ireland) 1800.
Knowles
McNally 5
Forces, Defense. "1916 Easter Rising."
McNally 4
Buckland 19

without any conditions. Despite the surrender, Pearse was still executed during which he
made his famous Irish speech, stating that Ireland unfree shall never be at peace.23
By the beginning of May 1916, all of the trials being held due to the Easter Rising
Rebellion were in effect by the British Parliament. In almost all cases, the accused were
guilty of the crime, and were either executed or jailed upon which they were released
either December of 1916 or July of the following year.24 However in early 1918 after the
jailed rebels were released, Michael Collins of Ireland had planned a republican
movement to continue the war for independence in Ireland. Unfortunately, the plan had
backfired when the convention planned by Collins had been corrupted by the plans of the
British Parliament for further Ireland control. The participants of the republican
movement were then imprisoned yet again, and Ireland was in the process of starting a
Civil War.25

Part E: Conclusion:
Not only had the Easter Rising Rebellion caused an uprising in the republican movements
within Ireland, but it had also built tension between Ireland and Britain after the ending of
the rebellion. The Act of Union of 1800 had definitely changed the attitude of the Irish
people as well as the governmental status of Ireland as a whole, however Britain had
escalated the situation with Ireland after the Rebellion. With their desire to become an
independent republic once again, as they were before the Act of Union, the Easter Rising
Rebellion seemed to be a necessary rebellion in the eyes of the Irish rebels. Though it did
not earn them their rights as an independent republic like they had wanted, it did increase
the controls of Britain and the British Parliament over Ireland.

Knowles
McNally 17
Chris Truman. "The Easter Uprising." The Easter Uprising. History Learning Site,
Autumn 2011. Print. 21 May 2013.
23
24
25

Part F: Sources and Word Limit:

Act of Union (Ireland) 1800. Act of Union (Ireland) 1800. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2013. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aip/Geo3/40/38/contents.
Archives, National. Ireland's Easter Rising. The National Archives (UK).
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/easter-rising.htm
(accessed February 12, 2013).
Archives, National. Dublin After The Easter Rising. The National Archives (UK).
http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/dublin-after-the-easter-rising/
(accessed March 7, 2013).
Buckland, Patrick. The Act of Union, 1800. Dublin: The Warrington Project, 1998.
(accessed February 11, 2013).
Forces, Defense. 1916 Easter Rising. Ireland: Defense Forces History.
http://www.military.ie/info-centre/defence-forces-history/1916-easter-rising
(accessed March 5, 2013).
Ireland, National Library of. The 1916 Rising: Personalities and Perspectives.
National Library of Ireland. http://www.nli.ie/1916/index.html (accessed March 4,
2013).
Knowles, R.M. Easter Rising 1916. Irish Roots.
http://www.irishroots.org/aoh/rising.htm (accessed February 12, 2013).
McNally, Michael. Easter Rising 1916: Birth of the Irish Republic. Great Britain:
Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2007.
Truman, Chris. The Easter Uprising. The Easter Uprising. History Learning Site,
Autumn 2011. Print. 21 May 2013.