Dublin and the 1916 Easter Rising Centenary
Right after the craziness of St. Patrick’s Day, Dublin went right into full-on 1916 mode – something that had been building up all year.
Easter Sunday 2016 marked the 100 year anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. In 1916, Irish republicans wanted to end British rule in Ireland and establish an independent Irish Republic, so they strategically planned the Rising while England was really distracted by being involved in WWI. Although it didn’t “work” in the sense that it wasn’t successful in completely throwing off English rule, it was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and kicked off the struggle for Irish independence.
So there’s a short history lesson, and a little glimpse just as to why the 1916 Easter Rising centenary was such a huge deal not only around Dublin, but around the whole of Ireland!
Since the start of 2016, Dublin has slowly started to fill up with different forms of commemoration for the 1916 Easter Rising.
All the talk leading up to the commemoration ceremonies brought about a sense of Irish pride to the city. Irish channels did historical specials and fictional TV shows about the Rising. Clothing stores had window displays influenced by the fashion of 1916. The Irish tri-color flag hung outside many private houses, while government buildings lit up green and orange at night. There was Irish pride everywhere!
Street Art
Other forms of commemoration included murals and street art commemorating the 1916 Easter Rising and paying homage to key figures.
Parades
Then, on Easter Sunday, the country held simultaneous 1916 Easter Rising centenary parades. In Dublin, the military parade marched throughout the whole city, stopping at areas that were important landmarks in the Rising. Crowds flooded the streets to watch the parade – it was as packed as St. Patrick’s Day!
The parade started at 10am and marched 4.5km around Dublin. At about noon, the Proclamation was read out at the GPO. There was also a wreath laying ceremony held simultaneously around the country at the various celebrations.
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Other Ceremonies
On Easter Monday, further wreath laying ceremonies were held at each of the seven key battlefield sites in Dublin.
There were also several fairs and cultural events around town. Things like street exhibitions, live music and performances, vintage displays, carnival rides, and military displays were all over the place. One of them happened to be in Smithfield Market, right outside of my apartment!
Although the fair wasn’t huge and it was aimed more for families, it was still cool to walk around (especially because the weather was so nice). There were Irish military tanks, vintage carriages, and people dressed up in full 1916 clothing. There was even some traditional Irish music and Irish dancing!
Overall, all the celebrations gave a great buzz to the city, and filled me up with Irish pride (Even though I’m not even Irish…)! Just like it was so cool being in Dublin for the historic gay marriage referendum, it was great to be able to witness this historical moment of Irish history too!
As an American, it was cool to see Ireland get so excited about such a landmark event. Since their country as a Republic is so new, they are able to witness these historical moments first-hand. Whereas for Americans, our centenary celebrations for the US would’ve been way before our lifetime.
