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Beyond the Rising

Ireland in the early 20th century was a place of unrest and upheaval. The introduction of the third Home Rule Bill in 1912, the Dublin Lock Out of 1913, the impact of World War I as well as the fallout from the War of Independence and the Civil War all helped mould Ireland politically to what it is today. The Easter Rising clearly did not occur in isolation.

Learn more about the historical background from Trinity College Dublin historians

During the course of 2016 Trinity College Dublin embarked upon an exciting programme of lectures and events exploring the 1916 Easter Rising, its influences and its legacy. Here we present podcasts and video tutorials by Trinity College historians.

Ireland in Rebellion is a free 14-week online lecture series about the making of modern Ireland looking at the period 1782 to 1916 and beyond. Beginning with the winning of legislative independence, and exploring the competing forces of constitutional nationalism and radicalism, it looks at the forces which led to the creation of the independent Irish state.

On Tuesday 15 March 2016, to mark ‘Proclamation day’, Trinity College Dublin’s Long Room Hub Humanities Research Institute hosted a symposium entitled ‘The 1916 proclamation in its national and international context’. Members of TCD’s Department of History examined the various rebellions referred to in the proclamation, and how the proclamation can be understood in relation to other, similar declarations of independence, such as those promulgated in the American and French revolutions. Podcasts of all of the speakers can be found here

Library resources

The Library has played a role in highlighting political events at the start of the last century with a series of exhibitions and opening up of resources.

Online and physical exhibitions

A major online resource, photographs and transcriptions of the diaries and letters of some Irish men and women who served or observed during the years 1914-1918.

The First World War saw an estimated 200,000 Irishmen serve in the British Army. This exhibition examines the Irish experience of the War through the collections of the Library of Trinity College Dublin.

Coinciding with the anniversary of the Rising, this exhibition featured exhibits of unique material from Trinity’s Manuscripts & Archives Research Library and Early Printed Books collections relating to the 1916 Easter Rising, including photographs, diaries, memorabilia as well as digital content. The display traced methods of recording and reflecting on the Rising from the initial scramble to record the events as they happened in 1916; the commemorative activity of 1966 and through to the Library’s project to capture and preserve the 1916 related websites produced in 2016.

Thomas Johnson Westropp (1860-1922) was a Limerick-born scholar and a graduate of TCD. His compilation of 44 photographs record the havoc wreaked on the architectural fabric of central Dublin, particularly Sackville Street (O’Connell Street) and the surrounding area.

Dorothy Stopford Price (1890-1954) was a graduate of Trinity College’s medical school; she devoted her entire professional life to the well-being of the poorest children of Dublin.

Projects

The Easter Rising 1916 Web Archive sees the Library working in collaboration with the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford and the British Library to archive websites from both the Irish and UK web domains as they reflect on the Easter Rising 1916.

Digital collections

This collection contains printed ephemera regarded by authority as subversive. It was collected during WWI and up to 1922 and given to Arthur Warren Samuels (1852-1925), Solicitor General for Ireland 1917-1918 and Attorney General for Ireland 1918-1919.

These posters and leaflets were issued by the British Army in Dublin during the war.

An account of the Rising in Dublin by Miss Elsie Mahaffy (1869-1926), daughter of the then Trinity College Dublin Provost, John Pentland Mahaffy. Illustrated with many printed items, letters and photographs.