1916 (62 page)

On Easter Sunday, the jubilee events began in earnest when Dublin ‘was the scene of one of the greatest gatherings in its history as vast crowds packed its main thoroughfares’ for the military parade – the principal commemorative event.
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Approximately 600 veterans of the Rising were present at the occasion, some of whom had come from Britain and the United States. Among the other groups to parade from St Stephen’s Green to O’Connell Street were representatives of national ex-servicemen, together with various sporting and cultural organisations. Approximately 2,000 veterans of the War of Independence were also present.
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At noon the 1916 Proclamation was read to the crowd by a member of the defence forces. The tricolour was then hoisted with full ceremonial honours, on the roof of the General Post Office (GPO).
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After a salute of twenty one guns, the military parade began to march past the GPO, where the President, Éamon de Valera, took the salute. Various military units followed different routes passing most of the buildings in Dublin occupied by the Irish Volunteers in 1916 before converging on O’Connell Street.
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As the last units in the parade passed the reviewing stand beside the GPO, a flight of Vampire jet aircraft swept overhead. The event concluded with the playing of the national anthem.

Later in the afternoon the next commemorative event took place in Kilmainham gaol where the President laid a wreath, with full military ceremony, in the yard where the 1916 leaders were executed. Among those present were relatives of the executed leaders including Roddy Connolly, Nora Connolly O’Brien, Ronan Ceannt, Father Joseph Mallin and Bridget Colbert. Following the ceremony the President officially opened the new historical exhibition on the 1916 Rising, contained within the east wing of the old prison building. In his address de Valera paid tribute to the voluntary group who had restored the prison as a national monument and place of commemoration.
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That evening
An Tine Bheo
(
The Living Flame
)
, a film commissioned from Gael Linn by the Coiste Cuimhneachán, premiered at the Savoy cinema in Dublin. The film focused on the events of Easter week 1916 and the forces which led to the Rising. As the scenes of the battles of Easter week, in Dublin and elsewhere, were explored by the camera, veterans
of the Rising vividly recounted their experiences. The film was very well received and provided a fitting end to the principal day of commemoration in Dublin.
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Apart from the events in Dublin, military ceremonies sponsored by the Coiste Cuimhneachán for Easter Sunday were also organised at twelve provincial centres associated with key individuals or events of the Rising. Practically every town (large and small) in the Republic seemed to organise (on many occasions by sub-branches of the Coiste) a parade to mark the anniversary.

The following day, Easter Monday 11 April, religious ceremonies to mark the jubilee were held in churches of all denominations. The Catholic archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal William Conway, presided at solemn high mass in St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh. In Dublin a solemn votive mass took place in the pro-cathedral, Marlborough Street. Among the congregation were the President, the Taoiseach and veterans of the Rising. On the same morning the Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin, the Most Reverend Doctor Simms, preached at a united service under the auspices of the Dublin Council of Churches in St Patrick’s cathedral. A Jewish service of prayer to mark the jubilee in the synagogue at Adelaide Road was led by the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Doctor Isaac Cohen.
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At noon the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square was officially opened. It was dedicated to all those who died for Irish freedom. A wreath-laying ceremony then took place involving the President, the Taoiseach, the lord mayor and members of the diplomatic corps.
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That
evening a commemoration concert in the Gaiety theatre, Dublin, featured a composition by the Irish composer, Dr Brian Boydell, performed by the Radio Éireann symphony orchestra. It was the first performance of
A Terrible Beauty is Born
,
a cantata based on the poems of Yeats, MacDonagh, Ledwidge, Russell, Dora Sigerson and T.M. Kettle.
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The following day, Tuesday 12 April, witnessed the launch of a special 1916 exhibition, which was formally opened in the National Museum by Patrick Hillery, Minister for Industry and Commerce. Among the many exhibits on display were personal weapons belonging to the leading figures in the movement, rifles landed during the Howth gun-running in July 1914, and rifles salvaged from the cargo of the
Aud
.
The centrepiece of the exhibition was the aforementioned green flag which flew over the GPO during Easter week, 1916, and which was presented for permanent display at the museum by the Taoiseach on behalf of the government.
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On the same day an exhibition of paintings, portraits, and sculpture on themes relating to the 1916 Rising was launched at the Municipal Art Gallery, Dublin. This included the finest entries in the art competitions sponsored by the Coiste Cuimhneachán. The National Gallery also staged an exhibition at this time featuring almost 200 paintings and sculptures depicting virtually every phase of Irish history, but with special emphasis on the 1916 rebellion. This included portraits and busts of personalities involved in the Rising, as well as pictures of some of the key events that formed the background to it. A special section was devoted to the highly regarded drawings of the sixteen executed leaders by Seán O’Sullivan.

That evening there was the first of five performances during Easter week of
Aiséirí­Glóir­réim na Cásca
(
Resurrection, the Easter pageant
)
at Croke Park in Dublin. In the words of the official commemorative booklet:

Before a giant backcloth and mammoth portraits of the sixteen leaders who were executed after the Rising, the players retold in symbols, actions and words, the story of struggle for independence from the 1790s to the declaration of independence by the first Dáil Éireann in 1919.
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The production included a cast of almost 800, most of whom were members of the defence forces. Although the weather proved unfavourable on most of the evenings, the pageant was well attended and acclaimed.

Among the various commemoration ceremonies over the next few days, one of the most notable took place on Friday April 15 at Boland’s mills, Dublin, where a plaque was unveiled to commemorate the 3rd battalion, Dublin brigade of the Irish Volunteers in 1916, which had been commanded by Éamon de Valera. Present at the unveiling ceremony, and guest of honour of the State, was Edward J. Hitzen, the British officer who accepted de Valera’s surrender. Following a brief ceremony marred by pouring rain, the two men happily exchanged jokes and anecdotes together.
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On the following day de Valera delivered another address at the GPO during ceremonies to mark the end of the rebellion. Before he spoke, the national flag on the GPO was slowly lowered to the accompaniment of the bugle notes of
Sundown
from army trumpeters. Although de Valera had not referred explicitly to partition in his various other commemorative speeches, in his final speech he referred to his long-held opinion concerning the resolution of the northern situation:

All that is necessary is that the power which is at present retained in the British parliament should be transferred to a representative all-Ireland parliament … They can still have local autonomy with the powers they possess at present. The question is whether they want to belong to this nation or to the other island. It would be better for Britain, too, that the union of the two parts of Ireland should take place.
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When de Valera concluded his address ‘the band sounded a fanfare, a firing party of 120 men lining the roof of the Post Office fired a
feu de joie
while a twenty one gun salute was fired in the grounds of Trinity College.’
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Although the main events organised by the Coiste Cuimhneachán were now completed, state-sponsored commemorative ceremonies continued over the following week. On Sunday evening, 17 April, the Taoiseach and Mrs Lemass held a state reception in St Patrick’s Hall, Dublin Castle to mark the golden jubilee. Approximately 3,000 people were invited to the occasion.
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Many veterans of the Rising and their relatives were among the large attendance, which included the President, Cardinal Conway, Archbishop McQuaid, the Most Reverend Doctor Simms, and members of the diplomatic corps, judiciary, government, Dáil, Seanad and the Council of State. Also in attendance were representatives of the National Graves Association, the trustees of the Kilmainham Gaol Restoration Committee, representatives from the Gaelic Athletic Association, Gael Linn and other national organisations.
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Among the events over the following week, special church services, representing all denominations, were held throughout the Republic on the morning of Friday 22 April, as school children honoured those who lost their lives in the Rising. Many schools were decorated for the occasion and in many cases the national flag was flown. A framed copy of the Proclamation was formally unveiled with appropriate ceremony in every school. At a Church of Ireland ceremony in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, the Most Reverend Doctor Simms told a congregation of approximately 2,000 children that they were right to meet for worship on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising to dedicate themselves to the service of the country:

We dedicate ourselves today to the kind of service that will be rock-like in laying the foundations of a life of truth and honesty in private and in public, of charitableness in outlook and attitude, with understanding that hears the other side in any human story or in any argument.
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The very last state commemoration ceremony took place at Arbour Hill on Sunday 24 April, the actual date that the Rising began in 1916. The President, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, members of the government and the judiciary, the lord mayor of Dublin, members of the Oireachtas, veterans of Easter week and relatives of the 1916 leaders attended a special memorial mass celebrated in the military church at Arbour Hill.
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At the memorial plot afterwards:

the national flag was lowered and regimental colours were dipped as the last post was sounded; the choir sang
De Profundis
; and, as bugles sounded reveille, the national flag was raised again to full mast. At the close of ceremonies a special guard of four sentries was mounted at the graveside, and reliefs were provided every half-hour until sundown.
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With this tribute the state ceremonies for the jubilee had come to an end.

The republican movement’s events:

While attempting to ensure a fitting commemoration of the 1916 Rising, and also trying to maintain improved north-south relations, Lemass and his government had to keep close watch on republican activity. The IRA, and associated organisations, had been consistent in their willingness and enthusiasm to commemorate the event. In this respect little had changed in the republican movement. There were, however, important changes in republican policy in this period. By 1966 the organisation was undergoing a remarkable transition. A new radical political perspective was slowly being incorporated into the movement. A republican socialist study group, the Wolfe Tone Society, had been founded in 1963 to discuss not only the republican heritage but also current social and economic issues. The IRA would, nevertheless, always contain some members with an unremitting desire for militancy and the leadership could do little to prevent occasional unauthorised action in this period. The most spectacular example of this took place on 7 March 1966, when a republican splinter group blew up Nelson’s pillar on O’Connell Street. One of the dissidents involved later revealed that they regarded the action as their jubilee tribute to the city – the demolition of an imposing colonial symbol.
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Alerted to the possibility of a further gesture from fringe elements in the republican movement, the gardaí mounted a security screen, ‘Operation Safety’, throughout the commemorative period and extra members were drafted into the special branch.
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Armed guards were posted at the Garden of Remembrance, at all British monuments, at Teilifís Éireann and
Radio Éireann at Montrose as well as at the GPO. Special guards were also posted at embassies and the residences of diplomatic personnel in Dublin.
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A radio network was being installed on garda barracks along the border in advance of the jubilee but the installation was cancelled on orders from the Department of Defence, which considered garda HQ to be guilty of over-reacting.
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Although there were isolated acts of violence carried out by IRA dissidents, it was clear that nothing like an organised campaign was being conducted or even contemplated by the leadership of the republican movement. The IRA repeatedly declared this, and the position was later clarified in a Department of Justice
aide mémoire
on IRA activity in this period:

A certain amount of drilling with firearms has been going on since 1962 but there is no more reason now than in any of the past four years to conclude that a campaign of violence is imminent or will commence within, say, the next 12 months … The organisation is not yet in a financial position to maintain an organised campaign for any length of time. Individual acts of terrorism cannot be ruled out altogether but in 1966 the organisation has been evidencing a strong sense of military discipline amongst its members … There were fairly strong signs during 1966 that a policy of force might be left in abeyance for a period of years while the military organisation and its political arm Sinn Féin would seek public support through the capture of a sufficiency of seats in municipal and Dáil elections.
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