Easter Sunday; 1916

It was on Easter week in 1916 the Easter Rising also known as Easter Rebellion, an armed insurrection started in Ireland on its path towards independence from British rule.  Although the rebellion was crushed after a week of fighting, the Rising and the British response led to greater popular support for Irish independence.

The Irish War of Independence was fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 mostly between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British forces.

On November 211920,  also known as Bloody Sunday, fourteen British intelligence operatives were assassinated, then members of the Royal Irish Constabulary fired on the crowd at a Gaelic football match, killing fourteen civilians and wounding sixty-five.  A week later,  the IRA killed seventeen as a reprisal.  In December of that year, the center of the city of Cork was burned out.  Violence continued to escalate over the next seven months, during which time approximately 1,000 people were killed.  Much of the fighting took place in Munster and the cities of Dublin and Belfast which together saw over 75 percent of the conflict's deaths. 

A ceasefire began on July 11, 1921.  The talks that followed led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish-Treaty also known as the Treaty on December 6, 1921.  The Treaty provided for the establishment of an Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion within the community of nations of the British Empire.  This ended British rule in most of Ireland and, after a ten-month transitional period the Republic of Ireland was created on December 2, 1922, while Northern Ireland remained within the United Kingdom.

The Republic of Ireland is currently a peaceful and thriving nation.  Dublin its capital is known for its beautiful and vibrant downtown.

Picture of Scrafton street. 

Ireland has outstanding institutions of higher learning as the historic Trinity College that was established in 1592 and modeled after the collegiate universities of Cambridge and Oxford.  Trinity College is the most prestigious university in Ireland and is among the most elite universities in Europe.  Its library which was also established in 1592 has over 6 million books and documents.  One of the most notable exhibits is the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the Four Gospels of the New Testament dated c. 800 AD.

Dublin's Castle is a major administrative and historical complex that is open to the public also is the site where the inauguration of Ireland's President takes place.   The Republic of Ireland is currently a member state of the European Union.

                                                            Fada beo an Éireann!