As we mark the centenary of the most significant event in modern Irish history with farcical posturing and vague references to the bravery and patriotism of those who laid down their lives for the cause of Irish freedom we have lost sight of exactly what the women and men of 1916 were fighting for. The Easter Rising has taken an almost mythic status in popular discourse. Romanticism and sentiment have overridden fact and substance. The truth is that the volunteers of 1916 didn’t gallantly “lay down their lives”. Many died terrified and in agony. The same is true for the many civilians and British soldiers who died that day.
Some have seen through the veil of romanticism but have failed to see the facts and have instead turned to a revisionist version of history. Former Taoiseach John Bruton has recently said that he regrets that the Rising ever took place. He points to the fact that over half of the dead were civilians and that the volunteers did not have a “democratic mandate”. Instead he says that we should commemorate “peaceful”, parliamentary politicians such as John Redmond.
The former Taoiseach, however, has a very misguided view of history. He forgets that the vast majority of civilian death was caused by British Artillery and their shooting of looters. John Redmond, Bruton’s man of peace, lead over thirty thousand Irish soldiers to their death in the bloody, horrific battles in Europe on behalf of an imperialist state. More people died for this cause than in all the subsequent conflicts on this island combined. As for a democratic mandate? The Irish people had consistently and emphatically expressed their will to self-determination before the Rising but Irish representation was minimal in London and voting rights were very limited and completely excluded women. Many would agree that in a functioning democracy there are certain rights which are not subject to popular vote such as the right to life, to vote and other human rights. The volunteers believed that every Irish person had the democratic right to control their own destiny, regardless of popular opinion at the time. They fought for democracy and against imperialism, sectarianism and oppression. One hundred years on activists of all shades of red and green have a similar battle in front of us. Regardless of who we elect the decisions which affect our lives are in the hands of the economic elites and European institutions.
While most of the action took place in Dublin there was a significant mobilisation in Galway which involved assaults on RIC stations in Oranmore and Clarinbridge and a brief gun battle in Carnmore where a police officer was killed before they occupied Athenry town until shelling from HMS Gloucester and the westward advance of British troops forced them to disperse. The volunteers, lead by Liam Mellows, were very poorly armed and knew that the London government had tens of thousands of soldiers mobilized since the outbreak of war in Europe that could be sent to Ireland in a moment’s notice. They went out anyways and put up whatever resistance they could to the British Empire. Most of the 600-700 that fought in Galway were small farmers or agricultural labourers and had ties to a local secret society focused on land agitation. They had been raised in the poverty made necessary by foreign rule and many had grandparents or even parents who had lived through times of drought and famine. Stories had been passed down of An Gorta Mór. Today stories of the Great famine are generally told in a folkic and almost mythic style for their poetic value but in the early 20^th century this was a reflection of the real conditions and tragedies of just 70 years previous. The ripples of class consciousness were present despite the area being a traditionally conservative one. What we are seeing today as a result of the banking collapse and the troika bailouts is a similar raising of consciousness in Ireland, though on a much smaller scale. Liam Mellows believed at the foundation of this state that it would serve merely as a buffer between a true republic and British capitalism. Today the state serves the interest of global capitalism and adheres to a neoliberal ideologue which puts the market before all else. We do not have to brave guns or shells and we do not have to do the extraordinary things that those very ordinary women and men did. We do have to do what we can, however, to uphold the ideals that they fought for by fighting intolerance, inequality, racism and misogyny by campaigning for a progressive change in Irish politics. That is the only way we can properly commemorate the dead of 1916.