Easter Rising: First World War In Dublin

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal

History Hit

Myths, Folklore, Mystery, History, Ghosts, Society & Culture, Murder, Ufos, True Crime, Paranormal, Supernatural, Serial Killers

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

(Part 2/2) On Easter Monday in 1916, Irish rebels read a proclamation of independence that sparked a week-long battle with the British army.

Over the next six days, this new bloody frontier of the First World War unfolded and became known as the Easter Rising.

How did the Irish rebels plan to take on the might of the British army? How did this pave the way for eventual Irish independence? And did the 1916 Rising spark the beginning of the end for the British Empire?

In this second of two-parts, Anthony and Maddy talk to Dr. Conor Mulvagh, lecturer in Irish History at University College Dublin, about the dramatic events of 1916 Easter Rising and its aftermath.

This episode was edited by Tom Delargy and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, we're your host's Anthony Delaney and Maddie Pelling.
0:03.7	And if you would like After Dark myths, misdeeds and the paranormal, ad free and get early access, sign up to History Hit.
0:11.1	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries with top history presenters and enjoy a new release every week.
0:20.7	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. top history presenters and enjoy a new release every week.
0:24.8	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:29.4	Hello, it's Anthony here. Before we get started, this is just a warning that this episode contains graphic discussions of violence.
0:42.0	Killman and Jail Dublin. It's the dead of night on May 3rd, 1916.
0:46.9	The jail sits to the west of Dublin City Centre, where less than a week ago Irish rebels
0:51.5	were in bloody combat with the British Army, claiming independence.
0:55.7	The city is fresh with the traumas of war, buildings torn apart by artillery fire, hundreds of lives
1:02.2	lost. In his cell, Patrick Pierce, one of the architects of the Easter Rising, is granted
1:07.7	final correspondence with his loved ones, having been found guilty of waging
1:12.4	war against the King in a secret court and sentenced to death by firing squad.
1:19.0	Reflecting on his fate to his mother, he writes,
1:21.8	This is the death I should have asked if God had given me the choice of all deaths, to die a
1:27.4	soldier's death for Ireland
1:28.6	and for freedom. The silence is broken by footsteps approaching his cell. Once the key rattles in
1:35.5	its lock and is opened, the silhouette of a British soldier fills the doorway. It is not long
1:41.1	after 3 a.m. Pierce is marched through the cold corridors and taken outside into the prison yard. The night's sky is the colour of iron. Army soldiers stand in front of Pierce now and a white cloth is tied about his eyes. In that final letter to his mother, he concluded, I will call to you in my heart at the last moment.
2:03.9	Patrick Pearce was among the first to be executed following the Easter Rising,
2:08.6	and though the Irish Republic had not yet been born,
2:11.5	through his death, an icon of a free Ireland, a martyr had been created.
	...

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