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 Photo: Claudine Nic Giolla Chomhaill

2016 - a fateful year,
a fateful century,
a fateful future ......
 

This is the year we have been waiting for for one hundred years - the year in which we can look back with pride to the events, men, women and children of 1916 and truly celebrate their achievement with justified pride and respect.

There will be many events - both local and national - which one can attend. Some of these will be

official, i.e. organised by the Government or local authorities, while others will be arranged by local interest groups - relatives, historical societies, political parties etc.

There are far too many events for us to mention all here, so we will send out details of some of these on our Facebook pages as we get them.

Other websites will be carrying details also, and of course the newspapers and Government websites will keep you updated too.  

We cannot - and will not - forget ALL who died or were injured or affected by the events of 1916 in Ireland but as a nation our first thoughts must go to those who fought for us, so that we could

have the right to self-determination and, despite the revisionists, we in Kilmainham Tales will remain proud of them and will be celebrating as well as commemorating their bravery. 

Over the next few days in particular we will remember those who were executed in Kilmainham Gaol from May 3-12.

A Song for Easter 1916  

We are delighted to have been given the rights to “Dear Love” – a song written to celebrate and remember the men and women who fought in the Easter Rising 1916 that we may be free.

We have a demonstration recording of the song here for all to listen to.

We are offering this song to anyone who wishes to use it – to sing it live and/or to record it, bringing it back to life for a new generation so that, once again, we can be proud as we serenade our ‘Róisín Dubh’ and celebrate the sacrifice and ambitions of those who wrested from the world’s super-power the freedoms she – and we – have today.

We ask only one thing in return – if you are going to use this song, let us know when, where, how. We would love to hear it sung with pride and spirit as we celebrate this centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916. 

Read more about this, and the composer, here.

On Sunday May 1st 2016 Mícheál Ó Doibhilín and Liz Gillis travelled to Dungannon as guests of the Tom Clarke 1916 Club and of the Tom Clarke GAA Club for the unveiling of a statue of Tom Clarke.

This is only the second statue of Tom in the country (the other is in Limerick) so we were delighted to have the opportunity to be present at this great occasion.

People travelled from all over the country and we met many great friends there.

The ceremony began at 2.30 pm with a large parade of fife and drum bands, a pipe band, a flag of each county, the Tom Clarke GAA Club football team (which delayed its afternoon game to be in attendance), and an honour colour party, as well as delegates and banners from other clubs around the country.

The ceremony itself began with a passionate reading of the Proclamation (in English, as it was written, although much of the ensuing ceremony was in Irish, something we would do well to emulate in our official ceremonies).

This was followed by a reading of the names of fallen local volunteers accompanied by a lament on the tin whistle.

Next Lurgan local Councillor Barry Monteith recounted Tom Clarke's life and death, before the statue was unveiled.

There was a moment of shock as everyone took in what appeared - a magnificent, lifelike Tom Clarke - as real as if he was among us, depicted with pen in hand in that glorious moment after he had signed the proclamation.

Following a spirited rendition of our national Anthem in Irish, the Ballad of Tom Clarke was sung (see here)  and then we could get to the statue to look closer at it, photograph it and have our pictures taken with it.

Our heartfelt congratulations go to all involved in having this statue erected, the Tom Clarke 1916 Society, The Tom Clarke GAA Club, the sculptor and all who contributed.

Ar fheabhas ar fad.

A new Roll of Honour 

For a long time now the 1916 Roll of Honour assembled by the National Museum of Ireland some years after the Easter Rising has  been considered the definitive record.

However, in recent years much scholarship has been applied to researching exactly who was "out" in 1916, and in what capacity. The publication in 2016 of "Who's Who in the Dublin Rising 1916" by Joe Connell and "The GPO Garrison, Easter Week 1916" by Jimmy Wren have added considerably to our knowledge.

There is a new list in the National Museum's 1916 

exhibition in Collins' Barracks and the latest pretender to the title of "Definitive Roll of Honour" is that produced by Glasnevin Cemetery. 

None of these listings is complete, and some have errors within them. Ray Bateson, who has researched those who died in the Easter Rising for many years (his works include "The Rising Dead - RIC and DMP", "They Died by Pearse's Side" and "Memorials of the Easter Rising" - all available from irishgraves@eircom.net) has attempted to set the record right on who died, and what their role was in the Easter Rising for us. 

Read his article here

2016 Publications, Talks etc.
As part of our contribution to the celebrations and commemorations of the Easter Rising 1916, we have a busy publishing schedule for 2016. 

Three new books in our Kilmainham Tales series have been launched, beginning with the unique and original "Dead Men's Dreams" - an anthology of the poems of Francis Ledwidge related to the Easter Rising, edited with notes by Liam O'Meara.

This book was launched in  the Patriot Inn, Kilmainham, on March 21 at 8.00 pm by military historian and author Paul O'Brien.

We are also proud to have published the first ever full account of the setting up of the world's first international radio station "Rebel Radio" by Eddie Bohan. This is a thrilling account of the successful establishing of a radio station in Reis' Radio School, O'Connell Street, Dublin and the transmission to the world of news of the Rising. (We will have a second book by Eddie on another unique aspect of the Rising - watch for details).

Our third new book is by an established Kilmainham Tales author, Joe Connell. Titled "Teaching Rebels", it tells the stories of some of the teachers and their pupils who took part in the Easter Rising. 

Watch this space for further details of other new publications.

In addition Mícheál Ó Doibhilín is giving a series of talks on Josie McGowan, one of only three Cumann na mBan women killed during the revolutionary period.  The talk is entitled "Josie - a brief flame". 

The first talk was in South County Library, The Square, Tallaght, for the Tallaght Historical Society on March 8th at 7.00 pm, and the next was in Rathcoole Community Centre on Saturday, March 12th at 2.00 pm. 

On Thursday 14 April he gave a talk on the days in Kilmainham Gaol in 1916 from the surrender to the executions in St. Joseph's School, Lucan. This was part of an excellent programme put on by the school to commemorate the Easter Rising of 1916, with a special emphasis on the female participants. There were several talks on the night on subjects as varied as Mollie O'Reilly, The Maynooth 15, and Kilmainham Gaol, interspersed with Irish dancing, some music and some songs. Historian and author Liz Gillis unveiled an incredible plaque in honour of the women who were arrested in the aftermath of the rebellion. All in all, this was one of the better events we have attended and all agreed the night was a resounding success with about 250 in attendance. Photos from the unveiling of the plaque are below.

On Thursday 20 April Mícheál spoke on Women in Ireland's Revolution in the Parish Centre, Lucan.

The Girls and Teachers of St. Joseph's Secondary School, Lucan, created a beautiful and unique plaque to honour the women of 1916 

On Thursday 14 April Mícheál Ó Doibhilín gave a talk on the days in Kilmainham Gaol in 1916 from the surrender to the executions in St. Joseph's School, Lucan.

This was part of an excellent programme put on by the school to commemorate the Easter Rising of 1916, with a special emphasis on the female participants.

There were several talks on the night on subjects as varied as Mollie O'Reilly, The Maynooth 15, and Kilmainham Gaol, interspersed with Irish dancing, some music and some songs.

There were several talks on the night on subjects as varied as Mollie O'Reilly, The Maynooth 15, and Kilmainham Gaol, interspersed with Irish dancing, some music and some songs.

Historian and author Liz Gillis unveiled an incredible plaque in honour of the women who were arrested in the aftermath of the rebellion.

All in all, this was one of the better events we have attended and all agreed the night was a resounding success with about 250 in attendance. 

Photos from the unveiling of the plaque are below. 

THE EASTER RISING (W)AS A PIECE OF CAKE 

There are so many events and commemorations as we approach the Centenary of the Easter Rising that we have consciously decided not to comment on any bar the unusual or ones which, for some special reason, catch our attention.
One event we could not overlook is the Decobake tribute to the Easter Rising …. in cake art. We were invited to the opening of their exhibition in their fabulous premises on Bachelor’s Walk – a Pandora’s Box for any cake decorator or artist.

Straight away on entering we were confronted with the most amazing display of cake art – several cakes with inscriptions, sculptures, scrolls, as well as actual busts … all related to the Easter Rising.
We were blown away.
 

This could have been so tacky but we have to admit it was not. This was as serious a display of art as any other exhibition we have ever been at. The creativity, the thought, the craftsmanship on display was incredible.

It would be invidious to select a favourite, but some stood out for different reasons. The Lee Enfield rifle (above), for example, was so superbly modelled it genuinely looked real. It was full size, with wood graining, the webbing was perfect. An incredible piece. Just look at this detail: 

The Grace Gifford/Joseph Plunkett wedding was beautiful. Restrained, no maudlin sentimentality, it was just beautiful. 

Another understated but powerful was the tribute to Margaret Skinnider. It was simply her iconic hat on a small hat stand, with some gold lace ribbon to bring some colour to it. Knowing Margaret, one wonders was the hat stand hiding anything! A truly beautiful, perfect piece.

Among the busts were Eamon DeValera, James Connolly, Sean MacBride, Thomas Kent and Nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell. All superb.

There were some of the iconic buildings, too – the GPO, of course, in a ruinous state, and a monumental and incredibly detailed Jacob’s Factory, as well as the Traitor’s Gate of Stephen’s Green with its ICA man in a shallow trench, a wounded rebel, a nurse and, of course, the ducks being fed!

There were so many people present it was difficult at times to photograph the cakes properly, but we did what we could. One item (not a cake) which caught our eye was the fantastic banner draped along one wall of the shop. We would have loved to photograph it but could not get a clear shot.

We met several of the artists and discussed their work with them. It was fascinating to hear what inspired them, and how they executed their final pieces.

This enterprise was the brainchild of Sandra Stokes McCullough, of Little LADY Cakes, the organiser and "general dogsbody" (to quote her) of the exhibition. Congratulations to Sandra and sponsors Decobake and Icewise and ALL involved on a unique and excellent exhibition. It runs until Friday in Decobake, Bachelor's Walk and then moves to the irish Sugarcraft Show in Citywest, 12-13 march. After that it is is going on the road and, if it comes anywhere near to you, make sure you get to see it. It is unique and inspiring, and well worth seeing. To borrow an old Irish phrase – Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís!

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