Patrick Pearse

10 November 1879 3 May 1916

Early Life:
Pearse was born at 27 Great Brunswick Street, Dublin, and the street as
been renamed in memory of him. It was here that his father, James
Pearse, established a stonemasonry business in the 1850s, this allowed
Patrick to grow up in a comfortable middle-class home.
When he was sixteen Patrick became involved in the Gaelic revival and
at the age of twenty three, he became the editor of the newspaper An
Claidheamh Soluis. Pearse's early heroes were ancient Gaelic folk
legends such as Cchulainn but as he got older he developed more of
an interest in leaders of past republican movements, such as the United
Irishmen Theobald Wolfe Tone.
In 1908, Pearse started his own bilingual school called St. Enda's School
in Cullenswood House in Ranelagh, he did this in an attempt to save the

Irish language and culture but it also taught English.After two years the
school was moved to The Hermitage in Rathfarnham which is now the
Pearse museum.

Organisations:
Pearse had a fond love for the Irish language and as a teenager he
joined the Gaelic League which was an organisation used to promote
the Irish language,culture and literature. Pearse graduated with a law
degree from Kings Inn, and in 1901 he started a BA in modern
languages. Despite studying law, Pearse was more concerned about the
revival of the Irish language.

Profession and work

Pearse was very reluctant to have Irish people speaking English. He
protested to the Roman Catholic Church about the lack of Irish courses
at colleges and universities and all his efforts were ignored.As a result,
Pearse took matters into his own hands and founded his own school in
Dublin - an Irish boy school called St Ednas and his aims for the school
were;
-To teach students in a love of the Irish language.

Role in the preparations:

Patrick Pearse became the commander in chief of the Military group. He
was in charge of writing a document on the groups theories and on the
new Irish Republic.
He decided to write this in native Gaelic and also in English as this was
now the common language among the majority of Irish citizens. He also
helped plan the actions of the Rising i.e which buildings the volunteers
would capture etc.
When Roger Casement and his boat the Aud which contained the
military equipment for the volunteers got captured off the coast of Kerry,
the Rising got confined to mainly Dublin. It was now seen as a military
failure, however the leaders decided to still go through with it.

The Rising itself:

Location: Patrick Pearse and the other leaders and volunteers split
up and tried to take over key buildings in Dublin city. Some were
successful such as Bolands Mills and Jacobs Factory, however they
failed to capture Dublin Castle and this was the most crucial building to
take over as it was the seat of government in Ireland.

Role: Patrick Pearse stood outside the GPO along with Thomas
Clarke and read aloud the Proclamation of the Irish Republic to the
citizens of Dublin.
As commander in chief of the rebel troops, Pearse usually made the
main decisions. However by Wednesday, British troops arrived at Dublin
and made their way into Dublin up the R. Liffey and shelled buildings
such as the GPO which was the headquarters of the rebels. With much
destruction to Dublin, death of innocent civilians, rebel troops being
severely outnumbered and the injury of James Connolly, Patrick Pearse
surrendered on Saturday 29th April 1916. The leaders were arrested
and held captive at Kilmainham Jail until their execution.

Aftermath:
Leaders:

The leaders and the seven signatories were all

executed without a trial. Some of them were lucky enough to see their
families one last time. Patrick Pearse didn't get to see his family again
but he was able to write a letter to his mother.Patrick Pearse was
executed along with Tom Clarke and Thomas MacDonagh on May 3rd
1916. The other leaders were soon executed afterwards.
Other Volunteers such as Patrick Pearses brother William were also
executed. Some however were lucky and only got imprisoned such as
Eamon De Valera, Countess Markievicz and Michael Collins. These
went on to become the future leaders in governmental parties such as
Sinn Fein and Fianna Fall and also took part in the Irish Civil War of
1921 - 1922.

Country: Innocent Irish citizens were interned because the British

suspected they were part of the Rising. This happened to more than
3000 individuals around the country.

Sinn Fin were blamed for the Rising and so they grew in popularity. The
Home Rule Bill was completely abandoned as more and more people
demanded for a Republic.
People who were at first opposed to the Rising began to support the
idea of a Republic due to the harsh executions without trials to the
leaders and internment of innocent Irish civilians.
Ireland eventually got its own government and President Douglas G
Hyde in 1937 and became a Republic 10 years later.