Feeding the Fire: How Public Perceptions During and After the Easter Rising Shaped the Irish Independence Movement

Abstract

The Easter Rising of 1916 was an event taking place in Ireland as a precursor to the Irish War for Independence. Previous research of the Rising was focused on the contributions of social groups to this movement, supported by a large quantity of secondary sources. The new topic that is being explored has less literature based on its inquiry. The argument of this paper is that the individuals that made up the social groups as well as those effected by the Rising were the most integral pieces of this event to understand. The individuals within these groups, as well as the people they were connected with, were fundamental in shifting the tide of public opinion in response to the consequences leadership faced following the Rising. This statement is informed by the primary sources that were considered. For this paper the research was conducted using primary source letters. By looking at personal correspondence between prisoners arrested for their acts during the Rising and their families, as well as letters between acquaintances, one is able to view what the society may have looked and felt like to the everyday people of Ireland. This paper uses these letters to guide readers with an understanding of the Rising in the greater context of the Irish War for Independence, granting greater insight into the change in public opinion from before the Rising to the differences displayed within the correspondence in the following months.