Easter Rising 1916

The 1916 Easter Rising occurred between Easter Monday, 24 April, and Saturday 29 April, when about 1, 800 members of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army occupied various prominent buildings in central Dublin. Their headquarters was established at the General Post Office in O'Connell St., where Patrick Pearse read out a proclamation establishing the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic. Besides Pearse, the signatories were Thomas Clarke, Seán MacDiarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, Éamonn Ceannt, James Connolly, and Joseph Plunkett—all members of the Military Council of the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood)
Other Volunteers seized such buildings as the Jacob's Factory, Boland's Mills and The College of Surgeons.
The leaders of The Rising and their followers held out for a week, vastly outnumbered by the British Forces. On Saturday the 29th of April, Patrick Pearse gave the orders for an unconditional surrender.
The leaders of the 1916 Rising were all put on trial. Fifteen were shot in Kilmainham Jail, Dublin between the 3rd and 12th of May. These executions caused a sea-change of attitudes and created much public sympathy towards the ideals of the 1916 leaders.

Irish Potato Famine

Ireland is in your hands, in your power. If you do not save her, she cannot save herself. I solemnly call upon you to recollect that I predict with the sincerest conviction that a quarter of her population will perish unless you come to her relief.
Daniel O'Connell to the British House of Commons, 1847.

Beginning in 1845 and lasting for six years, the potato famine killed over a million men, women and children in Ireland and caused another million to flee the country. The Famine began in September 1845 as leaves on potato plants suddenly turned black and curled, then rotted, seemingly the result of a fog that had wafted across the fields of Ireland. The cause was actually an airborne fungus (phytophthora infestans)

Ireland's potato crop failures in the past had always been regional and short-lived with modest loss of life. Between 1800 and 1845, sixteen food shortages had occurred in various parts of Ireland. However, during the Famine the crop failure became national for the first time, affecting the entire country at once.

The French sociologist, Gustave de Beaumont, visited Ireland in 1835 and wrote: "I have seen the Indian in his forests, and the Negro in his chains, and thought, as I contemplated their pitiable condition, that I saw the very extreme of human wretchedness; but I did not then know the condition of unfortunate Ireland...In all countries, more or less, paupers may be discovered; but an entire nation of paupers is what was never seen until it was shown in Ireland."

"Famine fever"--cholera, dysentery, scurvy, typhus, and infestations of lice--soon spread through the Irish countryside. Observers reported seeing children crying with pain and looking "like skeletons, their features sharpened with hunger and their limbs wasted, so that there was little left but bones." Masses of bodies were buried without coffins, a few inches below the soil.

Over the next ten years, more than 750,000 Irish died and another 2 million left their homeland for Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. Within five years, the Irish population was reduced by a quarter.

The Irish potato famine was not simply a natural disaster. It was a product of social causes.

During the Famine, British government officials and administrators rigidly adhered to the popular theory of the day, known as laissez-faire (meaning let it be), which advocated a hands-off policy in the belief that all problems would eventually be solved on their own through 'natural means.'

In adhering to laissez-faire, the British government also did not interfere with the English-controlled export business in Irish-grown grains. Throughout the Famine years, large quantities of native-grown wheat, barley, oats and oatmeal sailed out of places such as Limerick and Waterford for England, even though local Irish were dying of starvation. Irish farmers, desperate for cash, routinely sold the grain to the British in order to pay the rent on their farms and thus avoid eviction.




The Irish watched with increasing anger as boatloads of home-grown oats and grain departed on schedule from their shores for shipment to England. Food riots erupted in ports such as Youghal near Cork where peasants tried unsuccessfully to confiscate a boatload of oats. At Dungarvan in County Waterford, British troops were pelted with stones and fired 26 shots into the crowd, killing two peasants and wounding several others. British naval escorts were then provided for the riverboats as they passed before the starving eyes of peasants watching on shore.

As the Famine worsened, the British continually sent in more troops. "Would to God the Government would send us food instead of soldiers," a starving inhabitant of County Mayo lamented.

The Irish Potato Famine left as its legacy deep and lasting feelings of bitterness and distrust toward the British

Celtic Art and Designs

The Celts kept no written records but had an oral tradition, so all important events that needed remembering, as well as themes which revolved around their heroes, celtic gods and celtic goddesses and beliefs, were learned celtic artwork largely by continuous repetition as chants or were woven into prose form.

Celtic art is a huge culture as it has it's own history. Celtic art is actually a collection of many celtic designs, pictures etc.
Celtic art work is ancient and by medieval Celtic peoples who spread over Europe in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. They produced sophisticated metalwork, stone and wood carving, and illuminated manuscripts, decorating these objects with a variety of geometrical, knotted, and spiral designs, stylized animals and human figures.

There are some celtic designs to be found in traditional Celtic art which are most famous :
Celtic Knot :



Celtic knots were carved into the rocks by an unknown race of megalith builders thousands of years before the Celtic culture arrived. Celtic knotwork is found in many celtic designs and pictures, jewellery, clip arts.
This style of design and decoration was in fact brought to Britain in the 6th century AD by Saxon Christian monks and was used exclusively to illuminate the hand-written Christian Gospels. The Saxon people used some of the art for personal decoration.

Celtic cross :

Celtic Spiral : The spiral is the natural form of growth, and in every culture past and present has become a symbol of eternal life. The whorls represent the continuous creation and dissolution of the world; the passages between the spirals symbolize the divisions between life, death and rebirth.
the best examples are found on stone monuments such as Newgrange, in Ireland http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm

Celtic animal clipart: Animals and birds were sacred to the Celts. Zoomorphic ornaments show that nothing is as it first appears; plants turn into tails, and, interweaving, develop a head, legs or feet.



Celtic design collection and key patterns : The key patterns like the celtic spirals in straight lines, celtic borders and lines, celtic buttons, celtic backgroungs are connected and used repetadly to have a complex designs and symbols.

Typical Irish Dance

Irish dances can broadly be divided into social dance and performance dances. Irish social dancing is danced by formations of couples, often in squares of four couples. Irish social dance is a living tradition, and variations in particular dances are found across the Irish dance community.
Irish performance dancing is traditionally referred to as stepdance. Irish stepdance, popularized in 1994 by the world-famous show "Riverdance," is notable for its rapid leg movements, body and arms being kept largely stationary. The solo stepdance is generally characterized by a controlled but not rigid upper body, straight arms, and quick, precise movements of the feet.
The tradition of step dancing in Ireland grew from an indigenous form of percussive dance that developed alongside traditional Irish music. The current incarnation of this tradition is known as sean-nós dancing (damhsa ar an sean-nós or rince sa sean-nós). The strongest tradition of sean-nós dancing persists in the Connemara Gaeltacht in the West of Ireland, although sean-nós dancers can be found throughout Ireland.

Music

Irish music has remained vibrant throughout the 20th century, when many other traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music In spite of emigration, Irish music has kept many of its traditional aspects; indeed, it has itself influenced many forms of music, such as country and roots music in the USA.It has occasionally been modernised and fused with other genres.

Irish traditional music was mainly for dancing at celebrations for weddings, saint's days ..

Irish dance and the music of Ireland are inextricably linked over centuries. An assortment of instruments has provided the music for dancing throughout the centuries. Formerly the bagpipe was the most popular instrument, but today it is more common to find dancers being accompanied by an accordion, a fiddle or a piano.
In 1601 pipers were outlawed by the English authorities and their instruments were destroyed. During the eighteenth century, harpers wandered the roads of Ireland, playing only when they were certain their music would not alert the English authorities.

There are many famous Irish musicians and groups in the traditional, classical, New Age and rock genres. As it would be impossible to name all of them, we'll mention only a few as an example:

The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962 , making them one of the oldest bands that are still performing music presently.

The Dublin City Ramblers is a ballad group which began life in the mid 60's

The Chieftains are a musical group founded in 1963, known for performing and popularizing Irish traditional music

Clannad are a musical group, all members of the same family, which occupies a unique place in the modern musical world.

Enya left Clannad in 1982 and started her solo career.

The Corrs are a Celtic folk-rock and pop rock group. The members of the band are four siblings - three sisters and one brother. The band rose to prominence in the late 1990s.

The Cramberries are an Irish alternative rock band that rose to mainstream popularity in the 1990s. Since 2003 the members have all pursued solo careers.

U2 are a rock band from Dublin, became one of the most popular rock & roll bands of the '80s.

Mythology

Irish history is rich with myths and legends. The adventures of the famous warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill are still known to many Irish people. These include how he gained his wisdom as a boy by tasting the 'salmon of knowledge', how he triumphed over giants and magicians, and how he had the truths of life explained to him in a strange allegorical house. The champion Lugh, originally a god of the Continental Celts, is also remembered - especially how he slew his tyrant grandfather who had a horrific eye which destroyed all on which it gazed.
The adventures of the super warrior Cú Chulainn are spoken of and tales are also told of more characters, such as the High-King Cormac Mac Airt and Conall Gulban.

Ireland is famous for its fairy lore , which also contains vestiges of prechristian tradition. The Irish fairies can be connected with early Celtic beliefs of how the dead live on as a dazzling community in their burial chambers. TThey may also be connected to the early pantheon of Celtic deities.

La historia de Irlanda es rica en mitos y leyendas . Las aventuras del famoso guerrero Fionn Mac Cumhaill aún son conocidas por muchos irlandeses. Estas incluyen como ganó su sabiduría cuando era niño probando "el salmón del conocimiento", como triunfó sobre gigantes y magos y como aprendió las verdades de la vida explicadas en una extraña casa alegórica. El campeón Lugh, originalmente un dios de los Celtas Continentales, es recordado también, especialmente como mató a su tirano abuelo, que tenía un horrendo ojo, que destruía todo lo que miraba.

Se cuentan las aventuras del super guerrero Cú Chulainn y cuentos de más personajes como el Gran-Rey Cormac Mac Airt y Conall Culban.

Irlanda es famosa por su tradición de hadas, que contienen también vestigios de la tradición pre-cristiana. Los cuentos de hadas se pueden conectar con las creencias de los primeros Celtas de como los muertos continúan viviendo como una comunidad resplandeciente en sus cámaras mortuorias. También se pueden relacionar con el primer panteón de las deidades celtas.

Famous Irish Writers

Ireland’s tradition of being a nation of scholars goes back over a thousand years to when monks began transcribing the Bible into great works of art. Ireland was one of the first nations to practice vernacular writing.
Dublin’s most visible impact on world literature began in the 18th Century in the form of Anglo-Irish. Trinity College, Dublin, has produced many writers. Here you may see the Book of Durrow and Book of Kells which are transcriptions of the Bible.
Ireland’s first great writer recognized internationally was Jonathan Swift , author of "Gullivers Travels" .
Oliver Goldsmith , author of "The Vicar of Wakefield", who dominated theatre in England at the time, was also from Dublin.
Bram Stoker, born in 1847 in Clontarf is undoubtedly Ireland’s most famous horror writer. He wrote several short stories, novels and essays but his name is linked with "Dracula" .
Many of Ireland’s eminent writers were born in the 19th Century. Oscar Wilde : "An Ideal Husband", "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" have enshrined him as Ireland’s greatest satirist. His home for many years may be seen still in Merrion Square .
George Bernard Shaw was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925 for his contribution to literature and an Oscar (1938) for "Pygmalion". He was a strong advocate for socialism and women's rights.
WB Yeats , winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. He became an Irish Nationalist who dreamt of Irish Independence. One of his most quoted poems is "Easter 1916".
James Joyce born in Dublin, noted for his experimental use of language in such works as "Ulysses".
Samuel Beckett's particular minimalist style of writing has left its permanent mark on world literature. Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.
Flann O'Brien was another of Dublin’s literary geniuses to emerge in the mid 20th Century.
The Dublin literary tradition continues and more recently Irish writers of importance and popularity have lived here such as Seanus Heaney, 1995 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, 1995, who lives in Sandymount.
Michael Longley, a famous Irish poet from Belfast who taught in Dublin and now lives in County Mayo, Eavan Boland, the famous feminist poet and Maeve Binchy, the popular novelist who lives in Dalkey, Co. Dublin.
La tradición de que Irlanda es una nación de eruditos se remonta a miles de años , cuando los monjes comenzaron a transcribir la Biblia en grandes obras de arte. Irlanda fue una de las primeras naciones en usar la escritura vernácula.
El impacto más visible de Dublín en la literatura universal empezó en el siglo XVIII en Anglo-Irlandés. El Trinity College, Dublín, ha producido muchos escritores. En el Trinity College se puede ver el Libro de Durrow y el Libro de Kells, que son transcripciones de la Biblia.
El primer gran escritor irlandés reconocido internacionalmente fue Jonathan Swift autor de "Los viajes de Gulliver".
Oliver Goldsmith autor de "El vicario de Wakefield", que dominó el teatro de Ingalterra en la época, era también de Dublín.
Bram Stoker , nacido en en 1847, en Clontarf, es sin duda el escritor de terror más famoso de Irlanda. Escribió varias historias cortas, novelas y ensayos, pero su nombre está unido a "Drácula".
Muchos de los eminentes escritores irlandeses nacieron en el siglo XIX :
- Oscar Wilde: "Un marido ideal", "La importancia de llamarse Ernesto" y "El retrato de "Dorian Gray" lo han consagrado como el satírico más importante de Irlanda . La que fue su casa durante muchos años, puede aún verse en Merrion Square, Dublin.
- A George Bernard Shaw se le concedió el Premio Nobel de literatura en 1925 por su contribución a la literatura y un Oscar por "Pygmalion". Fue un gran defensor del socialismo y de los derechos de la mujer.
- W.B. Yeats ganador del premio Nobel de literatura en 1923. Se convirtió en un nacionalista irlandés que soñaba con la independencia. Uno de sus poemas más citados es " Easter 1916"
- James Joyce , nacido en Dublín, notable por su uso experimental del lenguaje en obras como el "Ulysses".
- El particular estilo minimalista de escribir de Samuel Beckett ha dejado su marca permanente en la literatura mundial. A Beckett se le concedió el premio Nobel de literatura en 1969.
Flann O'Brien fue otro de los genios literarios de Dublín que surge en la mitad del siglo XX.
La tradición literaria de Dublín continúa y más recientemente escritores irlandese de importancia y popularidad han vivido aquí, como Seanus Heaney, ganador del premio Nobel de literatura en 1995, que vive en Sandymount.
Michael Longley , famoso poeta irlandés de Belfast, que enseño en Dublín y ahora vive en el condado de Mayo. Eavan Bolan , la famosa poeta feminista y Maeve Binchy , novelista popular que vive en Dalkey, Co Dublín.