1916
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PREPARING FOR THE JUBILEE
Plans for the golden jubilee of the 1916 Rising were already being formulated well over a year before the event took place. At a government meeting on 2 February 1965 Seán Lemass stated that it would be appropriate that the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising of 1916 be celebrated on a large scale, maintaining that the public would expect the occasion to be marked by an extensive range of celebrations. He further proposed that a committee be set up, as had already been proposed in a previous memorandum outlining plans for military ceremonies, but that ‘its scope be widened to include the participation by voluntary national organisations, particularly the Old IRA association, in planning and carrying out the programme’. This recommendation was agreed by all present at the meeting.11
Invitations were sent to a large number of individuals who had been actively involved or closely associated with the 1916 Rising to serve on the committee. The inaugural meeting of Coiste Cuimhneachán, as the committee was titled, took place in the council chamber of government buildings in Dublin on 19 February 1965.12 At this meeting Lemass, who was appointed chairman of the committee, confirmed that the Rising was going to be celebrated on a grand scale, that there would be nationwide participation and that members of the committee should not feel bound by expenditure when considering proposed events.13
On the same day that the Coiste had its inaugural meeting, the Irish Times newspaper carried an advertisement for a rival ‘Golden Jubilee Commemoration Committee’.14 This committee was strongly connected with the republican movement; as a Department of Justice document later highlighted, ‘of the 10 members of this committee, the chairman, treasurer and four ordinary members are in the IRA.’15 When the chairman, Éamon Mac Thomáis, was later asked why a separate body was set up to celebrate the Rising he replied that they felt ‘nobody who wanted association with Britain had the right to honour these men who paid the supreme sacrifice, since these men who died did not want any association with Britain.’16
The Coiste immediately had both rivals and critics. The Evening Herald newspaper featured an article by C. Ó Tornóir that expressed strong reservations:
The committee in question can scarcely be described as national, seeing that it consists of two leading figures in one political party, eight civil servants and a few ex-IRA men, who no matter how untrammelled by party politics they may be, can be outvoted by the establishment … there is every reason to fear that the historic national event will be used for political purposes.17
In fact Lemass continually increased the number of civilian representatives on the committee as its ambitions continued to grow. At a meeting on 18 November 1965, it was decided that the general public, through their voluntary organisations and public representatives, were going to be given the opportunity to march in the golden jubilee commemoration parades on Easter Sunday.18 It was agreed also to publicise the event abroad to encourage parties of Irish people to visit the country during the commemorations. Diplomatic and consular offices were instructed to hold functions in honour of the occasion. Bord Fáilte was requested to prepare a leaflet on the upcoming celebrations and 75,000 copies were printed for distribution to Irish embassies, societies and Bord Fáilte offices abroad.19
It was also envisaged that the commemorations would incorporate an educational aspect. Lemass was particularly concerned that ‘the rising generation should be made fully aware of the significance of the event, so that they could share the pride of the older generation in it.’20 It was agreed from the outset that a ‘Children’s day’ would form part of the commemorative programme. The committee, having decided to include in the programme a ‘cultural and artistic tribute’, sponsored a series of competitions in literature, music and art to enable children to participate in the commemoration of a Rising the leaders of which were themselves gifted in learning and art. In the essay competition the titles were ’1916– 2016’ and ‘An Easter week veteran tells his story’. Prizes were also offered for an original poem on any event or theme associated with 1916. The eighteen competitions in the adult section, also covering painting and sculpture, included entries from a number of well-respected sculptors and artists such as Oisín Kelly and Edward Delaney.21
It is evident that Lemass and his fellow committee members were not seeking a simplistic glorification of 1916 with a convenient omission of the aims of those who had sacrificed their lives in the Rising. In a very interesting speech given to the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland on 18 February 1966 Lemass revealed his very deep and sincere attachment to the ideals of 1916. In one of his most moving speeches, he also went on to pay tribute to Irish soldiers who fought for the British army in the First World War:
In later years it was common – and I also was guilty in this respect – to question the motives of those men who joined the new British armies formed at the outbreak of the war, but it must, in their honour and in fairness to their memory, be said that they were motivated by the highest purpose, and died in their tens of thousands in Flanders and Gallipoli believing they were giving their lives in the cause of human liberty everywhere, not excluding Ireland.22
Lemass was thus the first leader of the Fianna Fáil party to pay open tribute to Irish soldiers who fought for the British army. It was testimony to the vastly improved Anglo-Irish relations in this period. A fine example of this on the British side was the gift of a republican flag that had flown over the GPO in 1916. The flag had previously been on display in the Imperial War Museum in London. Lemass had written to the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, to request its return to Ireland. Wilson duly approved the request. At a special conference on 31 March, less than two weeks before the commemorations were to begin, the flag was officially presented to the Irish government. With commendable restraint, however, Lemass ‘dwelt on the magnanimity of the British in restoring the flag to Ireland rather than the circumstances in which it was taken in the first place’.23 In a brief speech he commented on the improved relations between the two states and acknowledged the gift as ‘a gesture to the Irish people and as a further contribution by them for the building of goodwill and better relations between the two communities’.24
While relations with London were very good, it was inevitably going to be more difficult to maintain harmonious relations with members of the Northern Ireland government, more or less all of whom appear to have considered the rebellion of 1916 a distasteful act of sedition, unworthy of commemoration.25 Lemass realised that it was very important that his government would not be seen by unionists as utilising the commemoration period to promote anti-partition propaganda. Some reference to partition, however, was inevitable over the commemorative period. Rather than speak of the ‘evils’ of partition and the unionist regime, Lemass focused on the advantages that lay in the pursuit of a conciliatory approach towards their northern neighbours. In an article he contributed to the Easter commemoration digest, Lemass wrote:
Partition remains a central problem of Irish life. It is not yet resolved. In recent years, however, Irishmen, north and south, have begun to try to find a new approach to their reconciliation of divided interests and the solution of mutual problems. If we speak of a new realism in this realm of our affairs, we do not imply a change of principles or an avoidance of responsibility. Quite simply we recognise the movement of time, the fresh avenues of agreement which are thus opened up, the increasingly common interests and goals which each day confront us all as brother Irishmen. It is essential that we grasp the importance of this new opportunity. Here, on the personal level as well as, indeed more than, on the official level, we have responsibilities to face with resolve, patience and understanding.26
In the same article (written in advance of the formal commemorative ceremonies) Lemass proudly mentioned the ‘excellently organised series of events’ planned for the jubilee. The plans had indeed been well laid. The week before the commencement of the jubilee ceremonies, a fifteen minute film on the Easter Rising, made by George Morrison and commissioned by the Department of Ext
ernal Affairs on behalf of the Coiste Cuimhneachán, was sent out to eighty television networks and independent stations in north America and western Europe.27 It confirmed Lemass and his fellow committee members’ determination that the jubilee was going to be a major event and one in which many in the country could take pride.
THE STATE-SPONSORED EVENTS
The official commemoration ceremonies began on Good Friday, 8 April 1966, at Banna strand, Co. Kerry, where fifty years earlier Roger Casement landed from a German submarine, the U19, before later being arrested and eventually hanged, on 3 August 1916, in Pentonville prison for his involvement in the Rising. Approximately 1,000 people gathered to pay tribute to his memory and applauded when Mrs Florence Monteith Lynch, a daughter of Robert Monteith, who accompanied Casement on the U19, turned the first sod on the site of a memorial to her father and his leader.28 Among those present on the occasion were Raimund Weisbach and Otto Walter of the crew of the U19, as well as Hans Dünker, Fred Schmitz and W. Augustin, of the arms ship, the Aud, who were arrested by the British royal navy on Holy Saturday 1916 while waiting to land guns and ammunition for the Rising. The ceremony represented a dignified beginning to the jubilee. Just over one year previously the British government had acceded to repeated requests from the Irish government to have the remains of Roger Casement returned to Ireland.29 In what might be considered the first major event in the commemoration process his remains were re-interred in March 1965 in Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin, and Casement’s wish to be buried in Irish soil was fulfilled. The ceremony at Banna strand offered, at last, a certain sense of closure on what had been a bitter issue.
On Easter Sunday, the jubilee events began in earnest when Dublin ‘was the scene of one of the greatest gatherings in its history as vast crowds packed its main thoroughfares’ for the military parade – the principal commemorative event.30 Approximately 600 veterans of the Rising were present at the occasion, some of whom had come from Britain and the United States. Among the other groups to parade from St Stephen’s Green to O’Connell Street were representatives of national ex-servicemen, together with various sporting and cultural organisations. Approximately 2,000 veterans of the War of Independence were also present.31
At noon the 1916 Proclamation was read to the crowd by a member of the defence forces. The tricolour was then hoisted with full ceremonial honours, on the roof of the General Post Office (GPO).32 After a salute of twenty one guns, the military parade began to march past the GPO, where the President, Éamon de Valera, took the salute. Various military units followed different routes passing most of the buildings in Dublin occupied by the Irish Volunteers in 1916 before converging on O’Connell Street.33 As the last units in the parade passed the reviewing stand beside the GPO, a flight of Vampire jet aircraft swept overhead. The event concluded with the playing of the national anthem.
Later in the afternoon the next commemorative event took place in Kilmainham gaol where the President laid a wreath, with full military ceremony, in the yard where the 1916 leaders were executed. Among those present were relatives of the executed leaders including Roddy Connolly, Nora Connolly O’Brien, Ronan Ceannt, Father Joseph Mallin and Bridget Colbert. Following the ceremony the President officially opened the new historical exhibition on the 1916 Rising, contained within the east wing of the old prison building. In his address de Valera paid tribute to the voluntary group who had restored the prison as a national monument and place of commemoration.34
That evening An Tine Bheo (The Living Flame), a film commissioned from Gael Linn by the Coiste Cuimhneachán, premiered at the Savoy cinema in Dublin. The film focused on the events of Easter week 1916 and the forces which led to the Rising. As the scenes of the battles of Easter week, in Dublin and elsewhere, were explored by the camera, veterans of the Rising vividly recounted their experiences. The film was very well received and provided a fitting end to the principal day of commemoration in Dublin.35
Apart from the events in Dublin, military ceremonies sponsored by the Coiste Cuimhneachán for Easter Sunday were also organised at twelve provincial centres associated with key individuals or events of the Rising. Practically every town (large and small) in the Republic seemed to organise (on many occasions by sub-branches of the Coiste) a parade to mark the anniversary.
The following day, Easter Monday 11 April, religious ceremonies to mark the jubilee were held in churches of all denominations. The Catholic archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal William Conway, presided at solemn high mass in St Patrick’s cathedral, Armagh. In Dublin a solemn votive mass took place in the pro-cathedral, Marlborough Street. Among the congregation were the President, the Taoiseach and veterans of the Rising. On the same morning the Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin, the Most Reverend Doctor Simms, preached at a united service under the auspices of the Dublin Council of Churches in St Patrick’s cathedral. A Jewish service of prayer to mark the jubilee in the synagogue at Adelaide Road was led by the Chief Rabbi of Ireland, Doctor Isaac Cohen.36
At noon the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square was officially opened. It was dedicated to all those who died for Irish freedom. A wreath-laying ceremony then took place involving the President, the Taoiseach, the lord mayor and members of the diplomatic corps.37 That evening a commemoration concert in the Gaiety theatre, Dublin, featured a composition by the Irish composer, Dr Brian Boydell, performed by the Radio Éireann symphony orchestra. It was the first performance of A Terrible Beauty is Born, a cantata based on the poems of Yeats, MacDonagh, Ledwidge, Russell, Dora Sigerson and T.M. Kettle.38
The following day, Tuesday 12 April, witnessed the launch of a special 1916 exhibition, which was formally opened in the National Museum by Patrick Hillery, Minister for Industry and Commerce. Among the many exhibits on display were personal weapons belonging to the leading figures in the movement, rifles landed during the Howth gun-running in July 1914, and rifles salvaged from the cargo of the Aud. The centrepiece of the exhibition was the aforementioned green flag which flew over the GPO during Easter week, 1916, and which was presented for permanent display at the museum by the Taoiseach on behalf of the government.39
On the same day an exhibition of paintings, portraits, and sculpture on themes relating to the 1916 Rising was launched at the Municipal Art Gallery, Dublin. This included the finest entries in the art competitions sponsored by the Coiste Cuimhneachán. The National Gallery also staged an exhibition at this time featuring almost 200 paintings and sculptures depicting virtually every phase of Irish history, but with special emphasis on the 1916 rebellion. This included portraits and busts of personalities involved in the Rising, as well as pictures of some of the key events that formed the background to it. A special section was devoted to the highly regarded drawings of the sixteen executed leaders by Seán O’Sullivan.
That evening there was the first of five performances during Easter week of AiséiríGlóirréim na Cásca (Resurrection, the Easter pageant) at Croke Park in Dublin. In the words of the official commemorative booklet:
Before a giant backcloth and mammoth portraits of the sixteen leaders who were executed after the Rising, the players retold in symbols, actions and words, the story of struggle for independence from the 1790s to the declaration of independence by the first Dáil Éireann in 1919.40
The production included a cast of almost 800, most of whom were members of the defence forces. Although the weather proved unfavourable on most of the evenings, the pageant was well attended and acclaimed.
Among the various commemoration ceremonies over the next few days, one of the most notable took place on Friday April 15 at Boland’s mills, Dublin, where a plaque was unveiled to commemorate the 3rd battalion, Dublin brigade of the Irish Volunteers in 1916, which had been commanded by Éamon de Valera. Present at the unveiling ceremony, and guest of honour of the State, was Edward J. Hitzen, the British officer who accepted de Valera’s surrender. Following a brief ceremony marred by pouring rain, the two men happily exchanged jokes and anecdotes together.41
All that is necessary is that the power which is at present retained in the British parliament should be transferred to a representative all-Ireland parliament … They can still have local autonomy with the powers they possess at present. The question is whether they want to belong to this nation or to the other island. It would be better for Britain, too, that the union of the two parts of Ireland should take place.42
When de Valera concluded his address ‘the band sounded a fanfare, a firing party of 120 men lining the roof of the Post Office fired a feu de joie while a twenty one gun salute was fired in the grounds of Trinity College.’43
Although the main events organised by the Coiste Cuimhneachán were now completed, state-sponsored commemorative ceremonies continued over the following week. On Sunday evening, 17 April, the Taoiseach and Mrs Lemass held a state reception in St Patrick’s Hall, Dublin Castle to mark the golden jubilee. Approximately 3,000 people were invited to the occasion.44 Many veterans of the Rising and their relatives were among the large attendance, which included the President, Cardinal Conway, Archbishop McQuaid, the Most Reverend Doctor Simms, and members of the diplomatic corps, judiciary, government, Dáil, Seanad and the Council of State. Also in attendance were representatives of the National Graves Association, the trustees of the Kilmainham Gaol Restoration Committee, representatives from the Gaelic Athletic Association, Gael Linn and other national organisations.45