1916: cross-curricular approaches to the Easter Rising & the Western Front

For links to further resources, please go to http://iisresource.org.1916.aspx

Events in 1916 underline the importance of including Ireland in the curriculum in Britain.

A cruel choice
First, the Easter Rising and events on the Western Front highlighted the complex loyalties and shared values underpinning
the United Kingdom, raising the question:

Why did some Irish men and women fight against the British army,
appealing for German aid, during the Easter Rising in Ireland,
while other Irishmen joined the British army to fight against Germany?

Secondly, the richness and quality of responses to this choice demonstrate just how much Ireland makes learning not only
enjoyable and challenging but also accessible to all.

A cross-curricular approach to exploring the 'cruel choice'

through classical art

The Birth of the Republic by Walter Paget, 1916, an The Attack by the 36th (Ulster) Division, Somme, 1st
artist’s impression of the scene inside the General Post July 1916 by James Prinsep Beadle, 1917,
Office, Dublin, at the height of the Easter Rising, just commemorating the heavy losses suffered by the
before the surrender. Division.

through popular art - murals

Republican mural, Whiterock Road, Belfast, 1991
‘Éirí amach na casca 1916-1991' (Easter Rising),
marking the 75th anniversary of the, with portraits of
signatories of the Proclamation of Independence, and
phoenix rising from the flames and sunburst.
Loyalist mural, Albertbridge Road, Belfast, 1988
‘But Never Heart Forget’, commemorating the Ulster
Division which suffered severe casualties at the Battle
of the Somme, 1916.

Continued ..../
through historical novels

The traumatic experience of 1916 is told through the eyes of two young people from very different backgrounds,
Jimmy Conway, aged 12, and Amelia Pim, aged 15.

In The Guns of Easter, Jimmy's father, James Conway,
aged 30, (Da), joins the British Army and is fighting in
World War I. His uncle, on his mother’s side, Mick
Healy is 21 and takes part in the Easter Rising.
In No Peace for Amelia, her boyfriend, Frederick
Goodbody, joins the British Army, although a Quaker.
Her friend (and cook-general to the Pim household) is
Mary Ann Maloney, aged 16. Mary Ann’s older
brother, Patrick Maloney, seeks Mary Ann's help when
he becomes involved in the Easter Rising.

through poetry
He shall not hear the bittern cry 'Thomas McDonagh'
In the wild sky, where he is lain (Executed in 1916; translated a classic Gaelic Irish
poem 'The Yellow Bittern'.)
Thomas Ledwidge (1891-1917)
Now and in time to be
Wherever green is worn,
Are changed, changed utterly, ‘Easter 1916’
A terrible beauty is born. W.B. Yeats (1865-1839)
And now I'm drinking wine in France,

The helpless child of circumstance.

Tomorrow will be loud for war,
How will I be accounted for? ...

A keen-edged sword, a soldier's heart,

Is greater than a poet's art.
And greater than a poet's fame ‘Soliloquy’
A little grave that has no name Thomas Ledwidge (1891-1917)

through contemporary documents

Ireland is not at war with Germany. England is at war
with Germany. We are Irish nationalists and the only
duty we can have is to stand for Ireland’s interest.
Arthur Griffith, Sinn Fein leader, 1914
I heard a Catholic priest preaching about how little
Catholic Belgium had been attacked by Germany and
was suffering. I joined the British Army after that.
John O’Reilly, a bank clerk in Co. Cavan, aged 18
when the war started.
through contemporary propaganda

Sinn Fein poster anti-recruiting poster Army recruiting poster

through song
Ah, what is all the fuss about,
Says the grand aul’ dame Britannia,
Is it us you’re trying to live without,
Says the grand aul’ dame Britannia.
Oh, don’t believe those Sinn Fein lies,
For every Gael for England dies, 'The Grand Aul’ Dame Britannia'
Will enjoy ‘Home Rule’ ’neath the Irish skies, World War I anti-enlistment song,
Says the grand aul’ dame Britannia. written by Sean O’Casey in 1916
Let me tell you a story of honour and glory 'Billy McFadzean'
Of a young Belfast soldier Billy McFadzean by name Anonymous from Orange Jukebox, ‘Lest We Forget’.
For King and for Country Young Billy died bravely Billy, a twenty-year-old Belfast man, was awarded the
And won the VC on the fields of the Somme. VC posthumously for heroism on the first day of the
Battle of the Somme
As down the glen one Easter morn
Through a city fair rode I.
There armed lines of marching men,
In squadrons did pass me by.
No pipe did hum, no battle drum, 'The Foggy Dew'
Did sound out its loud tattoo. Written in 1919 by a
But the angelus bell o’er the Liffey’s swell, member of the First Dáil moved by the absence of
Rang out through the foggy dew. members'locked up by the foreigner'

through monuments

Memorial to the executed leaders of the 1916 Easter Island of Ireland Peace Tower. Messen/Messines,
Rising, Arbour Hill Cemetery, Dublin, 1966 Belgium, 1998