Today In Irish History

April 25: TODAY in Irish History: 1916 Rising – James Connolly 

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Today in Irish History: Curated by Conor Cunneen IrishmanSpeaks

Chicago Motivational Humorous Business Speaker, Author and History buff.  

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1916: One day after the Proclamation of the Irish Republic by Patrick Pearse on Easter Monday and a day of limited activity, British authorities start to take action. By the end of the day, 7.000 troops will be moved into Dublin from Belfast and the Curragh.

Martial law is declared by Lord Lieutenant Lord Wimborne and power is handed over to military authorities. Despite its iconic status in history, occupiers of the General Post Office see little direct action, apart from incoming British artillery.

The Rising was not popular with Dublin’s population.

(There are numerous reports that Irish rebel prisoners were booed and harried by Dubliners after the surrender.) Fifteen year old Martin Walton joined the rebellion on Tuesday at Jacob’s factory and describes Dubliners negative reaction to the rebels. ““When I arrived then at Jacob’s the place was surrounded by a howling mob roaring at the Volunteers inside, ‘Come out to France and fight, you lot of so-and-so slackers’. And then I remember the first blood I ever saw shed. There was a big, very, very big tall woman with something very heavy in her hand and she came across and lifted up her hand to make a bang at me. One of the Volunteers upstairs saw this and fired and I just remember seeing her face and head disappear as she went down like a sack. That was my baptism of fire, and I remember my knees nearly going out from under me. I would have sold my mother and father and the Pope just to get out of that bloody place.”

Captain J.C. Bowen-Colthurst

British authorities reacted in a generally restrained manner during the early days of the Rising. Exceptions included Captain J.C. Bowen-Colthurst,  invalided back from the war in Europe who summarily executed a totally innocent 17 year old JJ Coade on Tuesday evening.  Bowen-colthurst was a native of Dripsey, Co. Cork  born to an Anglo-Irish Protestant ascendancy family in 1880.  He arrested two journalists and pacifist Frances Sheehy Skeffington, all of whom would be arbitrarily shot the following day at Bowen-Colthurst’s orders. Bowen-Colthurst would be court-martialed for his actions. He was found guilty but insane, spent a short period in a mental institution and moved to Canada where he died in 1966.

Bowen-Colthurst was a native of Dripsey, Co. Cork  born in 1880 to an Anglo-Irish Protestant ascendancy family.

British mounted troops Dublin 1916

Other Events on This Day in Irish History

1945: Death of Cork born Major League Baseball player Anthony John “Tony” Mullane who was variously named the “Count” and “The Apollo of the Box.” Over  a thirteen year career (1881-1894), he played for seven teams including   St. Louis Browns, Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles

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Watch For the Love of Being Irish author Conor Cunneen – IrishmanSpeaks on his Youtube channel IrishmanSpeaks. Laugh and Learn.

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This history is written by Irish author, business keynote speaker and award winning humoristIrishmanSpeaks – Conor Cunneen. If you spot any inaccuracies or wish to make a comment, please don’t hesitate to contact us via the comment button.

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