The History

Eyewitness Account

Extract from The Insurrection In Dublin By James Stephens

James Stephens, author of The Crock Of Gold, published The Insurrection in Dublin, his diary of Easter Week, a few months after the occasion. It is an excellent account of how the average citizen felt during the Rebellion and is highly recommended.

The 1916 insurrection or Easter Rising is a very significant event in Irish history. At the time, however, few people supported the Rebels, fearing the unknown perhaps. Come along on our historical walk through the streets of Dublin.

You will be brought to many of the sites of the Easter Rising, enjoying the chance of learning as much about all aspects of Irish history as you wish. Of all historical walks ours is the most interactive with free copies of the Proclamation for every participant and the chance to engage with other participants and your guide on the walk.

CHAPTER 3 - WEDNESDAY

It was three o'clock before I got to sleep last night, and during the hours machine guns and rifle firing had been continuous. This morning the sun is shining brilliantly, and the movement in the streets possesses more of animation than it has done. The movement ends always in a knot of people, and folk go from group to group vainly seeking information, and quite content if the rumour they presently gather differs even a little from the one they have just communicated.

The first statement I heard was that the Green had been taken by the military; the second that it had been re-taken; the third that it had not been taken at all. The facts at last emerged that the Green had not been occupied by the soldiers, but that the Volunteers had retreated from it into a house which commanded it. This was found to be the College of Surgeons, and from the windows and roof of this College they were sniping. A machine gun was mounted on the roof; other machine guns, however opposed them from the roofs of the Shelbourne Hotel, the United Service Club, and the Alexandra Club. Thus a triangular duel opened between these positions across the trees of the Park. Through the railings of the Green some rifles and Bandoliers could be seen lying on the ground, as also the deserted trenches and snipers' holes.

Small boys bolted in to see these sights and bolted out again with bullets quickening their feet. Small boys do not believe that people will really kill them, but small boys were killed. 		Return To History