My 1916: What the Easter Rising Means to Me

My 1916 is a collection of personal stories of people connecting with one of the most pivotal events in Irish history - the Easter Rising of 1916. Some of the people featured had relatives who fought in the rebellion; others had none; some hail the rebels as heroes; others decry them as fanatics and fantasists. Singer Damien Dempsey reveals why he wrote a song for his great grand aunt; Archbishop Diarmuid Martin reflects on his grandmother watching her sons go out to kill or be killed; Historian Sinead McCoole celebrates mna na hEireann; Fr Joseph Mallin discusses his father Michael Mallin’s despair before his execution; Peter Thompson tells the love story of an Orangeman and a Cumann na mBan typist; Artists Liam O'Neill, Norman Teeling and Laura Doherty describe how the Rising patriots inspire their work; Actor John Connors asks where is the social justice for which the rebels laid down their lives… And that’s just for starters. This collection was first published as a series in the Irish Independent.