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Easter Rising: Topics in Chronicling America

In 1916, an armed insurrection took over parts of Dublin to establish the Irish Republic. This guide provides access to materials related to the “Easter Rising” in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.

Introduction

"We Serve Neither King Nor Kaiser But Ireland: Liberty Hall headquarters of the Sein Fein (Ourselves) movement in Ireland." April 27, 1916. The Evening World (New York, NY), Image 1. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.

Ever after known as the Easter Rising, an armed insurrection aimed at establishing independent Irish rule took place during Easter Week, April 24-29, 1916. Led by the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, members of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army (mistakenly referred to in the US press as “Sinn Feiners”) occupied numerous locations in Dublin, proclaiming the establishment of the Irish Republic. However British soldiers soon massed to quell the rebellion and by the end of the week, over 400 people were killed and well over 1,000 were injured, the majority being civilians. Read more about it!

The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.

The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.

Timeline

April 24, 1916 Members of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army assemble on Easter Monday, occupying buildings in Dublin and proclaiming the establishment of the Irish Republic.
April 25 - 26, 1916 Irish Volunteers and ICA members in other parts of the country also revolt.
April 29, 1916 In order to prevent further loss of life, rebellion leaders surrender.
May 1916 Rebellion leaders are tried and executed; nearly 100 others are arrested and tried by court-martial. Nearly 2,000 other ‘rebels’ are deported and sent to England.