Section 6: My Mind Is Filled With Sorrow

On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, some 1,500 Irish Nationalists seized key sites in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic. Smaller actions took place elsewhere. Outnumbered by British forces and shelled by artillery, the rebels surrendered after six days. Nearly 500 people were killed and thousands wounded, while whole blocks of central Dublin were destroyed. Fifteen leaders of the Rising were executed after summary trials, including the severely wounded James Connolly, who had to be tied to a chair to be shot; poet and teacher Patrick Pearse (Padraig Mac Piarais); and Maud Gonne's former husband, John MacBride. The harsh suppression of the Rising strengthened American support for the Nationalist cause, led to the Irish War of Independence (1919-21) and, ultimately, paved the way for the establishment of the Irish Free State.