According to their Lights

In April 1916, the Easter Rising broke out in Dublin. History remembers it as Irish rebel against English soldier, but the truth is more complicated. Thousands of British Army soldiers in the Rising were Irishmen. Many enlisted to fight for Irish Home Rule or Ulster Unionism, to find adventure or escape from poverty. All never imagined they would end up on the streets of Dublin, killing – and being killed by – fellow Irishmen. Forty-one Irishmen in the British Army died in action during the Rising, 106 were wounded. Irish soldiers in the British Army were summoned to Dublin from as far away as Cork, Tipperary and Northern Ireland. Irishmen in the British Army were involved in illegal executions; others refused to fire on fellow Irishmen. Irish soldiers and their comrades in the police account for 39 percent of British fatalities during the Rising, and 29 percent of the wounded. These men became a forgotten part of their country’s history.

Also available: 'Blackpool to the Front: A Cork Suburb and Ireland's Great War 1914–1918' by Mark Cronin and 'When the Clock Struck in 1916: Close-Quarter Combat in the Easter Rising' by Derek Molyneux & Darren Kelly

History remembers the Easter Rising as Irish rebel against English soldier, but the truth is more complicated. Thousands of British Army soldiers in the Rising were Irishmen. Forty-one Irishmen in the British Army died in action, 106 were wounded. These men became a forgotten part of their country's history.