1916 in Ireland - Definition and Overview

See also: 1915 in Ireland, other events of 1916, 1917 in Ireland and the list of 'years in Ireland'.

Events

• February 14 - John Redmond is re-elected Chairman of the Irish Nationalist Party in Dublin.
• February 29 - The week long Derry Feis opens in the city.
• April 21 - Roger Casement and two others are arrested at Banna Strand, County Kerry for landing arms and ammunition.
• April 22 - Eoin MacNeill, Chief of Staff of the Irish Volunteers cancels all manoeuvres of Sinn Féin Volunteers planned for the following day.
• April 23 - Easter Sunday: The military council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood meets at Liberty Hall and decides to begin the planned insurrection at noon tomorrow. The Proclamation of the Irish Republic is signed by the seven leaders.
• April 24 - The Irish Volunteers and the Citizen Army occupy the GPO, City Hall, the College of Surgeons, the Four Courts, Jacob's Factory, Boland's Mills and the South Dublin Union Mendicity Institution. At noon Pádraig Pearse reads the proclamation on the steps of the General Post Office, Dublin.
• April 25 - Martial law is declared in Dublin for a period of one month.
• April 26 - Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, Thomas Dickson and Patrick McIntyre are executed at Portobello Barracks.
• April 27 - Major-General John Maxwell arrives in Dublin to take control. 12,000 British troops are now in Dublin and the city centre is cordoned off.
• April 29 - At 3.45pm, Pádraig Pearse, James Connolly and Tomás MacDonagh surrender unconditionally as the Easter Rising collapses.
• May 1 - The Easter Rising collapses. Sir John Maxwell, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces announces that all involved in the insurrection have surrendered.
• May 3 - Following their courts martial, Pádraig Pearse, Tomás MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke are executed at Kilmainham Gaol.
• May 4 - The executions continue. Joseph Plunkett, Michael O'Hanrahan, Edward Daly and Willie Pearse are executed for their part in the Rising. The Chief Secretary of Ireland, Augustine Birrell, resigns.
• May 5 - John MacBride, another leader of the Rising, is executed today. W.T. Cosgrave is sentenced to death, however, this is later commuted to penal servitude for life.
• May 8 - Another four leaders of the Easter Rosong are executed. They are Eamon Ceannt, Con Colbert, Michael Mallin and Seán Heuston.
• May 11 - During a debate in Westminster on the Irish crisis, John Dillon of the Irish Parliamentary Party calls on the British government to end the executions of the Easter Rising leaders.
• May 12 - Two more leaders, Seán MacDiarmada and James Connolly are executed. Connolly, who was wounded in the fighting, is strapped to a chair and shot. Meanwhile Prime Minister Asquith arrives in Dublin for a week-long visit.
• May 15 - The trial of Roger Casement begins in London today. He is charged with high treason for his part in the Easter Rising.
• May 17 - The Bishop of Limerick refuses a request to discipline two of his curates who expressed republican sympathies. He reminds General Maxwell that he had shown no mercy to those who surrenered.
• May 21 - Daylight Saving Time begins for the very first time as people in Britain and Ireland put their clocks forward one hour. The purpose is to reduce the number of evening hours to save fuel.
• June 26 - Roger Casement goes on trial at the Royal Courts of Justice on a charge of treason.
• July 1 - The Battle of the Somme begins. The 36th Ulster Division sustains heavy casualties.
• July 23 - Thousands attend an open-air meeting at the Phoenix Park in Dublin to discuss the British government's Irish partition proposals. It is the first open-air meeting since martial law was proclaimed.
• July 26 - The date of August 3 is set as the execution date of Roger Casement.
• August 3 - Sir Roger Casement is hanged at Pentonville Prison for high treason.
• August 7 - There is a large audience at the Bohemian Theatre in Dublin for the first screening of the Film Company of Ireland's first film 'O'Neill of the Glen.'
• August 19 - The Irish Times publishes a 264-page handbook detailing the events of the Easter Rising.
• October 29 - John Redmond demands the abolition of martial law, the release of suspected persons, and that Irish prisoners be treated as political prisoners.
• December 21 - In the House of Commons it is announced that all Irish prisoners are to be released.
• December 25 - The last group of Irish prisoners, 460 men, arrive fro Reading Gaol to Dublin. Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh and Arthur Griffith are among those released.

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