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Royal Irish Academy Exhibition at the Irish Embassy

The 1916’s Portraits and Lives Exhibition is currently on View at the Irish Embassy in Berlin

June 14th, 2016
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To mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, The Royal Irish Academy's 1916 Portraits and Lives exhibition is available to view at the Irish Embassy in Berlin.

The uprising against the British Empire, which took place in Dublin and other cities in Ireland during Easter of 1916, marking a turning point in Irish history. On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, a group of Irish nationalists proclaimed the establishment of the Irish Republic and with around 1,600 followers, invoked a revolt against the British government in Ireland. The rebels seized and occupied prominent buildings in the capital city and clashed with British troops. The insurrection lasted about a week, and left 2,000 people dead and injured. The British government crushed the revolt and the leaders of the rebels were soon executed.

Historians claim that there was little support initially from the Irish people for the Easter Rising. However, public opinion later shifted and the executed leaders were hailed as martyrs. In 1921, a treaty was signed overseeing the establishment of the Irish Free State of 1922, which eventually became the modern-day Republic of Ireland.

The biographies selected for the exhibition compose an inclusively broad picture of the rising introducing various personalities and perspectives that were involved in the event. The visitor may come across with profiles of insurgents killed during the rising as well as some of the women who were involved as soldiers during the days of the revolution. The portraits also include three nationalist leaders who opposed the rising, some senior figures in the British administration in Ireland in 1916, members of the British army that clashed the Irish forces, and two historians who made significant contributions to the scholarly debate on the 1916 events.

The exhibition is open to the public throughout the month of June on weekdays from 9.30 - 12.30 in the building of the Irish Mission: Jägerstr. 51, 10117 Berlin.

References:

News from Berlin
Nora Kelemen, Berlin Global