1916 Timeline

Jan: Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) decide to embark upon an insurrection as soon as possible.

 

10 Jan: Evacuation of allied forces from Gallipoli completed.

From Century Ireland: Gallipoli evacuation complete

 

19-22 Jan: James Connolly co-opted onto IRB Military Council in Dublin.

From UCD Decade of Centenaries: read the Dictionary of Irish Biography entry on James Connolly

 

10 Feb: Recruitment meeting at Dublin’s Mansion House addressed by John Redmond and Lord Wimborne.

 

26 March: 16th (Irish) Division takes up positions at Loos and Hulluch on the Western Front.

 

20 April: Aud arrives in Tralee Bay with consignment of weapons.

 

21 April: Sir Roger Casement lands at Banna Strand, Co. Kerry, and is subsequently arrested.

From UCD Decade of Centenaries: read the Dictionary of Irish Biography entry on Roger Casement.

 

22 April: Eoin MacNeill issues orders to countermand proposed Irish Volunteer manouvres scheduled for Easter Sunday, 23 April.

 

24-29 April: Easter Rising breaks out in Dublin and is suppressed; smaller actions take place in Galway, Meath and Wexford.

From the International encyclopedia of the First World War: Fearghal McGarry on the Easter Rising.

 

3-12 May: 16 men, including Thomas Clarke, James Connolly, and Patrick Pearse, are executed in Dublin’s Kilmainham Gaol for their involvement in the Rising.

 

12 June: Ulster Unionist Council accepts British proposal for immediate implementation of Home Rule with proviso that six Ulster counties be excluded

From History Ireland: Michael Laffan on the emergence of the two Ireland’s.

 

1 July: Beginning of the Somme offensive.

From Century Ireland: Major offensive begins along the Somme.

 

3 Aug: Execution of Roger Casement in London.

From Breac: The life and career of Roger Casement.

 

9 Sept: Death of Thomas Kettle on Western Front.

From Century Ireland: The life and death of Tom Kettle.

 

25 Sept: Private publication of W.B. Yeats’ poem ‘Easter 1916’ in London.

 

6 Oct: John Redmond delivers his first public speech since the Easter Rising in Waterford, rejecting the prospect of permanent partition and declaring ‘Home Rule is safe if Ireland is sane’.

From Century Ireland: ‘Home Rule is safe if Ireland is sane’.

 

13 Nov: End of Somme offensive.

From Century Ireland: The battle of the Somme.

 

22-23 Dec: Release of Irish internees detained after Easter Rising from Frongoch and Reading Gaol.

 

Explore the Military Archives Timeline of the revolutionary decade