Patrick Pearse | |
|---|---|
| Pádraig Mac Piarais | |
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| Born | (1879-11-10)10 November 1879 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 3 May 1916(1916-05-03) (aged 36) Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Ireland |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Resting place | Arbour Hill Prison |
| Other names | Pádraig Pearse |
| Education | CBS Westland Row |
| Alma mater | University College Dublin King's Inns |
| Occupations |
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| Mother | Margaret Brady |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Irish Republican Brotherhood Irish Volunteers |
| Service years | 1913–1916 |
| Rank | Commander-in-chief |
| Conflicts | Easter Rising |
| Signature | |
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Patrick Henry Pearse (also known asPádraig orPádraic Pearse;Irish:Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais; 10 November 1879 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish teacher,barrister,poet, writer,nationalist,republican political activist and revolutionary who was one of the leaders of theEaster Rising in 1916. Following his execution along with fifteen others, Pearse came to be seen by many as the embodiment of the rebellion.
Pearse, his brotherWillie, and his sistersMargaret and Mary Brigid were born at 27Great Brunswick Street, Dublin, the street that is named after them today.[1][2] It was here that their father, James Pearse, established a stonemasonry business in the 1850s,[3] a business which flourished and provided the Pearses with a comfortable middle-class upbringing.[4] Pearse's father was a mason and monumental sculptor, and originally aUnitarian fromBirmingham in England.[5] His mother,Margaret Brady, was from Dublin, and her father's family were native Irish speakers fromCounty Meath. She was James' second wife; James had two children, Emily and James, from his first marriage (two other children died in infancy). Pearse's maternal grandfather Patrick was a supporter of the 1848Young Ireland movement, and later a member of theIrish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Pearse recalled a visiting ballad singer performing republican songs during his childhood; afterwards, he went around looking for armed men ready to fight, but finding none, declared sadly to his grandfather that "theFenians are all dead". His maternal grand-uncle, James Savage, fought in theAmerican Civil War.[6] The Irish-speaking influence of Pearse's grand-aunt Margaret, together with his schooling at the CBS Westland Row, instilled in him an early love for theIrish language andculture.[7]
Pearse grew up surrounded by books.[8] His father had had very little formal education, but was self-educated;[9] Pearse recalled that at the age of ten he prayed to God, promising to dedicate his life to Irish independence.[10] Pearse's early heroes were ancientGaelic folk heroes such asCúchulainn, though in his 30s he began to take a strong interest in the leaders of pastrepublican movements, such as theUnited IrishmenTheobald Wolfe Tone andRobert Emmet.[11]
Pearse soon became involved in theGaelic revival. In 1896, at the age of 16, he joined theGaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge), and in 1903, at the age of 23, he became editor of its newspaperAn Claidheamh Soluis ("The Sword of Light").[12][13]
In 1900, Pearse was awarded a B.A. in Modern Languages (Irish, English and French) by theRoyal University of Ireland, for which he had studied for two years privately and for one atUniversity College Dublin. In the same year, he was enrolled as aBarrister-at-Law at theKing's Inns.[14] Pearse was called to the bar in 1901. In 1905, Pearse representedNeil McBride, a poet and songwriter fromFeymore, Creeslough,County Donegal, who had been fined for having his name displayed in "illegible" writing (i.e. Irish) on his donkey cart. The appeal was heard before theCourt of King's Bench in Dublin. It was Pearse's first and only court appearance as a barrister. The case was lost but it became a symbol of the struggle for Irish independence. In his 27 June 1905An Claidheamh Soluis column, Pearse wrote of the decision, "it was in effect decided that Irish is a foreign language on the same level with Yiddish."[15][16]
As a cultural nationalist educated by theIrish Christian Brothers, like his younger brother Willie, Pearse believed that language was intrinsic to the identity of a nation. The Irish school system, he believed, raised Ireland's youth to be goodEnglishmen or obedient Irishmen and an alternative was needed. Thus for him and other language revivalists saving theIrish language from extinction was a cultural priority of the utmost importance. The key to saving the language, he felt, would be a sympathetic education system. To show the way he started his own bilingual school for boys,St. Enda's School (Scoil Éanna) in Cullenswood House inRanelagh, a suburb ofCounty Dublin, in 1908.[17]
Pearse's restless idealism led him in search of an even more idyllic home for his school. He found it in The Hermitage inRathfarnham, County Dublin, now home to thePearse Museum. In 1910 Pearse wrote that the Hermitage was an "ideal" location due to the aesthetics of the grounds and that if he could secure it, "the school would be on a level with" the more established schools of the day such as "Clongowes Wood College andCastleknock College".[18] Pearse was also involved in the foundation of Scoil Íde (St Ita's School) for girls, an institution with aims similar to those of St Enda's.[17]
In April 1912John Redmond leader of theIrish Parliamentary Party, which held the balance of power in theHouse of Commons committed the government of theUnited Kingdom to introduce anIrish Home Rule Bill. Pearse gave the bill a qualified welcome. He was one of four speakers, including Redmond,Joseph Devlin MP, leader of the Northern Nationalists, andEoin MacNeill a prominent Gaelic Leaguer, who addressed a large Home Rule Rally in Dublin at the end of March 1912. Speaking in Irish, Pearse said he thought that "a good measure can be gained if we have enough courage", but he warned, "Let the English understand that if we are again betrayed, there shall be red war throughout Ireland".[19]
In November 1913 Pearse was invited to the inaugural meeting of theIrish Volunteers—formed in reaction to the creation of theUlster Volunteers—whose aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland".[20] In an article entitled "The Coming Revolution" (November 1913) Pearse wrote:
As to what your work as an Irish Nationalist is to be, I cannot conjecture; I know what mine is to be, and would have you know yours and buckle yourselves to it. And it may be (nay, it is) that your and mine will lead us to a common meeting-place, and that on a certain day we shall stand together, with many more beside us, ready for a greater adventure than any of us has yet had, a trial and a triumph to be endured and achieved in common.[21]
The Home Rule Bill just failed to pass theHouse of Lords, but the Lords' diminished power under theParliament Act 1911 meant that the Bill could only be delayed, not stopped. It was placed on the statute books withRoyal Assent in September 1914, but its implementation was suspended for the duration of theFirst World War.
John Redmond feared that his "national authority" might be circumvented by the Volunteers and decided to try to take control of the new movement. Despite opposition from the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Volunteer Executive agreed to share leadership with Redmond and a joint committee was set up. Pearse was opposed to this and was to write:[21]
The leaders in Ireland have nearly always left the people at the critical moment; they have sometimes sold them. The former Volunteer movement was abandoned by its leaders;O'Connell recoiled before the cannon atClontarf; twice the hour of the Irish revolution struck duringYoung Ireland days and twice it struck in vain, forMeagher hesitated inWaterford,Duffy andMcGee hesitated in Dublin.Stephens refused togive the word in '65; he never came in '66 or '67. I do not blame these men; you or I might have done the same. It is a terrible responsibility to be cast on a man, that of bidding the cannon speak and thegrapeshot pour.[21]
The Volunteers split, one of the issues being support for theAllied and the British war effort. A majority followed Redmond into theNational Volunteers in the belief that this would ensure Home Rule on their return. Pearse, exhilarated by the dramatic events of the European war, wrote in an article in December 1915:
It is patriotism that stirs the people. Belgium defending her soil is heroic, and so is Turkey . . . . . .
It is good for the world that such things should be done. The old heart of the earth needed to be warmed with the red wine of the battlefields.
Such august homage was never before offered to God as this, the homage of millions of lives given gladly for love of country.
War is a terrible thing, and this is the most terrible of wars. But this war is not more terrible than the evils which it will end or help to end.[22]
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In December 1913Bulmer Hobson swore Pearse into the secretIrish Republican Brotherhood (IRB),[23] an organisation dedicated to the overthrow ofBritish rule in Ireland and its replacement with an Irish Republic. He was soon co-opted onto the IRB's Supreme Council byTom Clarke.[24] Pearse was then one of many people who were members of both the IRB and the Volunteers. When he became the Volunteers' Director of Military Organisation in 1914[25] he was the highest ranking Volunteer in the IRB membership, and instrumental in the latter's commandeering of the remaining minority of the Volunteers for the purpose of rebellion. By 1915 he was on the IRB's Supreme Council, and its secret Military Council, the core group that began planning for a rising while war raged on the EuropeanWestern Front.
On 1 August 1915 Pearse gave agraveside oration at the funeral of theFenianJeremiah O'Donovan Rossa. He was the first republican to be filmed giving an oration.[26] It closed with the words:
Our foes are strong and wise and wary; but, strong and wise and wary as they are, they cannot undo the miracles of God who ripens in the hearts of young men the seeds sown by the young men of a former generation. And the seeds sown by the young men of '65 and'67 are coming to their miraculous ripening today. Rulers and Defenders of the Realm had need to be wary if they would guard against such processes. Life springs from death; and from the graves of patriot men and women spring living nations. The Defenders of this Realm have worked well in secret and in the open. They think that they have pacified Ireland. They think that they have purchased half of us and intimidated the other half. They think that they have foreseen everything, think that they have provided against everything; but, the fools, the fools, the fools! – They have left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace. (Full text of Speech)
It was Pearse who, on behalf of the IRB shortly before Easter in 1916, issued the orders to all Volunteer units throughout the country for three days of manoeuvres beginning on Easter Sunday, which was the signal for a general uprising. WhenEoin MacNeill, the Chief of Staff of the Volunteers, learned what was being planned without the promised arms from Germany, he countermanded the orders via newspaper, causing the IRB to issue a last-minute order to go through with the plan the following day, greatly limiting the numbers who turned out for the rising.
When theEaster Rising eventually began on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, it was Pearse who read theProclamation of the Irish Republic from outside theGeneral Post Office, the headquarters of the Rising. Pearse was the person most responsible for drafting the Proclamation, and he was chosen as President of the Republic.[27] After six days of fighting, heavy civilian casualties and great destruction of property, Pearse issued the order to surrender.
Pearse and fourteen other leaders, including his brother Willie, werecourt-martialled andexecuted by firing squad.Thomas Clarke,Thomas MacDonagh and Pearse himself were the first of the rebels to be executed, on the morning of 3 May 1916. Pearse was 36 years old at the time of his death.Roger Casement, who had tried unsuccessfully to recruit an insurgent force among Irish-born prisoners of war from theIrish Brigade in Germany, was hanged in London the following August.[citation needed]
Sir John Maxwell, theCommander-in-Chief, Ireland, sent a telegram toH. H. Asquith, then Prime Minister, advising him not to return the bodies of the Pearse brothers to their family, saying, "Irish sentimentality will turn these graves into martyrs' shrines to which annual processions will be made, which would cause constant irritation in this country."[28] Maxwell also suppressed a letter from Pearse to his mother,[29] and two poems dated 1 May 1916. He submitted copies of them also to Prime Minister Asquith, saying that some of the content was "objectionable".[28]
Pearse wrote stories and poems in both Irish and English. His best-known English poems include "The Mother", "The Fool", "The Rebel" and "The Wayfarer".[30] He also wrote severalallegorical plays in theIrish language, includingThe King,The Master, andThe Singer. His short stories in Irish includeEoghainín na nÉan ("Eoineen of the Birds"),Íosagán ("Little Jesus"),An Gadaí ("The Thief"),Na Bóithre ("The Roads"), andAn Bhean Chaointe ("The Keening Woman"). These were translated into English byJoseph Campbell (in theCollected Works of 1917).[31] Most of his ideas on education are contained in his essay "The Murder Machine". He also wrote many essays on politics and language, notably "The Coming Revolution" and "Ghosts".
Pearse is closely associated with his rendering of theJacobitesean-nós song, "Oró Sé do Bheatha 'Bhaile", for which he composed republican lyrics.
According toInnti poet andliterary criticLouis de Paor, despite Pearse's enthusiasm for theConamara Theas dialect ofConnacht Irish spoken around his summer cottage atRosmuc inConnemara, he chose to follow the usual practice of theGaelic revival by writing inMunster Irish, which was considered lessAnglicized than other Irish dialects.
Also according to de Paor, Pearse's reading of the radically experimental poetry ofWalt Whitman and of the FrenchSymbolists led him to introduceModernist poetry into theIrish language. As aliterary critic, Pearse also left behind a very detailed blueprint for thedecolonisation ofIrish literature, particularly in theIrish language.
De Paor writes that Patrick Pearse was "the most perceptivecritic and most accomplished poet", of the early Gaelic revival providing "a sophisticated model for a new literature in Irish that would reestablish a living connection with the pre-colonial Gaelic past while resuming its relationship with contemporary Europe, bypassing the monolithic influence of English."[32] For these reasons, de Paor called Pearse's death a catastrophic loss formodern literature in Irish. According to de Paor, this loss only began to be healed during the 1940s by the modernist poetry ofSeán Ó Ríordáin,Máirtín Ó Direáin, andMáire Mhac an tSaoi; and by the modernist novelsAn Béal Bocht byFlann O'Brien andCré na Cille byMáirtín Ó Cadhain.
With the outbreak of conflict inNorthern Ireland in 1969, Pearse's legacy was used by theProvisional IRA.
Pearse's ideas have been seen by Seán Farrell Moran as belonging to the context of European cultural history as a part of a rejection ofreason by European social thinkers.[33] Additionally, his place within Catholicism, where his orthodoxy was challenged in the early 1970s,[34] has been addressed to suggest that Pearse's theological foundations for his political ideas share in a long-existing tradition in western Christianity.[35]
FormerFianna FáilTaoiseachBertie Ahern described Pearse as one of his heroes and displayed a picture of Pearse over his desk in theDepartment of the Taoiseach.[36]
Pearse's motherMargaret Pearse served as aTD inDáil Éireann in the 1920s. His sisterMargaret Mary Pearse also served as a TD andSenator.
In a 2006 book, psychiatristsMichael Fitzgerald and Antoinette Walker speculated that Pearse hadAsperger syndrome.[37] Pearse's apparent "sexual immaturity", and some of his behaviour, has been the subject of comment since the 1970s by historians such asRuth Dudley Edwards, T. Ryle Dwyer and Seán Farrell Moran, who speculated that he was attracted to young boys.[38][39] His most recent biographer,Joost Augusteijn, concluded that "it seems most probable that he was sexually inclined this way".[40] Fitzgerald and Walker maintain that there is absolutely no evidence ofhomosexuality orpaedophilia; they allege that Pearse's apparent lack of sexual interest in women, and his "ascetic" and celibate lifestyle are consistent with a diagnosis ofhigh-functioning autism.[37] Cultural historian Elaine Sisson has further said that Pearse's interest in and idealisation of young boys needs to be seen in the context of theVictorian era "cult of the boy".[41]
In almost all of Pearse's portraits, he struck a sideways pose, concealing his left side. This was to hide astrabismus or squint in his left eye, which he felt was an embarrassing condition.[42]
Cullenswood House, the Pearse family home in Ranelagh where Pádraic first founded St Enda's, today houses a primaryGaelscoil (school for education through the Irish language) called Lios na nÓg, part of a community-based effort to revive the Irish language.Crumlin (Dublin) has the Pearse College of Further Education, and there was formerly an Irish language summer school inGaoth Dobhair called Colaiste an Phiarsaigh. InRosmuc there is an Irish-medium vocational school, Gairmscoil na bPiarsach. The main lecture hall at the Cadet School in Ireland is named after P.H. Pearse. In September 2014, Gaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh, a new Irish language medium secondary school, opened its doors for the first time in the former Loreto Abbey buildings, just 1 km from the Pearse Museum in St Endas Park, Rathfarnham.Glanmire, County Cork boasts the best secondary-level Irish-speaking college in Ireland, calledColáiste an Phiarsaigh, which was named in honour of Patrick Pearse and structured around his beliefs.
A number ofGaelic Athletic Association clubs and playing fields in Ireland are named after Pádraic or both Pearses:
So also are several outside Ireland:
There are also soccer clubs named Pearse Celtic FC inCork and inRingsend, Dublin; and Liffeys Pearse FC, a south Dublin soccer club formed by the amalgamation of Liffey Wanderers and Pearse Rangers. A Pearse Rangers schoolboy football club remains in existence in Dublin.
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