Remembering the 1916 Rising: Truth and Power in Historical Commemoration

Room 4009, Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center

As the Republic of Ireland prepares to mark the centennial of the Easter Rising, the event that sparked Ireland’s successful war for independence from Britain, a heated national debate has ensued over the meaning and relevance of this historic event to the modern state. In stark contrast to the fiftieth anniversary commemoration sponsored by the state, which celebrated the event as a heroic nationalist struggle against the mighty British Empire, the official centennial commemoration seeks to downplay the republican-nationalist narrative and instead reposition the Rising as just one of many events in 1916 that altered the course of Irish history. This talk will explore the search for truth in the legacy of the 1916 Rising and examine how competing interpretations of the event often reflect both the aspiration for and the exercise of power in the Irish state.