Easter Rising: The view from Washington, D.C.

I recently Tweeted:

Dueling Risings? I’ve just discovered & Followed @1916Centenary and @lrishRepublic. Both are nice adds to other centennial sites. #history

I received reply Tweets from both micoblogs, which are each dedicated to the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. In that spirit, and still less than one week into my move to Washington, D.C., I decided to dive into The Washington Post‘s coverage of events in Dublin on 24 April 1916. (I can’t link here due to proprietary archive service.)

The Post‘s first story appeared on 26 April, in the top left corner of the front page. Here are the multiple headlines:

Battle in Dublin streets;

Rebels hold parts of city;

Grave Irish revolt begun

British Admit 12 Killed, 18 Wounded;

Losses of Revolutionists Said to

Be Several Hundred.

Postoffice and Many Buildings Seized by Revolutionists and Are Used as Forts — Troops are Hurried From Military Camps Nearby, and More May Be Sent From England — Uprising Regarded as Climax of Movement Engineered by Sir Roger Casement — Spread to Southern Centers Is Now Feared in London.

The story was datelined from London on 25 April. It began:

Almost coincidental with the capture of Sir Roger Casement, leader of the separatist faction in Ireland, while he was attempting to land arms from Germany on the coast of Ireland, there has occurred in Ireland a revolutionary outbreak of considerable proportions.

The Post published an early 20th century view of Sackville Street on page 2, taken before the Rising, to point out the rebel stronghold at the General Post Office, described as “an imposing stone structure … admirably built to serve as a fortress if properly manned by guns.”

The GPO in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising.

The GPO and Nelson’s Pillar in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising. (This is not the image that appeared in the Washington Post.)

A good description of the building and the situation, but there is a problem with the picture Post readers viewed in April 1916. The black and white image appears to have been flopped, a common error in early 20th century and later newspaper reproduction. The photo shows the [Daniel] O’Connell Monument in the foreground with Nelson’s Pillar further beyond in the center of Sackville Street. The GOP is shown to the right side of the image. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but the GPO should be on the left side of the street in an image taken with the photographer’s back to the Liffey.

I’ll delve more into the Post‘s coverage of the Rising in future posts.