15 (25) Swedish version
	The General Post Office in Dublin was the centre of the Easter Rising. Under the command of Pádraic Pearse, James Connolly and Constance Markievicz among others, Irish nationalists started a rebellion against the British rule. On Easter Monday 1916 Pearse and Connolly marched with 150 men to the General Post Office. A green flag with an Irish harp and the words "the Irish Republic" in Gaelic waved from the gable. The British Army units The Irish Fusiliers and The Irish Rifles surrounded the rebel head quarter. The rebellion was over after a couple of days of fierce fighting. Pearse, Connolly and several others were executed. The countess Markievicz was sent to prison. Her guns are on exhibition at the National Museum. Although the rebels did not have the full support of the population, the executions gave the nation her martyrs. Ireland became a republic in 1949.
	First published: Sunday 27th October, 1996. Send a to the author! You may also use this form