Closing remarks on 1916 Rising

The Parnell Summer School drew to a close on Thursday in Avondale House and featured a number of different talks reflecting on the impact of 1916.

The morning lecture by Dr Leeann Lane was titled ‘Violating gender: women and weapons in 1916’ and examined the manner in which the Irish Free State elided the participation of women during the revolutionary period as full and equal soldiers. The state deemed men to have fought for Irish independence but considered female activists in the nationalist cause to have had an auxiliary, less than participatory role.

This was followed by Mick O’Dea, President of the Royal Hibernian Academy, as he spoke about his recent exhibition ‘ The Foggy Dew.’

The closing sessions included a lecture from Orla Fitzpatrick of the National Museum of Ireland as she discussed the use of photography, portraits and propaganda in recording and commemorating Easter 1916.

On Wednesday, Dr Brian Hanley talked about the class divide in existence during the Irish Revolution. In 1916 Ireland was a society acutely and minutely aware of class distinction, not only between, but within classes.

Among the most evocative images of Dublin during Easter Week are the looting of businesses by the urban poor and the hostility towards the rebels shown by some inner-city residents.

A panel was also in place later that same day for a debate entitled ‘Assessing Commemoration: 2016 and the Decade of Centenaries.’ Members of the panel included Professor Maurice Manning, Dr Anne Dolan, Dr Margaret O’Callaghan and Professor Tom Dunne.