With the 106th anniversary of the Easter Rising approaching, learn more about this seminal moment in Irish history through a thought-provoking virtual tour and a new series of pop-up talks.
The virtual tour of Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising features Museum curators, educators and guides. It focuses for the most part on the ordinary people that were swept-up in an extraordinary event that changed the course of Irish history. The objects featured are often simple, personal belongings - everyday items made searingly poignant through the stories of their owners and the events around those few days in 1916.
'Before the Rising' (available from 4 April) is a short segment of the tour which looks at how an Ireland which was outwardly at peace in 1900 came to rebellion in 1916.
The new pop-up talks series features Museum guides and educators looking at a particular object from the Proclaiming a Republic exhibition which resonated with them in some way. Selected objects include a tri-colour flag raised above the Mendicity Institute during the Rising; a rugby ball used to play Gaelic games by Irish prisoners in Frongoch Camp in Wales; and an overcoat worn by Roger Casement.
The National Museum of Ireland is inviting people to rediscover this hugely successful exhibition online this Easter.
- Virtual tour of Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising
- 'Before the Rising' talk
- Pop-up talks series
Proclaiming a Republic opened in 2016 and formed a key element of the nation’s commemorations of the centenary of the Easter Rising. It ran at the NMI - Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks, Dublin 7, until June 2020 and Irish and international visitors continue to engage and connect with this exhibition in its new online format.
The virtual tour of Proclaiming a Republic looks at the political and social climate in the lead-up to the Rising, the events of the Rising itself and the aftermath, through artefacts, personal belongings and stories of the civilians, combatants, and survivors alike. It also focuses on some of the women and children who played a pivotal role in the Rising and may not have been featured as prominently in previous exhibitions on this topic.
What Proclaiming a Republic does really well is bring together lots of different facets of research of this particular time, along with personal stories, to provide a multi-layered perspective of this moment that is very important to Irish people. Proclaiming a Republic was an incredibly successful exhibition and from the Museum's perspective it is one that we will consistently return to." - Lynn Scarff, Director, National Museum of Ireland
Virtual visit to Proclaiming a Republic: The 1916 Rising
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