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- This letter was sent to the British Foreign Office in June 1916, two
months after the Easter Rising in April 1916. It is likely that the
writer was an Irishman from a Unionist background. This is why he was
concerned about the views being expressed towards Britain.
- In April 1916, during Easter Week, Republicans took over the centre
of Dublin. They took the British forces completely by surprise. It took
a week of fighting to get them to surrender. The centre of the city
was wrecked and many civilians were killed or injured in the fighting.
- After the rising, the British executed 15 of the leaders. The only
senior commander who survived was Eamon de Valera. The executions caused
outrage. The British regarded these men as traitors, but many Irish
people saw them as prisoners of war. They resented Irish men being executed
for treason to the British Crown.
- The British took other rebels prisoner and rounded up people all over
Ireland whom they suspected of being rebels. In total, this was 1,841
people. The British also put Ireland under military law with strict
restrictions on people's freedom to move around the country.
- Historians disagree about how much support the extremists had before
the Rising. However, they generally agree that the actions of the British
after the Rising made people in Ireland bitter and greatly increased
support for Sinn Fein and the extreme Nationalists.
- As this letter shows, the British actions made them deeply unpopular
in America, where there was a large Irish community. This meant that
United States politicians became concerned, because many of them represented
the Irish Americans in the big cities.
- The UIL was the United Irish League. This organisation helped Irish
people to find work, helped them if they were ill or out work etc.
- Clann na Gael was the American branch of the Fenians - extreme Republicans.
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