Book #8: 1916: A Country is Born by Fergel McCarthy

I picked up this book while traveling in Ireland earlier this year. I love cruising around bookstores just about anywhere I go, and this little book caught my attention. I had started reading it while traveling, but never gave it full attention until this morning.

2016 is the 100-year anniversary of the Easter Rising, a large rebellion that eventually led to Ireland’s independence from England in 1922.  When I was in Ireland there was heaps of information about the uprising and we went to visit the GOP, which is the building most associated with the uprising.

Tom Clarke was the mastermind behind the uprising and he gets together a small group of people to start planning. When WWI hits, they decide England will be so distracted that now is the time to strike. In this respect, they absolutely succeed. England was caught completely off guard by the Irish. Their initial plan was to try to reclaim all of Ireland but due to a lack of resources and an intercepted ship full of weapons, they end up focusing on Dublin for the rebellion.

The Easter Rising took course over 6 days and ultimately the rebels had to surrender as they were outnumbered by the British. The main players of the uprising were executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol, a jail in Dublin (we went to visit this, too, I highly recommend!).

I loved reading this illustrated guide. It was fun and there are some good little jokes in there. I found a video about the book here, if you are interested in getting the gist of the book and to get a closer look at the author.

This was a great find on my adventure. Reading it this morning brought me back to my little trip to an awesome country.

Overall rating: 5/5