01 March 2016

Thinking about 1916 and 2016:
the centenary commemorations

The GPO in O’Connell Street, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

For easy access, these are links to some of my recent postings related to the Easter Rising in 1916 and the centenary commemorations this year [2016]:

1, 1916: Finding a voice for the Church of Ireland (20 February 2016): my lecture in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick on 20 February 2016.

2, Dispelling the myths while we remember the events of 1916 (6 March 2016): my monthly column in Church Review (Dublin and Glendalough), looking at the events in 1916 and the consequences for how we read history today.

3, Criticism over impact of 1916 events on Christ Church service (23 February 2016): a report in The Irish Times on 23 February 2016 on my lecture in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick on 20 February 2016.

4, 1916: Finding a voice for the Church of Ireland (5 March 2016): a report in the March 2016 edition of Newslink, the Limerick and Killaloe Diocesan Magazine, on my lecture in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick on 20 February 2016.

5, Remembering the events of 1916 (21 September 2015): the introduction to the resources produced by the Liturgical Advisory Committee of the Church of Ireland for commemorations.

6, Press Releases / Dispelling the Myths While We Remember the Events of 1916: the Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Website version of my column in the Church Review, March 2016.

Charles Comerford and Adelaide Margaret Field on their wedding day in 1910 … he was the only member of the Comerford family in the GPO during Easter Week 1916 (Photograph courtesy Angela Marks)

7, The role of members of the Comerford family in the events of Easter 1916 (28 March 2016): stories about members of the Comerford family who were caught up in the events of 1916, in various factions with a variety of experiences.

8,Surgeons and Insurgents’ – a 1916 exhibition at the College of Surgeons (5 April 2016): a look at the exhibition ‘Surgeons and Insurgents’ in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, with particular focus on the live of one surgeon, Sir Thomas Myles, and one insurgent, Sergeant Joe Doyle of the Irish Citizen Army.

9, Missing a unique event recalling a pacifist voice in Easter 1916 (9 April 2016): My reflections on an event marking the 100th anniversary of the illegal execution of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington in Easter Week 1916, and a visit to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, which was a baracks and military hospital in 1916 and during World War I.

10, A walk on the beach and meeting the extended family in Co Wexford (12 April 2016): a personal account of attending a commemoration of Máire Comerford and her role in 1916 at Hollyfort, Co Wexford.

11, ‘1916: Tales from the Other Side’ – an exhibition in Marsh’s Library (12 April 2016): a review of the exhibition in Marsh’s Library, Dublin.


12, Rubicon 2016: ‘1916–2016: Before, Between and Beyond … Ireland: 100 Years On’ (16 April, 2016): the prepared text for my talk on the 1916 commemorations and Ireland 100 years after 1916 at the Rubicon conference in Dublin.

13, Speaking about 1916 at the Rubicon Conference (22 July 2016): The video clip of my talk on the 1916 commemorations and Ireland 100 years after 1916 at the Rubicon conference in Dublin.

14, ‘1916–2016: Before, Between and Beyond’ – speaking at Rubicon 100 years after 1916 (14 April 2016): my ‘curtain-raiser’ on speaking on 1916 and 2016 at the Rubicon conference.

15, Remembering 1916: ‘they shall beat their swords into ploughshares’ (24 April 2016): a sermon in Christ Church, Taney, at a Service of Commemoration of the Easter Rising, 1916.

16, Remembering 1916: ‘nation shall not lift up sword against nation’ (24 April 2016): a sermon in Saint Nahi’s Church, Dundrum, at a Service of Commemoration of the Easter Rising, 1916.

17, How Irish do I have to be before I answer ‘Irish’ on the census form? (25 April 2016): A tongue-in-cheek look at the 2016 census return forms, asking how Pearse, de Valera and Markievicz might have answered some of the questions I had difficulty with.

18, Finding a distant family link to a battle during the 1916 Rising (26 April 2016): the story of Thomasina Lynders, her sister and two brothers, who involved in 1916 Rising; her husband was a second cousin of my grandmother.

19, New on-line collection shows how three Comerfords responded in 1916 (27 April 2016): the story of three members of the Comerford family and why they sought compensation in 1916 for damage to two shop premises and to church buildings in Dublin during Easter Week.

20, Former Comerford house in Rathgar with an Easter 1916 story is for sale (5 September 2016): the story of Charles Comerford of Kenilworth Square, Rathgar, who worked in the GPO in 1916, and the sale of his family home in Rathgar 100 years later.

21, Little remains of the former 1916 prison camp in Frongoch (1 May 1916): a visit to Frongoch, the prison camp in north Wales where 1,800 Irish prisoners were held after the Easter rising in 1916.

22, Another 1916 anniversary – the day my grandfather was sent home from the war (3 May 2016): the story of how my grandfather, Stephen Edward Comerford, contracted malaria in Thessaloniki and was discharged from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 3 May 1916, the day the first leaders of the Easter Rising were executed, and was sent back to Dublin as the political atmosphere became deeply polarised.

23, ‘The Doctor, the Countess and the Organist: 1916 tales from Saint John’s, Sandymount’ (31 July 2016): how the events of 1916, including the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme, had an impact on the lives of parishioners in Saint John’s, Sandymount.

24, It was the summer before the ‘Summer of Love’. But did I learn much Irish in Kerry? (23 July 2016): Personal recollections of the 1916 commemorations in 1966, and their influences on my attitudes as a teenager.

25, A romantic Edwardian wedding story points to the former grandeur of Bellingham Castle (3 August 2016): Part 1 of the story of the Bellinghams of Castlebellingham, Co Louth, and how the events of World War I and 1916 changed their lives.

26, Despite wars and a century of change, Bellingham Castle retains its grandeur (4 August 2016): Part 2 of the story of the Bellinghams of Castlebellingham, Co Louth, and how the events of World War I and 1916 changed their lives.

27, The forgotten surgeon who masterminded the Kilcoole gunrunning 100 years ago (4 May 2014): the story of Sir Thomas Myles, who organised the Kilcoole gunrunning in 1914 and later became honorary surgeon to King George V and an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

28, Sir Thomas Myles (1857-1937): surgeon and forgotten organiser of the Kilcoole gunrunning (1914) (17 July 2014): my lecture on Sir Thomas Myles for Kilcoole Heritage Group in Kilcoole Golf Course Club House, Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, on 17 July 2014.

29, Church History (2014-2015, part-time) 7.3: Challenging myths and memories (3): The Decade of Commemorations and centenaries: how history shapes the Church agenda today (15 May 2015): a lecture on the MTh programme looking at 1916 and the decade of commemorations.

30, The Revd Professor RM Gwynn (1877-1962): priest (19 September 2013): a lecture at a seminar in Whitechurch Parish, Dublin, on the centenary of the 1913 lockout, on the Revd Professor RM Gwynn, a founding member of the Irish Citizen Army.

31, 1916 Commemoration Services in Dublin parishes (3 June 2016): a news report by Nigel Pierpoint in the Church of Ireland Gazette on the sermons I preached in Christ Church, Taney, and Saint Nahi’s, Dundrum, on 24 April 2016.

32, The Victorian legacy of a lodge in a corner in Saint Stephen’s Green (5 December 2016): the Park Superintendent’s Lodge in Saint Stephen’s Green had an interesting place in the events of Easter Week 1916.

This page is being updated during 2016. It was last updated on 5 December 2016.

3 comments:

graham dominy said...

Greetings from South Africa. i have found much to interest me in your blog. I am the retired National Archivist of SA. My wife is of Irish extraction and went to school in Dublin and to UCC. I completed an MA at UCC in the earlay 1980s. I gave a paper at the centennial historical conference on the rising at UCD just over a year ago. My topic was the Permanent Under SEcretary in Dublin Castle, a former Governor of Natal and very unusually, he was Jewish. Anne and I travelled around the island after the conference and spent a day or two with friends and relatives by marriage in Killaloe (Sean and Ailene Darby - recently retired doctor)

Now to my other interest, I am writing a biography of the late head of the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg, Prof GDL SChreiner who studied chemistry in Cambridge in the post-WW2 years. Thank you for your comments on CP Snow's 'The Masters' - I was an avid Snow fan as a student and he should enrich the section of my Schreiner biography on Cambridge.

Best wishes

Graham Dominy

Patrick Comerford said...

Thank you Graham for your kind comments

Unknown said...

Dear Rev Comerford,

Thanks for creating such a fabulous blog.

Mr Dominy: by a bizarre coincidence I am the first cousin once removed of your wife! My name is George Callaghan. My mother was born Nora Burke. I met you in SA in 1984 but do not remember it.
Yours,

George.