Pádraig Pearse

Pádraig Pearse (Irish: Pádraig Mac Piarais) was the leader of the Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland in Easter 1916. The rising was against British rule in Ireland, lasted for less than a week and resulted in widespread destruction in Dublin. Militarily, the native Irish were defeated by the largest empire in the world. It was greeted at first with popular hostility in Ireland to the insurgents. However, the British execution of the insurgents resulted in widespread sympathy with the ideal they fought for, an all-Ireland republic free from British rule. Pearse was one of the seven signatories of the "Proclamation of the Irish Republic", which is the first constitution of the modern Irish state. These seven men were the founding fathers of the modern state of Ireland, and are honoured annually by the leaders of the state.

Pearse was a passionate advocate of an Irish Ireland, became fluent in Irish and wrote in and about it. For Pearse, the cultural independence of Ireland was the principal aim of political independence.

Pearse was an important leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the largest of the secret societies advocating Irish independence from the British Empire