Mary Kenny“the truth about 1916 is that it was an event deeply imbued with Christian and Catholic values, symbols, iconography and beliefs”, writes Mary Kenny
Almost every section of the Irish nation is going to be claiming the centenary of 1916 for its own. And maybe that is just what the 1916 signatories would have wanted, since it’s also obvious that they drew up a document which sought to embrace the whole nation. (That is what the phrase “all of the children of the nation” means. As historian John A. Murphy has pointed out tirelessly, “children of the nation” being treated equally referred to “citizens”, not kiddies.)
So let the 1916 centenary be as inclusive as it may be.
However, it would be a distortion of the lives and intentions of the Proclamation signatories if the 1916 celebrations removed or obscured the marked spiritual element of the Rising.
It’s important to bear in mind that the world-renowned Proclamation opened with the words: “In the name of God and the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.”
That is to say, the men and women who conceived, organised and took part in the 1916 Rising which we shall be marking this coming year did so, they believed, unambiguously, “in the name of God” – and “of the dead generations” who represented Ireland’s tradition of nationhood.
A century later, secularism is a growing force in Ireland, and it is mustering an active and vocal lobby. Ireland is a free society, and anyone who wishes to affirm agnosticism or atheism is free to do so, free to form associations to advance their ideas, and free to seek schools that provide a secular education for their children.
However, nobody is free to change the facts of the past; and the truth about 1916 is that it was an event deeply imbued with Christian and Catholic values, symbols, iconography and beliefs. When the men and women of 1916 spoke about “the dead generations” they also had in mind the long, embedded history of Irish faith.
The official Catholic Church may not have approved of the 1916 rebellion (and neither did this newspaper at the time): but there is no question that most of the leaders went to death in a spirit of personal holiness.
Patrick Pearse, Sean MacDermott, Sean Heuston, Con Colbert, Joseph Plunkett, Thomas MacDonagh, Sean MacBride: all of these men met their death in a deep spirit of religious faith, as the priests (and other witnesses) who attended them testified.
Pearse’s greatest consolation at the hour of his death was the news that the Marxist, James Connolly, had received Holy Communion before his execution. Tom Clarke, an old Fenian who had quarrelled with the Church, nonetheless died a Catholic death. Roger Casement, the convert who was executed later than the others, was comforted by the Last Rites of the Catholic Church before his hanging.
It would be a complete falsification of the historical truth if this were to be removed, occluded, or airbrushed out of the 2016 centenary celebrations.
Yes, centenaries of historical events can re-interpret and re-imagine events. The French revolution of 1789 is re-enacted in a decidedly milder version of the original. Allied events to mark the end of World War II now include Germans, once the enemy.
You can extend and embellish the meaning of an historical event, but you should not omit a central element of its character.
I hope that all honest historians, besides Irishmen and women of faith, will not allow the events of 1916 to pass by without acknowledging the spiritual significance it had for its participants. And I hope the Church is brave enough to make that point formally.