By Tony Canavan
The fact that the historic streetscape and buildings of Dublin have changed so little over the last century means that the city itself is a kind of museum for the 1916 Rising. Key buildings, squares and streets remain in appearance today much as they did then, a fact that helped in filming RTÉ’s recent drama about the Rising, Rebellion.
1916 Freedom Tour (1916tour.ie)
The unique selling point of this tour is that you travel around Dublin in a military-style truck. One word of warning, though: I did the tour in January and although it was a bright sunny day it was cold inside the truck, as it is authentic to the point of having no windows, leaving the passengers exposed to the elements. So either wrap up well or postpone your tour until the weather improves.
The truck itself is impressive and quite convincing, although it is a converted minibus. All the guides and drivers get into the spirit of the thing by wearing British Army or Irish Volunteer uniforms. Our guide, Bernard, knew his stuff and for over an hour was able to talk non-stop without the aid of notes on the Rising, the events and the people.
The tour begins with an orientation lecture on events leading up to the Rising and a demonstration of the firearms used by the protagonists: the British Army’s Lee Enfield rifle and Webley revolver, and the Volunteers’ German Mauser carbine. Starting on Merrion Square, it follows a route up to St Stephen’s Green, on to Dublin Castle, across the Liffey to O’Connell Street and then south of the Liffey again to take in Mount Street Bridge before returning to Merrion Square.
There are stop-offs along the way at key locations such as the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin Castle and the GPO. Perhaps one disadvantage of this is that the tour is not chronological but more thematic, as the action at each locale is described and explained. I do not think that anyone was left confused by this approach, as Bernard placed each separate event into the wider context. The twelve people on the tour with me were Irish and so already had a grounding in the history of the Rising. Nevertheless, the tour added depth to everyone’s knowledge and, while concentrating on the military action, also told the stories of the individuals involved, whether famous or not. Overall this was a fascinating, balanced but not dispassionate explanation of and insight into the week which, as Bernard said, shaped today’s Ireland.
The unique selling point of the 1916 Freedom Tour is that you travel around Dublin in a military-style truck.
Top: The 1916 Freedom tour re-enacts Pearse’s surrender to Gen. Lowe.
Lorcan Collins of the 1916 Rebellion Walking Tour, the longest established of the 1916 tours.
Tony Canavan is editor of Books Ireland.