Easter 1916-2016

Posted on 03/04/2016 by fionaconlonmckenna

O’Connell Street Easter Sunday 2016

Easter Sunday

The streets of Dublin were crowded as thousands of us gathered to watch the Easter 1916 Centenary Commemoration Parade. The day was bright and dry as the massive crowds made their way along the long parade route which led towards O’Connell Street. There were wide screens to display the formal ceremony outside the GPO, as the main street of Dublin city was reserved for family member and relatives of those who fought in 1916.

The parade of the Irish Defence Forces received huge cheers as they passed us, army bands, navy services and all types of military vehicles. President Michael D. Higgins, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Dublin’s Mayor Criona Ni Dhalaigh and the Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney, all received a warm welcome on this very special day. Everyone watched and was moved by the reading of the Proclamation by Captain Peter Kelleher outside the GPO, the lowering of the Irish tri-colour flag and the army band playing Mise Eire.

Reading of the Proclamation Easter Sunday 2016

The whole city stood still to remember that day a hundred years ago when a small band of rebels took the GPO and declared an Irish Republic. The Irish Air Corps with their plumes of green white and orange flew over O’Connell Street which brought huge cheers from everyone watching below. This important part of our history was honoured, the brave men and women of 1916 were recalled and their effort to fight for Irish freedom commemorated on this very special Easter Sunday 2016.

Reflecting the Rising

On Easter Monday, the city was transformed for RTE’s large scale event organised for families and all those with an interest in the Rising.
Artist and writer Don Conroy and I were delighted to take part. We gave two 1916 story and drawing workshops in DIT College, Aungier Street, (site of the former Jacob’s biscuit factory and the garrison led by Thomas MacDonagh and Captain John MacBride during the 1916 Rising).

There was fun and hundreds of events and talks on all aspects of the Rising and re-enactments by drama groups with packed events in O’Connell Street, Smithfield and St. Stephen’s Green. Alongside the family activities and entertainment in in St Stephen’s Green, there was the poignant reminder by a children’s drama group of all the children who died during the Rising.

The skies stayed bright and sunny and the marvellous events of the weekend were finished off by RTE’s Centenary concert, broadcast live that night from the Bord Gais Theatre.

It was a weekend to remember and a fitting tribute to Padraig Pearse, Tom Clarke, James Connolly Sean MacDiarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, Eamonn Ceannt and Joseph Plunkett and all those who went out a hundred years ago, on that Easter Monday 1916.

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Hong Kong and Macau Turn Green

Posted on 03/04/2016 by fionaconlonmckenna

What a great experience to be invited to take part in Macau’s Script Road Writers’ Festival! I met lots of writers not only from China and Portugal but from across the world.

I took part in a lively discussion on ‘The Peculiar Life of Writer’ at The Old Court Building with Sweden’s Bengt Ohlsson and Portugal’s Rui Zink. Also I was kept busy with events across the island, talking in Macau’s University, the International School, the Sir Robert Ho Tung Chinese School, as well as a family event at The Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Great to see Macau’s historic St Paul’s Church turn green, like many iconic buildings around the world, to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Dublin’s Lord Mayor, Criona ni Dhalaigh, spoke at the Hong Kong and Macau Irish Festival‘s St. Patrick’s Day dinner in the Grand Lapa Hotel. The next day she led off the first St. Patrick’s Day parade to be held on the island.

Watching the local Irish dancing groups, traditional lion dancers and the Chinese dragon, as well as local hip-hop dancers and the police bag-pipers, I felt very proud to be part of such a multi-cultural celebration of Ireland’s heritage.

In Hong Kong, the Mayor of Dublin presented Father Joseph Mallin – aged 102 – with the great honour of the Freedom of Dublin City. Father Joseph, son of Michael Mallin the 1916 Rising leader, is not only the last living child of an executed leader of the Rising but has dedicated his life to working and helping those in need in Hong Kong.

A concert entitled ‘Mise Eire’ was held to celebrate and commemorate the centenary of the 1916 Rising and was attended not only by the Irish community living in Hong Kong, but also by those with an interest in Ireland. I was very honoured to read a chapter from Rebel Sisters to the large audience and to get the chance to meet Father Mallin.

Well done to Ireland’s Consul, General Peter Ryan and all those involved in organising such a special event to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising!

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Posted on 17/03/2016 by fionaconlonmckenna

This year I am spending St. Patrick’s Day over in Macau and Hong Kong as I am taking part in The Script Road – Macau Literary Festival and also the Hong Kong Macau Irish Festival.

There are lots of writer events along with a St Patrick’s Day parade and a dinner in Macau.

I will also be taking part in Mise Eire – a concert marking the 100th Anniversary of the 1916 Rising – that is being held in Hong Kong.

It’s going to be busy, but I will be back home to Dublin in time for our own very special 1916 Easter Rising Commemorations.

National Library of Ireland

Posted on 09/03/2016 by fionaconlonmckenna

The National Library of Ireland on Kildare Street in Dublin was my first step to writing about the 1916 Easter Rising.

This wonderful old library is one of my favourite places in Dublin. I am a library member and regularly visit it for research purposes. It contains a huge amount of literary and historical documents, manuscripts, books and photographs. The library is not just an archive of the past for us to discover, but also a national treasure trove for us to explore.

The NLI contains many of the important 1916 documents, letters and personal papers of those involved in the 1916 Rising and it was there I began my research into the Gifford family.

I was privileged to be able to get access to the Gifford, MacDonagh and Plunkett family papers. These papers are a huge resource for historians, academics, students and writers and for anyone who has an interest in history.

It was very fitting that after all my time researching and writing my book, Rebel Sisters, that it was launched in the National Library on 4th February 2016.

Signatories 1916, an exhibition based on the seven leaders of the Rising who signed the proclamation, is on display in the Main Hall of the Library throughout 2016.

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Mountains to Sea and Ennis Book Club Festivals

Posted on 09/03/2016 by fionaconlonmckenna

I had a wonderful time in lovely Ennis talking at the Ennis Book Club Festival about Rebel Sisters and my writing. Lots of teachers, librarians and history students came along. The Ennis Book Club Festival’s varied programme was really excellent, with something to appeal to everyone.

I wish that I could have stayed longer but I had to rush back up home to Dublin on the train as I was talking at the Readers’ Day in Airfield in Dundrum, which is part of the Mountains to Sea Festival.

Airfield is one of my favourite places and was a wonderful setting for the Readers’ Day with the beautiful backdrop of the estate and gardens. Once home to the Overend sisters, it is now enjoyed and visited by so many people. It was lovely to listen to my friends Sinead Moriarty and Sheila O’Flanagan talk about their writing before I joined the crowd for lunch.

It was great to meet and talk to fellow 1916 enthusiast and writer David Kenny whose own book The Splendid Years about his great-aunt Maire Nic Shiubhlaigh, the Abbey actress, has just been published. The two of us could have stayed all afternoon talking about 1916. It is very heartening to see such a huge interest in the lives of the women of 1916.

This Sunday, March 13th at 4.00pm the fun continues in the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire for The Great Big Family Book Show as I join Eoin Colfer, Ryan Tubridy, Judy Curtin and Philip Ardagh to talk about our favourite children’s books!

Thank you so much to programme organisers Bert Wright and Sarah Webb from the Mountains to Sea DLR Book Festival for organising it all.

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