Past Present Future Politics on Trial: Easter Rising 1916 w/Fintan O’Toole
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Aug 28, 2025 
Fintan O’Toole, an acclaimed Irish writer and historian, delves into the fallout from the Easter Rising of 1916. He discusses the ambitious goals of the uprising's leaders and the British missteps in their clandestine court-martials. O’Toole examines how these trials shaped perceptions of martyrdom, transforming fourteen executed leaders into potent symbols of Irish nationalism. He also explores Roger Casement's trial and George Bernard Shaw's unique ideas on defense, raising provocative questions about justice and traitorship amidst a chaotic political landscape.
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War Changed The Locus Of Threat
- World War I shifted British fear from Ulster to the south, altering where rebellion risk seemed greatest.
- Mobilization and the Ulster Volunteer Force's prominence reframed Irish politics and British calculations.
Foreign Aid Was Part Of Republican Strategy
- Radical Irish separatism expected foreign help as part of its DNA, drawing on past revolts aided by Spain and France.
- German support seemed plausible as a tactic to exploit Britain's wartime vulnerability.
Irish-American Fundraising And German Links
- John Devoy in New York raised funds and promised German contacts significant support from Irish America.
- Those Irish-American links initiated the first serious German connections for the rising.
