Afterward

It was four minutes past noon on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916. Patrick Pearse stood on the steps of the General Post office. He read the following:

POBLACHT NA h-EIREANN
THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE
IRISH REPUBLIC
TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND

IRISHMAN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of 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.

Having organized and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary organization, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through her open military organizations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she now seizes that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in America and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she strikes in full confidence of victory.

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State. And we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations.

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irish woman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities of all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority in the past.

Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provision Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people.

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God, Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.

Signed on behalf of the Provisional Government,

THOMAS J. CLARKE

SEAN MAC DIERMADA

THOMAS MACDONAGH

P.H.PEARSE

EAMONN CEANNT

JAMES CONNOLLY

Irish Folk Song

Molly Malone

1. In Dublin's fair city,
Where girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she pushed her wheelbarrow
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"!

Chorus:
Alive, alive oh! alive, alive oh!
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"!

2. Now she was a fishmonger,
And sure twas no wonder,
For so were her mother and father before,
And they each wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"!
Chorus:

3. She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh"!
Chorus:

Many from overseas don't understand how an American can be Irish, French, German, African, etc. What they miss is the only real Americans are the indigenous people. The rest of us are immigrants. I am an American, yes, although my ancestors came from Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and the Menominee Indians. I am proud to claim all those nationalities as mine. I grew up here, in the United States, and primary I owe my allegiance to the United States. That is only part of who I am and what makes me, me. 

My Father's people arrived in New York from Cork County, Ireland in the late 1850's during the aftermath of the Great Potato Famine. They were hungry and ready to work for food. During that period, both before and after the famine, only the eldest son inherited the property. According to English law at the time, and Irish with land had to split it between their children. For that reason, most families sent all the the eldest and the youngest male off to countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, etc. The youngest son was destined to become a priest. 

My Grandfather on my Mother's side arrived here in the early part of the Twentieth Century from the Netherlands to escape religious intolerance. My Grandmother on my Mother's side was Metzi, meaning her family was both French and American Indian. They intermarried and produced a nationality separate from the French and Indians. They are settled in the Iron Mountain, Michigan area. 

Mind you this story is a fantasy about the Irish. I've never been there, although I love learning about history, particularly Ireland. After all, they say that a lot of the Irish folk tunes we in the U.S. cherish were written by Americans who have never seen Ireland. My attempt here was to write a story for Americans about a place most Irish Americans have only dreampt about. While reading I picked up some Irish words, which I sprinkled about freely. My attempt was to make this seem Irish to Americans while not making it so overloaded with the Irish language, we who also speak a form of English, would not understand.

Dictionary

Aye: Yes
Boyo: male friend

Dun: Irish fort
Erin: Ireland

Ghostie: Ghost

IRA: Irish Republican Army

Innis: Island
Irregulars: Fighters who broke away from the IRA after Michael Colllins signed the treaty between England and Ireland
Lad or Laddy: Boy or  young male
Lass: Girl or young female
Mam: Mom or mother
Near brother - Brother-in-law
Near sister - Sister-in-law

Poteen: Alcoholic beverage made from distilled potatoes

Republican: Irish male who served with the IRA

Strand: Beach
'Tis - It is
'Tisn't - It isn't