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January: James Connolly, the Socialist Labour leader, who was against Capitalism in any form, was also originally from the Ulster Province, but he had spent 20 years of his early life in Scotland, where he had witnessed the harsh living conditions there under the British Imperial Empire, and also another 7 years in America, where he could see that life could be so much better in a Free Independent society. He had then returned to Ireland, to form the Irish Socialist Republican Party, to try and bring this about, and he was now more keen then ever to implement an Irish Uprising. against the continued repression of the British Imperial Government. The British Imperial Government in England, at this time, was under the British Coalition, who were still involved in a War with Germany, and he saw it as a good time for the population in Ireland to throw off the chains of the negative oppressive authority of British Imperialism. He also had around 200 members in his Labour group, who were known as the Irish Citizen Army, and he was by now well and truly chaffing on the bit to take on the might of the British Imperialists and bring about Irish Independence. Those in charge of the I.R.B. / Irish Republican Brotherhood, were made aware of his intentions and they wanted to stop him from going it alone, with only his members from the Irish Citizen Army, so their Military Council decided to physically constrain him for 2 days, and during this time they were able to co - opt him onto their own committee. Together with Joseph Plunkett, who was a member of the I.R.B. Council, who was in charge of the military operations, they worked on a plan for their intended Irish Easter Uprising, which was originally to be set down for Sunday, April 23rd.

There were by now 4 main Irish Independence groups, who were all directly involved in trying to bring about Irish Independence, and among these were the Irish Republican Brotherhood / I.R.B., the Sinn Fein Party, the Irish Volunteers, and the Irish Citizen Army, who had managed to combine themselves together to try and bring about Irish Independence / Self Determination from the ongoing negative authority of British Imperialism. Also by this time, due to the never - ending repression on the Irish population by the previous English and British Governments, there were another 13 smaller independent Irish groups, who also wanted the repressive authority of the British Imperial Government gone out of Ireland, who all operated separately, while individually working towards the same goal. Among these were the Hibernian Rifles, who were an Irish - American Association, and the Erin Hibernians, who were more then ready to assist the fully committed Irish Republicans, if they were needed. Meanwhile, Patrick Pearse, a schoolteacher, a poet and an idealist, who ran the Gaelic Irish school of St. Enda's at Rathfarnham in the south of Dublin, named after St. Enda who had been the first monk to set up on the Aran Islands to spread the Gospel. (The school is now a museum to the memory of Patrick Pearse, and his brother who would be also executed with him, just for being his brother by the British Imperial Government.) Patrick Pearse was now the head of the I.R.B. and the Director of Operations for the Irish Volunteers, while Thomas Mac Donagh (1878 - 1916) another Irish poet, who was also another I.R.B. member, was the overall Commandant of the 4 Irish Volunteer's Dublin Brigades. Both of these men were also on the I.R.B. Military Council, and as they were also involved with the Irish Volunteers, they alone had the members and the numbers to try and make the intended Easter Uprising a success. On the other hand, Eoin Mac Neill, who was the Chief - of - Staff of the Irish Volunteers, and Bulmer Hobson their Secretary, had their own personal policy of no violence against the British Imperial Government Forces, unless the Irish Volunteers were provoked into action to defend themselves. The I.R.B. / Irish Republican Brotherhood, had previously made use of the well known outlook of both of these two men in holding down these positions in the Irish Volunteers, as their personal attitudes were also known to the British Imperial Government Intelligence services in the Dublin Castle (The Devil's 1/2 acre). (This had assisted to allay any threat to their building up the number of the Irish Volunteers to 10,000 members.)

January 14th: Michael Collins, who was now 25 years of age, resigned his position with the Guaranty Trust Company in London, and returned to Ireland the next day, in the full knowledge that John Mac Dermot / Sean Mheic Diarmada and the I.R.B. were finally getting ready to make their stand against the long time repressive authority of the British Imperial Government in Ireland. On his arrival, he too worked in with Joseph Plunkett on the plan for the coming Easter Rising, and was to also be one of the signatories to the Irish Republican Proclamation, for which he too would pay the ultimate price, when he would be executed by a firing squad under the direction of the British Imperial Government, his two brothers imprisoned, and their father, Count Plunkett and their mother also, would be arrested and severely castigated and humiliated. Michael Collins had also joined the Keating branch of the Gaelic League, which was now under the control of Cathal Brugha / Charles Burgess - as their President, while he too personally waited for the coming action to occur, as did many of the other Irish men in the know, who had returned from Britain with the same objective in mind.

February: Eoin Mac Neill, the Chief of Staff of the Irish Volunteers, let it be known, that any military action on the part of the Irish Volunteers, that might be taken against the British Imperial Government, would in his opinion be morally wrong, while on the other hand the militant Irish Nationalist groups of which the I.R.B. / Irish Republican Brotherhood was the strongest, under the leadership of the idealist, Patrick Pearse, were not to let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass by. All they knew by now was that they wanted to make a strike for Irish Independence from the ongoing exploitive authority of the British Imperial Government, before their present War with Germany was to come to an end, and James Connolly with his Irish Citizen's Army compatriots, was more then ready to give it a go, and make their own ultimate sacrifice, and they believing in their hearts, that the whole Country would then follow suite.

March 4th: A Convention of the Irish, was organized on this day, by the Clann na Gael / The Organization in America, where they also founded The Friends of Irish Freedom to assist the people in Ireland in any way they could to finally obtain Irish Independence / Self - Determination.

March 17th: All of the Irish Volunteer Brigades, came out in force for the St. Patrick's Day parade, and a little of what was to lay ahead for Ireland under the strong personality of the dour Eamonn de Valera, who was their commandant at this time, occurred, when during the march he not only clashed with Sean Fitz Gerald his Vice - Commandant, but also with Michael O Rahilly (The O Rahilly), who were both later to be transferred out of his battalion.

March 19th: The general Irish population themselves, were also becoming more restless, as demonstrations began occurring, first at the hurling match being conducted in aid of the founder of the Irish Republican movement, Wolfe - Tone at the Wolfe Tone Memorial, and another at the Sinn Fein Party Hall, were shots were fired at the British Government's Dublin Castle R.I.C. police, and Sergeant Ahearn from the R.I.C. police there was wounded.

March 20th: Further demonstrations then also occurred also at Tullamore in Co. Offaly in the north - west of Southern Leinster.

March 24th: Augustine Birrell, the British Imperial Government appointed Chief Secretary in Ireland, finally began to realise that things were getting to be a little bit more serious with the general Irish population, but he was still convinced that with his British Military Forces he had the Irish well under his control, To further ensure his position, he had Liam Mellowes and Ernest Blythe arrested and Transported to be imprisoned in England, but despite their incarceration, Liam Mellowes was to be physically able to escape, and made his way over to America. (Later on during the Easter Uprising he was to return to command the Irish National Volunteers in the west of Ireland.)

+On to 1916 / 2 - April.

Situated on the western bank of the Hunter River, midway between Muswellbrook and Denman the doorway to the Heart of Australia's "Horse Capital" in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales., Australia.

John & Sue Markham

RAINBOW FARMS 603 Roxburgh Road., Muswellbrook., 2333.

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