Today the first of 40 events to celebrate the 1916 Rising took place in Glasnevin Cemetery with the commemoration of the funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa.
O’Donovan Rossa was an influential and important member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood who passed away in New York on the 1st of August 1915. He had been among the first of the activists to join the I.R.B in 1858 and was sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating an uprising in 1865. He later received Fenian Amnesty and was exiled to New York, from there he organised the first Republican Bombings of Britain and directed the I.R.B in the following years.
Present at the event were President Michael D. Higgins, Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys, as well as descendants of O’Donovan Rossa.
The ceremony began with President Higgins laying a commemorative wreath on the grave of the Fenian warrior, while a volley of shots rang in the air and the tricolour was raised in honour of the event and the life of O’Donovan Rossa. This was followed with a prayer service by Defence Forces Chaplain Fr. Robert McCabe, a moment of silence, a pipers lament and an empowering recital of the speech which Padraig Pearse first delivered at the funeral of O’Donovan Rossa 100 years ago.
The speech which was recited graveside by Jim Roche was originally delivered by Padraig Pearse; it was a call to arms for the people of Ireland, stirring love and pride in the 5,000 present at the funeral for both the acts of O’Donovan Rossa and for their land; which in the years following the funeral they fought bravely to free from British oppression.
Ms. Humphries, whose office is tasked with organising the commemorative events for the 1916 celebrations stated, “Over the Coming year, we will hold more than 40 state events as we commemorate the events of 1916, consider our achievements over the last 100 years and look ambitiously to the future”.
A commemorative stamp has been issued featuring a picture of the burial in Glasnevin and a torch lit parade will be held in Skibereen in honour of the revolutionary.
Tá an-buíochas againn as gach rud a rinne ár laochanna ribhe seo agus gach rud a bhfuil againn anois.