Re-imagining the Easter Rising in its official commemoration in 1966 and 2016: Radical shift or evolution?
Abstract
National founding myths are commonly re-imagined every time they are commemorated. The past is adapted to serve the agendas of the present and the character of commemoration reflects the contemporary social values.
The 50th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising, while being influenced by the social memory of the surviving members of the revolutionary generation, took place during the reorientation of the state towards European cooperation, and the organisers called for overcoming political cleavages of the past in favour of common effort for economic prosperity. Yet, the Golden Jubilee retrospectively became neglected as one of the sparks of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and even though historians repeatedly emphasised its rather conciliatory character, it served as a grand negative example of what needs to be avoided during the centenary preparations.
The centenary organisers eventually introduced a highly diverse programme, highlighting previously omitted or muted themes. Was this really a radical change, or would the shift take place even without the trauma of the Troubles? This paper compares the themes, and their specific combinations, in the 1966 and 2016 official commemorations of the Easter Rising, assessing the shift in focus over the last fifty years.
Furthermore, it examines the relation between the two events, and the role played by the memories of the 1966 anniversary in the preparations for the centenary. Two local cases are used to further analyse the shift: county Galway with indirect connection to the events of the Rising, and county Monaghan with large Protestant minority and without any connection to the event.