Padraig Pearse – An Irish Nationalist

 

Patrick Pearse was born in Dublin, on November 10, 1879 to an English father (he was a sculptor) and an Irish mother.

Pearse became interested in the heritage and history of Ireland at a very early age and joined the Gaelic League when 21 years old. The purpose of the league was to promote Irish tradition and language and it was very much part of the revival of Gaelic consciousness that took place at the turn of the century. Pearse was an enthusiastic member and became editor of the league's newspaper: An Claidheamh Solais (‘The Sword of Light’).

Pearse tried to use knowledge and education to defeat the English and insisted on the use of the native Irish language and founded St. Edna’s College near Dublin in 1908. St Edna’s structured its curriculum around Irish traditions and culture and tutored in both the Irish and English languages.

Pearse was a pioneer of Irish writing and published poems, stories, articles and essays to further the identification of Ireland as a separate culture.

The Gaelic League inevitably attracted militant nationalists and Pearse soon realised that it would take more than education and tradition to break the link with England.

In July 1914, Pearse was made a member of the Supreme Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), a militant group that believed in using force to throw the British out of Ireland.

When England entered the First World War Irish nationalism split between those who wanted to take advantage of England’s plight and those (including John Redmond) who wanted to assist England in the war in the hope of getting concessions when it was over.

John Redmond, a member of Parliament fighting for Home Rule, took a pro-British stance during the war. This alienated many Irish citizens and support for the Brotherhood grew. Shortly before 1915, the Irish Republican Brotherhood had plans for a full military revolution in Ireland. Pearse was a believer in a revolution while the British were occupied fighting a war in Europe. Pearse was opposed to Redmond’s stance and felt that the only way to liberate Ireland was by insurrection. His famous oration at the funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa (an Irish revolutionary) in August 1915 demonstrates this:

“We stand at Rossa’s grave not in sadness, but in exultation of spirit … This is a place of peace sacred to the dead, where men should speak with all charity and all restraint; but I hold it a Christian thing... to hate evil, to hate untruth, to hate oppression, and hating them to strive to overthrow them … while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree, shall never be at peace.”

Pearse was heavily involved with the planning of the 1916 Easter Rising which was the catalyst for the subsequent War of Independence, Civil War and eventual declaration of a Republic in 1949.

The Rising failed as Pearse must have known it must. He was executed on May 3, 1916 with fourteen other rebels.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

 

· Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854.

· His mother, Lady Jane Francesca Wilde (1820-96), was a successful writer.

· His father, Sir William Wilde, was Ireland’s leading ear and eye surgeon.

· Oscar had one elder brother, Willie.

· Oscar was educated at home up to the age of nine.

· From 1864 to 1871, he attended Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.

· From 1871 to 1874, he studied the classics at Trinity College, Dublin.

· From 1874 to 1878, he studied at Magdalen Colege in Oxford.

· After his graduation, Wilde lectured in London, the United States and Canada. He also lived in Paris for a while.

· On 29 May, 1885 Wilde married Constance Lloyd. They had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan.

· In May 1895 Wilde was imprisoned for homosexuality.

· After his release in 1897, Wilde moved to France and lived under the name Sebastian Melmoth.

· He died of cerebral meningitis in Paris on 30 November, 1900.

· He was buried in the Cimetière de Bagneux outside Paris and later moved to Le Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Some of Oscar Wilde’s Works

1887 – The Canterville Ghost

1888 – The Happy Prince and Other Tales

1890 – The Picture of Dorian Gray (his only novel)

1892 – Lady Wintermere’s Fan (play)

1893 – A Woman of No Importance (play)

1895 – An Ideal Husband (play)

1895 – The Importance of Being Earnest (play)

 

George Washington

 

George Washington (1732—1799) won a lasting place in American History as the "Father of our Country". For nearly twenty years he guided his country much as a father cares for a growing child.

Washington lived an exciting life in exciting times. As a boy, he explored the wilderness. When he grew older, he helped the British fight the French and Indians. Many times he was nearly killed. As a general he suffered hardships with his troops in the cold winters.

He lost many battles, but led the American Army to final victory. After he became President, he successfully solved many problems facing his country, Washington belonged to an old colonial family that believed in hard work, in public service and in worshipping God.

George Washington was born in Westmoreland county, Virginia; on a farm, on February 22, 1732. His first American ancestor came to Virginia from England in 1657. Farming, land buying, trading, milling, and the iron industry were the means by which the family rose in the world. George's father, Augustine, had four children by his first wife and six by his second wife, Mary Ball, George's mother.

Of George's early life little is known. His formal educaition was slight: no more than 7 or 8 years of school. Men, plantation life and the haunts of river, field and forest were his principal teachers. His favourite subject was arithmetic.

He studied enough history and geography to know something of the outside world. But he never learned very much about literature, foreign languages and history.

At the age of 14 he began to work as a surveyor, making many trips into the wilderness areas of Virginia and Pennsylvania. His first military experience came in the French and Indian War (1754—1763), when he was sent on two missions deep into the Ohio county.

In 1759 Washington retired and married Martha Dandridge,a rich widow. He became a loving stepfather to Martha's two children. He was a progressive farmer of that time.

In 1760's the American colonists grew angrier and angrier at the taxes placed on them by Great Britain. In September 1771 the Continental Congress met, where Washington had his first chance to meet and talk with leaders of other colonies. The members were impressed with his judgement and military knowledge. He was sent to attend the Second Continental Congress (1775) where he was elected a commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He proved himself a capable commander of the War of Independence. In 1787 Washington was chosen president of the Continental Convention and later elected first president of the republic (1789), followed by reelection (1792).

George Washington died after an illness of two days on December 14, 1799. No other American has been honored more than Washington. The nation's capital, Washington D. C., was named after him. There the giant Washington Monument stands. The state of Washington is the only state named after President. Many cities, parks, streets, bridges, lakes, and schools bear his name. Washington's portrait appears on postage stamps, on the $1 bill, and on the quarter.

 

William Shakespeare

 

William Shakespeare was born in April 1564. His father was a rich citizen whose business was making and selling leather gloves. His mother was the daughter of an important farmer. When he was nineteen, William married Anne. She was a farmer's daughter and she was some years older than himself. During that years he may have helped his father in the family business or he may have been a country schoolmaster for a time, we don't know exactly.

Shakespeare had three children: Susannah, the eldest, then twins — a son, Hamnet, and another girl, Judith. In 1587 Shakespeare went to work in London, leaving Anne and the children at home.

Some years later Shakespeare began to write plays. The parents did not even guess that their son would be such an important figure in English poetry and drama and that his plays would still be acted four hundred years later in England and all over the world. By 1592 Shakespeare was an important member of well-known company. In 1599 the famous Globe Theatre was built on the south bank of the river Thames.

In that theatre most of his plays were performed. It was a round building with the stage in the center, open to the sky. If it was raining, the actors got wet; if the weather was too bad, there was no performance at all.

By 1603 Shakespeare was the leading poet and dramatist of his time. He continued to write for the next ten years. In 1613 he finally stopped writing and went to live in Stratford where he died in 1616. He is buried in Stratford-on-Avon.

 

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