title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: The Chargers–Raiders rivalry dates to the 1963 season, when the Raiders defeated the heavily favored Chargers twice, both come-from-behind fourth quarter victories. One of the most memorable games between these teams was the "Holy Roller" game in 1978, in which the Raiders intentionally fumbled in order to score a touchdown. This somewhat controversial play resulted in a rule change the following season. On November 22, 1982, the Raiders hosted their first Monday Night football game in Los Angeles against the Chargers. The Chargers led the game in the 1st half 24–0 until the Raiders scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to win 28–24. On January 10, 2022, the Raiders defeated the Charges in overtime, 35-32. The winning field goal was unnecessary for the Raiders' playoff chances, and if the game had ended in a tie, both teams would have made the playoffs. With the field goal, the Chargers were eliminated. The Raiders lead the series 67–57–2 as of the end of the 2022 season, including having won the only playoff game between the two teams, the 1980 AFC Championship game.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: Initially, the Los Angeles Raiders and Rams were considered to be competing in the "Battle of Los Angeles" during the Raiders' tenure in Los Angeles from 1982-94. However, the rivalry ended as the Rams moved to St. Louis and the Raiders returned to Oakland in the mid-1990s. The Raiders unsuccessfully attempted relocating back to Los Angeles in 2015 following a failed joint stadium project with the then-San Diego Chargers. The intercity rivalry was revived only with the Chargers relocation from San Diego in 2017, following the Rams' return to Los Angeles in 2016. Hostility erupted between the two clubs during a 2017 joint scrimmage at the Rams' training camp in Irvine, California. Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman and Chargers receiver Keenan Allen initiated an altercation and multiple players rushed into the skirmish, creating an uproar from the crowd. Following the hiring of coach Sean McVay in 2017, the Rams managed to win back-to-back division titles, including an appearance in Super Bowl LIII during McVay's second season as head coach. The Chargers experienced their own playoff success by boasting a 12-4 record in 2018 and making an appearance in the 2018 AFC divisional round but lost to the New England Patriots. The Rams lead the only regular-season matchup in Los Angeles thus far.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: Chiefs lead 66–58–1 as of the end of the 2022 season, but the Chargers won the only playoff meeting between the two teams, a 1992 AFC wild card game.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: Broncos lead 70–54–1 as of the end of the 2022 season, including having won the only playoff meeting between the two teams, a 2013 AFC Divisional game.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: The table below shows the five most recent NFL regular season records along with their respective finish in the NFL playoffs. The Los Angeles Chargers appeared in the postseason in one of the five last seasons, which happened in 2018 that resulted in a loss to the Patriots. Recent notable honors with current members of the Los Angeles Chargers include NFL Rookie of the Year in 2016 for Joey Bosa (Defensive) and in 2020 for Justin Herbert (Offensive) along with NFL Comeback Player of the Year for Keenan Allen in 2017.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: The Chargers currently have four retired numbers: #14 (Dan Fouts), #19 (Lance Alworth), #21 (LaDainian Tomlinson) and #55 (Junior Seau). As of 2010, the Chargers' policy was to have the Chargers Hall of Fame committee evaluate candidates for a player's number to retire after the player has retired from the league after five years, Seau was the only exception to this policy. The committee consists of Chargers Executive Vice President Alex Spanos, Chargers public relations director Bill Johnston, San Diego Hall of Champions founder Bob Breitbard, and the presidents of the San Diego Sports Commission and the Chargers Backers Fan Club. There are few recognized guidelines in sports regarding retiring numbers, and the NFL has no specific league policy. "You have to have enough numbers for players to wear", said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. The Chargers have rarely retired numbers. The "San Diego Union-Tribune" wrote, "The [Chargers] tend to honor their heritage haphazardly."


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: The Chargers created their Hall of Fame in 1976. The members of the Hall of Fame are honored at the Chargers Ring of Honor, founded in 2000 and viewable above the visiting team's sideline of Qualcomm Stadium on the press level. Eligible candidates must have been retired for at least four seasons. Selections are made by a five-member committee chaired by Dean Spanos, Chargers vice-chairman. , other committee members included Bob Breitbard, founder of the San Diego Hall of Champions; Ron Fowler, president of the Greater San Diego Sports Association; Jane Rappoport, president of the Charger Backers; and Bill Johnston, the team's director of public relations. The Chargers in 2012 allowed fans to vote for the newest member.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: The Chargers announced their 50th Anniversary Team in 2009 to honor the top players and coaches in the team's history. The Chargers were founded in 1959. The team included 53 players and coaches selected from 103 nominees. The Chargers originally stated that only 50 members would be selected. Online voting by fans accounted for 50% of the voting results; votes from Chargers Hall of Famers and five members of the local media made up for the other 50%. Over 400,000 votes were cast online. Dan Fouts and LaDainian Tomlinson received the first and second most votes, respectively. The team features 7 Pro Football Hall of Fame members and 11 players that were active on the 2009 Chargers team.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: Alworth, Mix, Hadl, Joiner, Coryell, Gillman, Garrison, Fouts, White, Winslow, Faison, Benirschke, Lincoln, Washington, Humphries, Ladd and Wilkerson are also members of the San Diego Hall of Champions, which is open to athletes from the San Diego area as well as those who played for San Diego-based professional and collegiate teams.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: The Chargers' flagship radio station is KYSR-FM Alt 98.7 in Los Angeles, with daily coverage and special programming on KLAC-AM 570 LA Sports Play-by-play voice Matt "Money" Smith & NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah comprise the broadcast team. KYSR-FM's iHeartMedia Los Angeles sister-station KFI AM 640 served as the previous flagship station for the team since the Chargers’ return to Los Angeles from 2017 to 2019. Past Chargers radio broadcasters have included Josh Lewin, Ralph Lawler, Stu Nahan, Tom Kelly, Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton, Dan Rowe, Ted Leitner, and Hank Bauer. Bauer served seventeen seasons (1998–2014) as the radio color analyst; however, the Chargers and then-flagship KIOZ decided not to renew his contract, and was replaced by Conway starting with the 2015 season. As of 2014, the Chargers also stream their radio broadcasts on their official mobile application (through iOS and Android devices) as well as on their website.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: As of the 2020 season, Chargers preseason games will be broadcast by KCBS-TV; likewise, in the former San Diego market, KFMB is the local affiliate. As per the NFL's television deals, KCBS also broadcasts CBS coverage of most Chargers regular season games against AFC teams.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: Dennis Packer, the public address announcer of all USC football games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, serves as the public address announcer of all Chargers home games at SoFi Stadium. Packer replaced legendary P.A. announcer Bruce Binkowski, who went on to become the executive director of the Holiday and Poinsettia Bowl games, which were played at their former home, now-defunct SDCCU Stadium. The Holiday Bowl's being played in 2020 & 2021 at Dignity Health Sports Park and will return to Snapdragon Stadium in 2022. Poinsettia Bowl went defunct in 2016.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: With the Chargers' return to Los Angeles in 2017, the team became a beneficiary of league scheduling policies. Both the Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams share the Los Angeles market, which is on the West Coast of the United States. This means that the Chargers cannot play home games, road division games against the Denver Broncos or Las Vegas Raiders, or interconference road games against the NFC West (in seasons that the AFC West and NFC West meet in interconference play) in the early 10:00 a.m. Pacific time slot. In addition, they cannot play interconference home games at the same time or network as the Rams. As a result, both teams generally will have more limited scheduling options, and will also benefit by receiving more prime-time games than usual (click here for further information). Thus, regardless of the previous season's record, the Chargers will receive a disproportionate number of "Sunday Night", "Monday Night" and/or "Thursday Night" games, compared to the rest of the league. Additionally, if the Chargers and Rams are both playing at the same time on Sunday afternoons on a certain network (for instance, a Rams road game against an AFC opponent at the same time as a Charger home game with an NFC opponent with both on Fox, or the reverse where the Rams are on the road against an AFC opponent and the Chargers are at home against an AFC opponent on CBS), in the Los Angeles market, Fox and CBS have authorization to carry the extra game on their secondary sister stations; Fox games air on KCOP-TV, while CBS games are aired on KCAL-TV. In 2020, the Chargers signed a multi-year preseason TV deal with KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV and will have a weekly show with the latest team news, replacing KABC-TV after three seasons (2017, 2018 and 2019) of televising Chargers preseason football.


title: Los Angeles Chargers

text: The Chargers' fight song, "San Diego Super Chargers", was recorded in 1979 at the height of the team's success with Air Coryell, and has a distinctly disco sound. The team under then-new owner Alex Spanos replaced the song in 1989 with a non-disco cover version, but the original version was revived in 2002. The team played this song at home games after Chargers scores and victories until it departed San Diego. From time to time during highlights of NFL PrimeTime, ESPN's Chris Berman and Tom Jackson would briefly sing the first line of the song's chorus.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Ashley Ross ( Simpson), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister and appeared in television commercials at the age of 15. She later pursued a career as an actress and had a main role on the family drama "7th Heaven." She appeared on the reality show "", broadcast on MTV between 2003 and 2005, which focused on Ashlee's older sister Jessica and Jessica's then-husband Nick Lachey. While working on her debut studio album, Simpson became the star of a spin-off reality series, "The Ashlee Simpson Show", which was broadcast on MTV between 2004 and 2005. Like her sister before her, Simpson became the center of considerable media attention.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Her breakout came with her debut single, "Pieces of Me", which was released in 2004, became a top-five hit in the United States and topped the "Billboard" Mainstream Top 40 chart based on radio airplay. The success of the single and her reality show helped propel her debut album, "Autobiography," also released in 2004, to the top of the "Billboard" 200 albums chart. The project sold over five million copies worldwide, making it her most successful album to date. Simpson had a leading role in the film "Undiscovered" (2005), which became a critical and commercial flop. The failure of the film, along with multiple critically panned performances, led to media scrutiny. Despite that, Simpson's second studio album, "I Am Me" (2005), debuted atop the "Billboard" 200, becoming her second album to do so. The album went on to receive a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Following her appearance as Roxie Hart in the West End production of "Chicago," Simpson announced that she had begun working on her third studio album. The album differed from the pop-rock sound of her previous efforts, featuring a dance-pop and 1980s-themed sound. "Bittersweet World" was released in 2008 to positive critical reception, but it saw a decline in sales. The effort reached number 4 on the "Billboard" 200. The following year, Simpson joined the main cast of the "Melrose Place" revamp, which was met with harsh critical reception. Later that year, she made her Broadway debut reprising her role as Roxie Hart in "Chicago" on Broadway.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Simpson announced a fourth studio album that same year. She independently released the single "Bat for a Heart" (2012), though it failed to have success. Simpson eventually scrapped the album and focused on her child. Simpson reprised her role as Roxie Hart for the third time in a 2-dates special production in Hollywood Bowl in July 2013 directed by Brooke Shields. In October, Simpson and her husband Evan Ross released their debut extended play (EP) by Ashlee + Evan through Access Records, which was supported by a tour in select cities across North America, and their TV-reality show.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Simpson's parents are Tina and Joe Simpson. She has one older sister, Jessica Simpson. Both Ashlee and Jessica attended Prairie Creek Elementary and North Junior High, located in Richardson, Texas, where the girls were raised. When Ashlee was three years old, she began studying classical ballet. She enrolled at the School of American Ballet in New York City when she was eleven, becoming the youngest person ever to be admitted into the school. Though the age requirement for the school was twelve, Simpson's father admitted to lying about her age. During this time, Simpson suffered from an unnamed eating disorder for about six months, eventually receiving treatment from her parents. The Simpson family relocated to Los Angeles, California, in 1999, as Jessica pursued a singing career. While Jessica launched her career, Ashlee began appearing in television commercials. Her father, Joe, served as her agent.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Following the commercial success of Jessica's debut album "Sweet Kisses" (1999), Ashlee became one of her back-up dancers on tour. Hoping to pursue a career in acting, Simpson had a minor guest appearance on an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle". The following year, Simpson had a small role as Monique in the Rob Schneider comedy film "The Hot Chick" (2002). She joined the seventh season of the family drama "7th Heaven" as Cecilia Smith, a role which she continued to portray in the eighth season. Simpson appeared in a total of forty episodes as Cecilia. That same year, Ashlee recorded a song titled "Christmas Past, Present, and Future" for the holiday album "School's Out! Christmas"; the song was later re-released on "Radio Disney Jingle Jams" following Simpson's musical breakthrough. She later recorded the song "Just Let Me Cry" for the soundtrack to the film "Freaky Friday" (2003). Simpson later began writing and recording demos, in hopes of finding a record label. It was confirmed a month after the release of the "Freaky Friday" soundtrack that Simpson had signed with Geffen Records to release her debut studio album.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: It was announced that Jessica Simpson and then-husband Nick Lachey would star in their own MTV reality series, "". The series, which chronicled Jessica and Nick's life as a married couple, became a pop culture phenomenon and helped draw attention to the Simpson sisters. Ashlee was a VJ on "TRL" on MTV in the United States during the summer of 2003. Following the success of the series, it was confirmed that Ashlee would receive her own series, "The Ashlee Simpson Show". Hoping to end comparisons between her and her sister, Ashlee wanted the series to focus on the recording of her debut album. During this time, Simpson also dyed her naturally blonde hair brown, a decision that received media attention. While filming the show, Simpson appeared in the music video for musician Ryan Cabrera's debut single "On the Way Down" (2004), portraying herself as Cabrera's love interest. The couple later began a romantic relationship, with Cabrera inspiring multiple songs for Simpson's album.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Simpson wanted her debut album to consist of pop-rock music, as she did not listen to pop music. The project was produced by John Shanks, while Simpson co-wrote all of the songs on the album. She also worked with songwriter Kara DioGuardi on the album, with DioGuardi receiving credits on seven of the album's tracks. The album's lead single, "Pieces of Me", became an instant hit in the United States. The song became a top-five hit on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and topped the Mainstream Top 40 chart based on pop radio airplay. "Pieces of Me" earned a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting 500,000 copies of the single being sold. Her debut album, "Autobiography", was released on July 20, 2004, to a generally mixed critical reception. The album debuted at the top of the "Billboard" 200 albums chart in the United States, selling an estimated 398,000 copies in its first week of release. It was the highest-selling debut album by a female artist that year, going on to sell over 2.5 million copies in the United States by January 2005. The success of the album and its lead single was attributed to the exposure from her reality television series. The album sold over five million copies worldwide.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: On October 23, 2004, Simpson infamously appeared as a musical guest on an episode of "Saturday Night Live" to promote the album. She first performed the single "Pieces of Me", and was set to perform the song "Autobiography" as the second song. As the second performance was set to begin, the vocals for "Pieces of Me" were heard again, revealing that Simpson had lip-synced her previous performance. Simpson began to do an impromptu jig as her band transitioned into playing "Pieces of Me" again. She then walked off the stage as her band continued to play without her for several seconds, before the show cut to commercial. During the closing of the show, Simpson appeared with the guest host, Jude Law, and said, "I feel so bad! My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoedown." The performance received significant media attention and was met with backlash. Days later, Simpson called music video series "Total Request Live" and explained that she was advised not to sing live due to acid reflux disease, which was later confirmed by "60 Minutes" in a piece they had filmed about SNL. Simpson said of the incident, "I made a complete fool of myself."


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Despite the negative media attention surrounding the incident, Simpson released "Shadow" as the second single from "Autobiography" in the United States. The song did not receive a release in European territories. It failed to have the success of its predecessor, though it did reach the top twenty of the Mainstream Top 40 chart, becoming her second hit on the chart. The song lyrically spoke of her views towards her older sister's success. The song received a positive critical reception, with some praising it as a highlight for the album. "La La" was released as the album's third and final single in January 2005, and again failed to match the success of "Pieces of Me". Despite a low peak on the Hot 100 chart, the song received a gold certification from the RIAA. The song served as only the second single in European territories. Simpson and Cabrera ended their relationship, though the two remained friends. At the "Teen Choice Awards" on August 8, 2004, Simpson received the "Song of the Summer" Teen Choice Award for "Pieces of Me", as well as the "Fresh Face" Award. She also won the Billboard Award for New Female Artist of the Year in December, and in the same month, "Entertainment Weekly" named her one of its Breakout Stars of 2004.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: In January 2005, gossip news outlets began speculating that Simpson and actor Wilmer Valderrama were romantically involved, leading to rumors of a "love triangle" between the pair and Valderrama's ex-girlfriend Lindsay Lohan. Despite this, representatives for Simpson claimed that the two had been friends for years, and there was no romantic interest. Simpson appeared as a musical guest during halftime at the 2005 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. Her performance of "La La" garnered a negative reception from the crowd, leading to boos. In February 2005, Simpson embarked on her Autobiography Tour throughout North America. Featuring a total of thirty-seven shows, the tour saw Simpson performing songs from her debut album, as well as covers and a previously unreleased song. While on tour, Simpson wrote material for her second studio album. Simpson had a supporting role in the film "Undiscovered," portraying an aspiring actress named Clea. But the film was a critical and commercial failure, and it earned Simpson a nomination for Worst Supporting Actress at the 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Simpson released her second studio album, "I Am Me," in October 2005. The album featured similar pop-rock themes as found on her debut effort, though Simpson hoped to incorporate the feel of music from the 1980s into her sound. Much like her previous release, Simpson co-wrote all of the songs on the album. It became her second album to debut at the top of the "Billboard" 200 chart, with first-week sales of 220,000 copies in the United States. The album failed to match the success of "Autobiography," though it went on to sell over three million copies worldwide. The album's lead single, "Boyfriend", was written and composed about the rumors between Simpson and Valderama, and it became her second top-twenty hit in the United States. For the release of the album, Simpson went back to her blonde hair. The album's second and final single, "L.O.V.E.", entered the top forty in the United States. Simpson appeared for a second time as a musical performer on "Saturday Night Live," performing the song "Catch Me When I Fall", which was inspired by her previous appearance on the series, as well as "Boyfriend". This time, both songs were performed without any adverse incident. In mid-December, Simpson collapsed after performing in Japan and was briefly hospitalized, consequently canceling an appearance at the Radio Music Awards. The collapse and her subsequent hospitalization were attributed to exhaustion as a result of her busy work schedule.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Simpson embarked on her I Am Me Tour in the final months of 2005 and began dating her drummer Braxton Olita. In March 2006, Simpson won an MTV celebrity surfing invitational competition, which also featured celebrities such as Meagan Good, Jack Osbourne, Ashley Parker Angel, and Tony Hawk. On April 12, 2006, she hosted and performed at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards, where she won "Best Female Artist" and "Best Pop Video" for the single "Boyfriend". Simpson had a nose job in April 2006. In the May 2007 issue of "Harper's Bazaar," she said that she was neither insecure about her appearance nor had been so beforehand. She said that plastic surgery was a "personal choice" that one should only decide to do for oneself and not for others. In a September 2007 interview, her father, Joe Simpson, explained of the surgery Ashlee had undergone: "There was a real problem with her breathing and that was cured." In the middle of 2006, Simpson gave an interview to "Marie Claire" magazine, in which she was said to have "had it with Hollywood's twisted view of feminine beauty" and was photographed painting a pro-female mural with a group of underprivileged girls from Los Angeles' Green Dot Public School. By the time the magazine hit newsstands, Simpson had already had her nose job, and some "Marie Claire" readers complained that this was hypocritical. The magazine received over 1,000 letters of complaint and the magazine's new editor expanded the letters section of the September issue of the magazine to give readers a chance to vent their frustrations.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Simpson embarked on her third North American tour, the L.O.V.E. Tour, to further promote her sophomore album. It was announced that "I Am Me" would be re-released in the following months featuring a new single "Invisible", a cover of a Jaded Era song. The single was released in June 2006 and went on to peak at number 21 on the Hot 100. It became her second single to enter the top ten of the Mainstream Top 40 chart based on pop radio airplay. Eventually, it was confirmed that a re-release of "I Am Me" had been scrapped. In 2006, Simpson was cast as Roxie Hart in the West End musical production of "Chicago" from September 25 to October 28, 2006. She received mostly positive reviews. Her performance in the show was described as "dazzling and near flawless". Following her split with Olita, it was confirmed that Simpson was in a relationship with Fall Out Boy band member Pete Wentz.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Following her appearance as Roxie Hart, Simpson confirmed that she had begun working on her third studio album, initially slated for release in late 2007. Geffen Records chairman Ron Fair said in December 2006 that working on Simpson's next album would be "very tricky" because of press scrutiny and "prejudices", but that Geffen would work with her to overcome that, "because she deserves to be heard and she deserves a shot." Hoping to transition to a new sound, Simpson enlisted producers Timbaland and The Neptunes to provide "beat-oriented" songs for the project. Simpson released the album's lead single, "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)", in December 2007. The song featured elements of synthpop and was heavily influenced by the pop-music scene of the 1980s. The single failed to chart on the Hot 100 chart in the United States, though it had moderate success in international territories. "Bittersweet World", Simpson's third studio album, was released on April 19, 2008. The album saw a decline for Simpson, debuting at number 4 on the "Billboard" 200 with first-week sales of 47,000 copies. Simpson launched a collection of tops in partnership with the clothing retailer Wet Seal on April 22, 2008, the same day "Bittersweet World" was released in the United States. The album went on to sell 126,000 copies within the first year of its release, making it her lowest-selling album to date. The release served as Simpson's final album through Geffen Records.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: In February 2008, Simpson began wearing a diamond ring. She later explained that it was a promise ring from Wentz. In April 2008, Simpson and Wentz confirmed their engagement, and they wed on May 17, 2008, at Simpson's parents' residence in Encino, California, with her father officiating the ceremony. She changed her surname from Simpson to Wentz, and during the marriage was known professionally as Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. It was during this time that Simpson released the song "Little Miss Obsessive" as the second single from "Bittersweet World". The song did not receive a European release and hit a peak of 96 on the Hot 100 chart in the United States. She also began appearing in commercials for Canadian retailer Zellers to promote their independent clothing line, "Request", in mid-2008. Two weeks after her wedding, Simpson announced her pregnancy, thus ending promotion of "Little Miss Obsessive" and the parent album. Simpson gave birth to a son named Bronx born November 20, 2008.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: In 2009, Simpson returned full-time to television episodes by playing the role of Violet Foster in "Melrose Place", The CW's revamp of the 1990s series of the same name. She was originally signed to the show as a regular, but producers and CW executives decided to write out her character. Simpson left the show after twelve episodes and stated that she had known all along that her character would leave the show once the murder mystery storyline had concluded. Despite this, Ashlee's sister has spoken out against the series, claiming that Simpson brought the show free press. After her departure from "Melrose Place", Simpson reprised her role in the Broadway musical production of "Chicago". She began her Broadway run on November 30, 2009, and performed in New York for eight shows a week until February 7, 2010. On February 9, 2011, Simpson filed for divorce from Wentz, citing irreconcilable differences, and asked that her maiden name be restored. The divorce was finalized on November 22, 2011. The former couple released a joint statement following the announcement, stating "We remain friends and deeply committed and loving parents to our son Bronx, whose happiness and well-being remains our number one priority." Simpson appeared on the second episode of The CW's "America's Next Top Model, Cycle 17" as a guest judge. She created a fashion line aimed at girls aged seven to sixteen in collaboration with her sister's successful brand. Simpson is the co-creative director of the line, which was released in the winter of 2011.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Shortly after her separation from Wentz, it was confirmed that Simpson was in a relationship with actor Vincent Piazza, though the two ended their relationship nearly a year and a half after they started dating. Simpson confirmed during an interview in 2011 that she had begun working on her fourth studio album, which she described as having a "folk feel". In 2012, Simpson independently released the single "Bat for a Heart". Though the single featured explicit lyrics and a racy music video, it failed to have any success. The track was written and composed by renowned songwriter Linda Perry. The song received a mixed reception upon its release. Simpson later claimed that the album was developing more of an electronic sound. However, "Bat for a Heart" served as Simpson's final musical release for several years afterward, with no future musical plans announced and her music website being shut down. In June 2012, it was announced that Simpson was filming "Pawn Shop Chronicles" in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a comedy movie released in 2013.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Simpson portrayed the character of Roxie Hart for a third time in the musical "Chicago," this time in the Hollywood Bowl production of the show. Simpson's performance received mixed reviews, though she was described as an "audience favorite". In July 2013, it was reported that Simpson had begun dating actor Evan Ross, son of singer Diana Ross. Simpson and Ross became engaged in January 2014, and married on August 30, 2014, at Diana Ross's estate in Connecticut. The couple welcomed a daughter named Jagger Snow on July 30, 2015. The same month, Simpson and her husband filed requests to change their surname to Ross-Næss. Næss was her husband's original legal surname (from his father, businessman Arne Næss Jr.), while Ross was his mother's surname.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: In May 2016, Simpson said she was eschewing a possible return to acting in order to focus on making a new album: "I’ve been writing music with my husband and that's been so much fun, we’ve just been [trying to] find our sound, we’ve written like 10 songs but we’re going to write a whole bunch more." But in early 2005, her music website went offline—with an error—for months and, as of early September 2018, it remained offline despite her claims to return to music.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: That same year, Simpson voiced Strelka in the animated movie "Space Dogs Adventure to the Moon," alongside Alicia Silverstone. Simpson also confirmed to "Us Weekly" that new music would be released in 2019, which appeared to suggest she was working on her upcoming fourth studio album after an eleven-year hiatus.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: On September 9, 2018, she was slated to return to the world of TV-reality shows with "Ashlee+Evan," on E! Entertainment Television. Simpson and Ross released their debut duet single, "I Do" on September 7, 2018. The couple was expected to release a full-length album later that year, but instead released an extended play record, "Ashlee + Evan".


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: In April 2020, Simpson announced she was pregnant with her third child, a son. She gave birth to Ziggy Blu on October 29, 2020.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Simpson has appeared on the covers of numerous magazines, including the USA's "Women's Health", "Jane, CosmoGirl", "Shape", "Allure", "YM", "Marie Claire", "Redbook" and "Seventeen"; Germany's "Glamour"; Japan's "Blenda" and "Elle"; and Russia's "Elle Girl". She has appeared on several international editions of "Cosmopolitan", such as Georgia, Serbia, Russia, Italy, Greece, Ukraine, Slovenia, Netherlands, US and Australia. She has appeared in television commercials for Liquid Ice, HP, Zellers and Pizza Hut. She appeared in print ads for Skechers and ThermaSilk.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: "Forbes" listed Simpson as one of the "Richest Young Celebrities", it is reported she earned $8.3 million in 2005. "Forbes" placed Simpson and her then-husband Pete Wentz at No. 20 on their list of "Top 20 Celebrity Cash Couples" with their $9.5 million combined income.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: With the release of "Autobiography", Simpson instantaneously became marketed as an "anti-Britney", drawing comparisons to artists such as Avril Lavigne and Fefe Dobson. The media noted her "punk-rock" image and style as a contrast to her sister Jessica. With the success of Jessica's reality television series "Newlyweds", the sisters became household names in the media and became the focus of much attention. She cites her childhood as being the time when she began to sing and admits that she dreamed of being on Broadway and did not expect to break into the pop music scene.


title: Ashlee Simpson

text: Vocally, Simpson is an alto with a two-octave vocal range. She trains with a vocal coach, and studies Etta James and Aretha Franklin albums for vocal inspiration. She has cited Guns N' Roses, Gwen Stefani, No Doubt, Joan Jett, The Runaways, Madonna, Pat Benatar, Green Day, Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, Chrissie Hynde, and Debbie Harry from Blondie as her musical influences.


title: Easter Rising

text: The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was fighting the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and the first armed conflict of the Irish revolutionary period. Sixteen of the Rising's leaders were executed from May 1916. The nature of the executions, and subsequent political developments, ultimately contributed to an increase in popular support for Irish independence.


title: Easter Rising

text: Organised by a seven-man Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Rising began on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916 and lasted for six days. Members of the Irish Volunteers, led by schoolmaster and Irish language activist Patrick Pearse, joined by the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly and 200 women of Cumann na mBan, seized strategically important buildings in Dublin and proclaimed the Irish Republic. The British Army brought in thousands of reinforcements as well as artillery and a gunboat. There was street fighting on the routes into the city centre, where the rebels slowed the British advance and inflicted many casualties. Elsewhere in Dublin, the fighting mainly consisted of sniping and long-range gun battles. The main rebel positions were gradually surrounded and bombarded with artillery. There were isolated actions in other parts of Ireland; Volunteer leader Eoin MacNeill had issued a countermand in a bid to halt the Rising, which greatly reduced the number of rebels who mobilised.


title: Easter Rising

text: With much greater numbers and heavier weapons, the British Army suppressed the Rising. Pearse agreed to an unconditional surrender on Saturday 29 April, although sporadic fighting continued briefly. After the surrender, the country remained under martial law. About 3,500 people were taken prisoner by the British and 1,800 of them were sent to internment camps or prisons in Britain. Most of the leaders of the Rising were executed following courts-martial. The Rising brought physical force republicanism back to the forefront of Irish politics, which for nearly fifty years had been dominated by constitutional nationalism. Opposition to the British reaction to the Rising contributed to changes in public opinion and the move toward independence, as shown in the December 1918 election in Ireland which was won by the Sinn Féin party, which convened the First Dáil and declared independence.


title: Easter Rising

text: Of the 485 people killed, 260 were civilians, 143 were British military and police personnel, and 82 were Irish rebels, including 16 rebels executed for their roles in the Rising. More than 2,600 people were wounded. Many of the civilians were killed or wounded by British artillery fire or were mistaken for rebels. Others were caught in the crossfire during firefights between the British and the rebels. The shelling and resulting fires left parts of central Dublin in ruins.


title: Easter Rising

text: The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, abolishing the Irish Parliament and giving Ireland representation in the British Parliament. From early on, many Irish nationalists opposed the union and the continued lack of adequate political representation, along with the British government's handling of Ireland and Irish people, particularly the Great Irish Famine. Opposition took various forms: constitutional (the Repeal Association; the Home Rule League), social (disestablishment of the Church of Ireland; the Land League) and revolutionary (Rebellion of 1848; Fenian Rising). The Irish Home Rule movement sought to achieve self-government for Ireland, within the United Kingdom. In 1886, the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell succeeded in having the First Home Rule Bill introduced in the British parliament, but it was defeated. The Second Home Rule Bill of 1893 was passed by the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords.


title: Easter Rising

text: After the death of Parnell, younger and more radical nationalists became disillusioned with parliamentary politics and turned toward more extreme forms of separatism. The Gaelic Athletic Association, the Gaelic League and the cultural revival under W. B. Yeats and Augusta, Lady Gregory, together with the new political thinking of Arthur Griffith expressed in his newspaper "Sinn Féin" and organisations such as the National Council and the Sinn Féin League, led many Irish people to identify with the idea of an independent Gaelic Ireland. This was sometimes referred to by the generic term "Sinn Féin", with the British authorities using it as a collective noun for republicans and advanced nationalists.


title: Easter Rising

text: The Third Home Rule Bill was introduced by British Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith in 1912. Irish Unionists, who were overwhelmingly Protestants, opposed it, as they did not want to be ruled by a Catholic-dominated Irish government. Led by Sir Edward Carson and James Craig, they formed the Ulster Volunteers (UVF) in January 1913. In response, Irish nationalists formed a rival paramilitary group, the Irish Volunteers, in November 1913. The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) was a driving force behind the Irish Volunteers and attempted to control it. Its leader was Eoin MacNeill, who was not an IRB member. The Irish Volunteers' stated goal was "to secure and to maintain the rights and liberties common to all the people of Ireland". It included people with a range of political views, and was open to "all able-bodied Irishmen without distinction of creed, politics or social group". Another militant group, the Irish Citizen Army, was formed by trade unionists as a result of the Dublin Lock-out of that year. British Army officers threatened to resign if they were ordered to take action against the UVF. When the Irish Volunteers smuggled rifles into Dublin, the British Army attempted to stop them and shot into a crowd of civilians. By 1914, Ireland seemed to be on the brink of a civil war. This seemed to be averted in August of that year by the outbreak of the First World War, and Ireland's involvement in it. Nevertheless, on 18 September 1914 the Government of Ireland Act 1914 was enacted and placed on the statute book, but the Suspensory Act was passed at the same time, which deferred Irish Home Rule for one year, with powers for it to be suspended for further periods of six months so long as the war continued. It was widely believed at the time that the war would not last more than a few months. On 14 September 1915 an Order in Council was made under the Suspensory Act to suspend the Government of Ireland Act until 18 March 1916. Another such Order was made on 29 February 1916, suspending the Act for another six months.


title: Easter Rising

text: The Supreme Council of the IRB met on 5 September 1914, just over a month after the British government had declared war on Germany. At this meeting, they decided to stage an uprising before the war ended and to secure help from Germany. Responsibility for the planning of the rising was given to Tom Clarke and Seán Mac Diarmada. The Irish Volunteers—the smaller of the two forces resulting from the September 1914 split over support for the British war effort—set up a "headquarters staff" that included Patrick Pearse as Director of Military Organisation, Joseph Plunkett as Director of Military Operations and Thomas MacDonagh as Director of Training. Éamonn Ceannt was later added as Director of Communications.


title: Easter Rising

text: In May 1915, Clarke and Mac Diarmada established a Military Committee or Military Council within the IRB, consisting of Pearse, Plunkett and Ceannt, to draw up plans for a rising. Clarke and Mac Diarmada joined it shortly after. The Military Council was able to promote its own policies and personnel independently of both the Volunteer Executive and the IRB Executive. Although the Volunteer and IRB leaders were not against a rising in principle, they were of the opinion that it was not opportune at that moment. Volunteer Chief-of-Staff Eoin MacNeill supported a rising only if the British government attempted to suppress the Volunteers or introduce conscription in Ireland, and if such a rising had some chance of success. IRB President Denis McCullough and prominent IRB member Bulmer Hobson held similar views. The Military Council kept its plans secret, so as to prevent the British authorities learning of the plans, and to thwart those within the organisation who might try to stop the rising. IRB members held officer rank in the Volunteers throughout the country and took their orders from the Military Council, not from MacNeill.


title: Easter Rising

text: Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Roger Casement and Clan na Gael leader John Devoy met the German ambassador to the United States, Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, to discuss German backing for an uprising. Casement went to Germany and began negotiations with the German government and military. He persuaded the Germans to announce their support for Irish independence in November 1914. Casement also attempted to recruit an Irish Brigade, made up of Irish prisoners of war, which would be armed and sent to Ireland to join the uprising. However, only 56 men volunteered. Plunkett joined Casement in Germany the following year. Together, Plunkett and Casement presented a plan (the 'Ireland Report') in which a German expeditionary force would land on the west coast of Ireland, while a rising in Dublin diverted the British forces so that the Germans, with the help of local Volunteers, could secure the line of the River Shannon, before advancing on the capital. The German military rejected the plan, but agreed to ship arms and ammunition to the Volunteers.


title: Easter Rising

text: James Connolly—head of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA), a group of armed socialist trade union men and women—was unaware of the IRB's plans, and threatened to start a rebellion on his own if other parties failed to act. If they had done it alone, the IRB and the Volunteers would possibly have come to their aid; however, the IRB leaders met with Connolly in January 1916 and convinced him to join forces with them. They agreed that they would launch a rising together at Easter and made Connolly the sixth member of the Military Council. Thomas MacDonagh would later become the seventh and final member.


title: Easter Rising

text: The death of the old Fenian leader Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa in New York in August 1915 was an opportunity to mount a spectacular demonstration. His body was sent to Ireland for burial in Glasnevin Cemetery, with the Volunteers in charge of arrangements. Huge crowds lined the route and gathered at the graveside. Pearse made a dramatic funeral oration, a rallying call to republicans, which ended with the words "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace".


title: Easter Rising

text: In early April, Pearse issued orders to the Irish Volunteers for three days of "parades and manoeuvres" beginning on Easter Sunday. He had the authority to do this, as the Volunteers' Director of Organisation. The idea was that IRB members within the organisation would know these were orders to begin the rising, while men such as MacNeill and the British authorities would take it at face value.


title: Easter Rising

text: On 9 April, the German Navy dispatched the SS "Libau" for County Kerry, disguised as the Norwegian ship "Aud". It was loaded with 20,000 rifles, one million rounds of ammunition, and explosives. Casement also left for Ireland aboard the German submarine "U-19". He was disappointed with the level of support offered by the Germans and he intended to stop or at least postpone the rising.


title: Easter Rising

text: On Wednesday 19 April, Alderman Tom Kelly, a Sinn Féin member of Dublin Corporation, read out at a meeting of the corporation a document purportedly leaked from Dublin Castle, detailing plans by the British authorities to shortly arrest leaders of the Irish Volunteers, Sinn Féin and the Gaelic League, and occupy their premises. Although the British authorities said the "Castle Document" was fake, MacNeill ordered the Volunteers to prepare to resist. Unbeknownst to MacNeill, the document had been forged by the Military Council to persuade moderates of the need for their planned uprising. It was an edited version of a real document outlining British plans in the event of conscription. That same day, the Military Council informed senior Volunteer officers that the rising would begin on Easter Sunday. However, it chose not to inform the rank-and-file, or moderates such as MacNeill, until the last minute.


title: Easter Rising

text: The following day, MacNeill got wind that a rising was about to be launched and threatened to do everything he could to prevent it, short of informing the British. MacNeill was briefly persuaded to go along with some sort of action when Mac Diarmada revealed to him that a German arms shipment was about to land in County Kerry. MacNeill believed that when the British learned of the shipment they would immediately suppress the Volunteers, thus the Volunteers would be justified in taking defensive action, including the planned manoeuvres.


title: Easter Rising

text: The "Aud" and the "U-19" reached the coast of Kerry on Good Friday, 21 April. This was earlier than the Volunteers expected and so none were there to meet the vessels. The Royal Navy had known about the arms shipment and intercepted the "Aud", prompting the captain to scuttle the ship. Furthermore, Casement was captured shortly after he landed at Banna Strand.


title: Easter Rising

text: When MacNeill learned from Volunteer Patrick Whelan that the arms shipment had been lost, he reverted to his original position. With the support of other leaders of like mind, notably Bulmer Hobson and The O'Rahilly, he issued a countermand to all Volunteers, cancelling all actions for Sunday. This countermanding order was relayed to Volunteer officers and printed in the Sunday morning newspapers. It succeeded only in delaying the rising for a day, although it greatly reduced the number of Volunteers who turned out.


title: Easter Rising

text: British Naval Intelligence had been aware of the arms shipment, Casement's return, and the Easter date for the rising through radio messages between Germany and its embassy in the United States that were intercepted by the Royal Navy and deciphered in Room 40 of the Admiralty. The information was passed to the Under-Secretary for Ireland, Sir Matthew Nathan, on 17 April, but without revealing its source and Nathan was doubtful about its accuracy. When news reached Dublin of the capture of the "Aud" and the arrest of Casement, Nathan conferred with the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wimborne. Nathan proposed to raid Liberty Hall, headquarters of the Citizen Army, and Volunteer properties at Father Matthew Park and at Kimmage, but Wimborne insisted on wholesale arrests of the leaders. It was decided to postpone action until after Easter Monday, and in the meantime, Nathan telegraphed the Chief Secretary, Augustine Birrell, in London seeking his approval. By the time Birrell cabled his reply authorising the action, at noon on Monday 24 April 1916, the Rising had already begun.


title: Easter Rising

text: On the morning of Easter Sunday, 23 April, the Military Council met at Liberty Hall to discuss what to do in light of MacNeill's countermanding order. They decided that the Rising would go ahead the following day, Easter Monday, and that the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army would go into action as the 'Army of the Irish Republic'. They elected Pearse as president of the Irish Republic, and also as Commander-in-Chief of the army; Connolly became Commandant of the Dublin Brigade. Messengers were then sent to all units informing them of the new orders.


title: Easter Rising

text: On the morning of Monday 24 April, about 1,200 members of the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army mustered at several locations in central Dublin. Among them were members of the all-female Cumann na mBan. Some wore Irish Volunteer and Citizen Army uniforms, while others wore civilian clothes with a yellow Irish Volunteer armband, military hats, and bandoliers. They were armed mostly with rifles (especially 1871 Mausers), but also with shotguns, revolvers, a few Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistols, and grenades. The number of Volunteers who mobilised was much smaller than expected. This was due to MacNeill's countermanding order, and the fact that the new orders had been sent so soon beforehand. However, several hundred Volunteers joined the Rising after it began.


title: Easter Rising

text: Shortly before midday, the rebels began to seize important sites in central Dublin. The rebels' plan was to hold Dublin city centre. This was a large, oval-shaped area bounded by two canals: the Grand to the south and the Royal to the north, with the River Liffey running through the middle. On the southern and western edges of this district were five British Army barracks. Most of the rebels' positions had been chosen to defend against counter-attacks from these barracks. The rebels took the positions with ease. Civilians were evacuated and policemen were ejected or taken prisoner. Windows and doors were barricaded, food and supplies were secured, and first aid posts were set up. Barricades were erected on the streets to hinder British Army movement.


title: Easter Rising

text: A joint force of about 400 Volunteers and Citizen Army gathered at Liberty Hall under the command of Commandant James Connolly. This was the headquarters battalion, and it also included Commander-in-Chief Patrick Pearse, as well as Tom Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada and Joseph Plunkett. They marched to the General Post Office (GPO) on O'Connell Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare, occupied the building and hoisted two republican flags. Pearse stood outside and read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Copies of the Proclamation were also pasted on walls and handed out to bystanders by Volunteers and newsboys. The GPO would be the rebels' headquarters for most of the Rising. Volunteers from the GPO also occupied other buildings on the street, including buildings overlooking O'Connell Bridge. They took over a wireless telegraph station and sent out a radio broadcast in Morse code, announcing that an Irish Republic had been declared. This was the first radio broadcast in Ireland.


title: Easter Rising

text: Elsewhere, some of the headquarters battalion under Michael Mallin occupied St Stephen's Green, where they dug trenches and barricaded the surrounding roads. The 1st battalion, under Edward 'Ned' Daly, occupied the Four Courts and surrounding buildings, while a company under Seán Heuston occupied the Mendicity Institution, across the River Liffey from the Four Courts. The 2nd battalion, under Thomas MacDonagh, occupied Jacob's biscuit factory. The 3rd battalion, under Éamon de Valera, occupied Boland's Mill and surrounding buildings. The 4th battalion, under Éamonn Ceannt, occupied the South Dublin Union and the distillery on Marrowbone Lane. From each of these garrisons, small units of rebels established outposts in the surrounding area.


title: Easter Rising

text: The rebels also attempted to cut transport and communication links. As well as erecting roadblocks, they took control of various bridges and cut telephone and telegraph wires. Westland Row and Harcourt Street railway stations were occupied, though the latter only briefly. The railway line was cut at Fairview and the line was damaged by bombs at Amiens Street, Broadstone, Kingsbridge and Lansdowne Road.


title: Easter Rising

text: Around midday, a small team of Volunteers and Fianna Éireann members swiftly captured the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park and disarmed the guards. The goal was to seize weapons and blow up the ammunition store to signal that the Rising had begun. They seized weapons and planted explosives, but the blast was not loud enough to be heard across the city. The 23-year-old son of the fort's commander was fatally shot when he ran to raise the alarm.


title: Easter Rising

text: A contingent under Seán Connolly occupied Dublin City Hall and adjacent buildings. They attempted to seize neighbouring Dublin Castle, the heart of British rule in Ireland. As they approached the gate a lone and unarmed police sentry, James O'Brien, attempted to stop them and was shot dead by Connolly. According to some accounts, he was the first casualty of the Rising. The rebels overpowered the soldiers in the guardroom but failed to press further. The British Army's chief intelligence officer, Major Ivon Price, fired on the rebels while the Under-Secretary for Ireland, Sir Matthew Nathan, helped shut the castle gates. Unbeknownst to the rebels, the Castle was lightly guarded and could have been taken with ease. The rebels instead laid siege to the Castle from City Hall. Fierce fighting erupted there after British reinforcements arrived. The rebels on the roof exchanged fire with soldiers on the street. Seán Connolly was shot dead by a sniper, becoming the first rebel casualty. By the following morning, British forces had re-captured City Hall and taken the rebels prisoner.


title: Easter Rising

text: The rebels did not attempt to take some other key locations, notably Trinity College, in the heart of the city centre and defended by only a handful of armed unionist students. Failure to capture the telephone exchange in Crown Alley left communications in the hands of Government with GPO staff quickly repairing telephone wires that had been cut by the rebels. The failure to occupy strategic locations was attributed to lack of manpower. In at least two incidents, at Jacob's and Stephen's Green, the Volunteers and Citizen Army shot dead civilians trying to attack them or dismantle their barricades. Elsewhere, they hit civilians with their rifle butts to drive them off.


title: Easter Rising

text: The British military were caught totally unprepared by the Rising and their response of the first day was generally un-coordinated. Two squadrons of British cavalry were sent to investigate what was happening. They took fire and casualties from rebel forces at the GPO and at the Four Courts. As one troop passed Nelson's Pillar, the rebels opened fire from the GPO, killing three cavalrymen and two horses and fatally wounding a fourth man. The cavalrymen retreated and were withdrawn to barracks. On Mount Street, a group of Volunteer Training Corps men stumbled upon the rebel position and four were killed before they reached Beggars Bush Barracks.


title: Easter Rising

text: The only substantial combat of the first day of the Rising took place at the South Dublin Union where a piquet from the Royal Irish Regiment encountered an outpost of Éamonn Ceannt's force at the northwestern corner of the South Dublin Union. The British troops, after taking some casualties, managed to regroup and launch several assaults on the position before they forced their way inside and the small rebel force in the tin huts at the eastern end of the Union surrendered. However, the Union complex as a whole remained in rebel hands. A nurse in uniform, Margaret Keogh, was shot dead by British soldiers at the Union. She is believed to have been the first civilian killed in the Rising.


title: Easter Rising

text: Three unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police were shot dead on the first day of the Rising and their Commissioner pulled them off the streets. Partly as a result of the police withdrawal, a wave of looting broke out in the city centre, especially in the area of O'Connell Street (still officially called "Sackville Street" at the time).


title: Easter Rising

text: Lord Wimborne, the Lord Lieutenant, declared martial law on Tuesday evening and handed over civil power to Brigadier-General William Lowe. British forces initially put their efforts into securing the approaches to Dublin Castle and isolating the rebel headquarters, which they believed was in Liberty Hall. The British commander, Lowe, worked slowly, unsure of the size of the force he was up against, and with only 1,269 troops in the city when he arrived from the Curragh Camp in the early hours of Tuesday 25 April. City Hall was taken from the rebel unit that had attacked Dublin Castle on Tuesday morning.


title: Easter Rising

text: In the early hours of Tuesday, 120 British soldiers, with machine-guns, occupied two buildings overlooking St Stephen's Green: the Shelbourne Hotel and United Services Club. At dawn they opened fire on the Citizen Army occupying the green. The rebels returned fire but were forced to retreat to the Royal College of Surgeons building. They remained there for the rest of the week, exchanging fire with British forces.


title: Easter Rising

text: Fighting erupted along the northern edge of the city centre on Tuesday afternoon. In the northeast, British troops left Amiens Street railway station in an armoured train, to secure and repair a section of damaged tracks. They were attacked by rebels who had taken up position at Annesley Bridge. After a two-hour battle, the British were forced to retreat and several soldiers were captured. At Phibsborough, in the northwest, rebels had occupied buildings and erected barricades at junctions on the North Circular Road. The British summoned 18-pounder field artillery from Athlone and shelled the rebel positions, destroying the barricades. After a fierce firefight, the rebels withdrew.


title: Easter Rising

text: That afternoon Pearse walked out into O'Connell Street with a small escort and stood in front of Nelson's Pillar. As a large crowd gathered, he read out a ',' calling on them to support the Rising.


title: Easter Rising

text: The rebels had failed to take either of Dublin's two main railway stations or either of its ports, at Dublin Port and Kingstown. As a result, during the following week, the British were able to bring in thousands of reinforcements from Britain and from their garrisons at the Curragh and Belfast. By the end of the week, British strength stood at over 16,000 men. Their firepower was provided by field artillery which they positioned on the Northside of the city at Phibsborough and at Trinity College, and by the patrol vessel "Helga", which sailed up the Liffey, having been summoned from the port at Kingstown. On Wednesday, 26 April, the guns at Trinity College and "Helga" shelled Liberty Hall, and the Trinity College guns then began firing at rebel positions, first at Boland's Mill and then in O'Connell Street. Some rebel commanders, particularly James Connolly, did not believe that the British would shell the 'second city' of the British Empire.


title: Easter Rising

text: The principal rebel positions at the GPO, the Four Courts, Jacob's Factory and Boland's Mill saw little action. The British surrounded and bombarded them rather than assault them directly. One Volunteer in the GPO recalled, "we did practically no shooting as there was no target". However, where the rebels dominated the routes by which the British tried to funnel reinforcements into the city, there was fierce fighting.


title: Easter Rising

text: At 5:25PM Volunteers Eamon Martin, Garry Holohan, Robert Beggs, Sean Cody, Dinny O'Callaghan, Charles Shelley, Peadar Breslin and five others attempted to occupy Broadstone railway station on Church Street, the attack was unsuccessful and Martin was injured.


title: Easter Rising

text: On Wednesday morning, hundreds of British troops encircled the Mendicity Institution, which was occupied by 26 Volunteers under Seán Heuston. British troops advanced on the building, supported by snipers and machine-gun fire, but the Volunteers put up stiff resistance. Eventually, the troops got close enough to hurl grenades into the building, some of which the rebels threw back. Exhausted and almost out of ammunition, Heuston's men became the first rebel position to surrender. Heuston had been ordered to hold his position for a few hours, to delay the British, but had held on for three days.


title: Easter Rising

text: Reinforcements were sent to Dublin from Britain and disembarked at Kingstown on the morning of Wednesday 26 April. Heavy fighting occurred at the rebel-held positions around the Grand Canal as these troops advanced towards Dublin. More than 1,000 Sherwood Foresters were repeatedly caught in a cross-fire trying to cross the canal at Mount Street Bridge. Seventeen Volunteers were able to severely disrupt the British advance, killing or wounding 240 men. Despite there being alternative routes across the canal nearby, General Lowe ordered repeated frontal assaults on the Mount Street position. The British eventually took the position, which had not been reinforced by the nearby rebel garrison at Boland's Mills, on Thursday, but the fighting there inflicted up to two-thirds of their casualties for the entire week for a cost of just four dead Volunteers. It had taken nearly nine hours for the British to advance .


title: Easter Rising

text: On Wednesday Linenhall Barracks on Constitution Hill was burnt down under the orders of Commandant Edward Daly to prevent its reoccupation by the British.


title: Easter Rising

text: The rebel position at the South Dublin Union (site of the present-day St. James's Hospital) and Marrowbone Lane, further west along the canal, also inflicted heavy losses on British troops. The South Dublin Union was a large complex of buildings and there was vicious fighting around and inside the buildings. Cathal Brugha, a rebel officer, distinguished himself in this action and was badly wounded. By the end of the week, the British had taken some of the buildings in the Union, but others remained in rebel hands. British troops also took casualties in unsuccessful frontal assaults on the Marrowbone Lane Distillery.


title: Easter Rising

text: The third major scene of fighting during the week was in the area of North King Street, north of the Four Courts. The rebels had established strong outposts in the area, occupying numerous small buildings and barricading the streets. From Thursday to Saturday, the British made repeated attempts to capture the area, in what was some of the fiercest fighting of the Rising. As the troops moved in, the rebels continually opened fire from windows and behind chimneys and barricades. At one point, a platoon led by Major Sheppard made a bayonet charge on one of the barricades but was cut down by rebel fire. The British employed machine guns and attempted to avoid direct fire by using makeshift armoured trucks, and by mouse-holing through the inside walls of terraced houses to get near the rebel positions. By the time of the rebel headquarters' surrender on Saturday, the South Staffordshire Regiment under Colonel Taylor had advanced only down the street at a cost of 11 dead and 28 wounded. The enraged troops broke into the houses along the street and shot or bayoneted fifteen unarmed male civilians whom they accused of being rebel fighters.


title: Easter Rising

text: Elsewhere, at Portobello Barracks, an officer named Bowen Colthurst summarily executed six civilians, including the pacifist nationalist activist, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington. These instances of British troops killing Irish civilians would later be highly controversial in Ireland.


title: Easter Rising

text: The headquarters garrison at the GPO was forced to evacuate after days of shelling when a fire caused by the shells spread to the GPO. Connolly had been incapacitated by a bullet wound to the ankle and had passed command on to Pearse. The O'Rahilly was killed in a sortie from the GPO. They tunnelled through the walls of the neighbouring buildings in order to evacuate the Post Office without coming under fire and took up a new position in 16 Moore Street. The young Seán McLoughlin was given military command and planned a breakout, but Pearse realised this plan would lead to further loss of civilian life.


title: Easter Rising

text: On Saturday 29 April, from this new headquarters, Pearse issued an order for all companies to surrender. Pearse surrendered unconditionally to Brigadier-General Lowe. The surrender document read:


title: Easter Rising

text: The other posts surrendered only after Pearse's surrender order, carried by nurse Elizabeth O'Farrell, reached them. Sporadic fighting, therefore, continued until Sunday, when word of the surrender was got to the other rebel garrisons. Command of British forces had passed from Lowe to General John Maxwell, who arrived in Dublin just in time to take the surrender. Maxwell was made temporary military governor of Ireland.


title: Easter Rising

text: Irish Volunteer units mobilised on Easter Sunday in several places outside of Dublin, but because of Eoin MacNeill's countermanding order, most of them returned home without fighting. In addition, because of the interception of the German arms aboard the "Aud", the provincial Volunteer units were very poorly armed.


title: Easter Rising

text: In the south, around 1,200 Volunteers commanded by Tomás Mac Curtain mustered on the Sunday in Cork, but they dispersed on Wednesday after receiving nine contradictory orders by dispatch from the Volunteer leadership in Dublin. At their Sheares Street headquarters, some of the Volunteers engaged in a standoff with British forces. Much to the anger of many Volunteers, MacCurtain, under pressure from Catholic clergy, agreed to surrender his men's arms to the British. The only violence in Cork occurred when the RIC attempted to raid the home of the Kent family. The Kent brothers, who were Volunteers, engaged in a three-hour firefight with the RIC. An RIC officer and one of the brothers were killed, while another brother was later executed.


title: Easter Rising

text: In the north, Volunteer companies were mobilised in County Tyrone at Coalisland (including 132 men from Belfast led by IRB President Dennis McCullough) and Carrickmore, under the leadership of Patrick McCartan. They also mobilised at Creeslough, County Donegal under Daniel Kelly and James McNulty. However, in part because of the confusion caused by the countermanding order, the Volunteers in these locations dispersed without fighting.


title: Easter Rising

text: In Fingal (north County Dublin), about 60 Volunteers mobilised near Swords. They belonged to the 5th Battalion of the Dublin Brigade (also known as the Fingal Battalion), and were led by Thomas Ashe and his second in command, Richard Mulcahy. Unlike the rebels elsewhere, the Fingal Battalion successfully employed guerrilla tactics. They set up camp and Ashe split the battalion into four sections: three would undertake operations while the fourth was kept in reserve, guarding camp and foraging for food. The Volunteers moved against the RIC barracks in Swords, Donabate and Garristown, forcing the RIC to surrender and seizing all the weapons. They also damaged railway lines and cut telegraph wires. The railway line at Blanchardstown was bombed to prevent a troop train reaching Dublin. This derailed a cattle train, which had been sent ahead of the troop train.


title: Easter Rising

text: The only large-scale engagement of the Rising, outside Dublin city, was at Ashbourne, County Meath. On Friday, about 35 Fingal Volunteers surrounded the Ashbourne RIC barracks and called on it to surrender, but the RIC responded with a volley of gunfire. A firefight followed, and the RIC surrendered after the Volunteers attacked the building with a homemade grenade. Before the surrender could be taken, up to sixty RIC men arrived in a convoy, sparking a five-hour gun battle, in which eight RIC men were killed and 18 wounded. Two Volunteers were also killed and five wounded, and a civilian was fatally shot. The RIC surrendered and were disarmed. Ashe let them go after warning them not to fight against the Irish Republic again. Ashe's men camped at Kilsalaghan near Dublin until they received orders to surrender on Saturday. The Fingal Battalion's tactics during the Rising foreshadowed those of the IRA during the War of Independence that followed.


title: Easter Rising

text: Volunteer contingents also mobilised nearby in counties Meath and Louth but proved unable to link up with the North Dublin unit until after it had surrendered. In County Louth, Volunteers shot dead an RIC man near the village of Castlebellingham on 24 April, in an incident in which 15 RIC men were also taken prisoner.


title: Easter Rising

text: In County Wexford, 100–200 Volunteers—led by Robert Brennan, Séamus Doyle and Seán Etchingham—took over the town of Enniscorthy on Thursday 27 April until Sunday. Volunteer officer Paul Galligan had cycled 200 km from rebel headquarters in Dublin with orders to mobilise. They blocked all roads into the town and made a brief attack on the RIC barracks, but chose to blockade it rather than attempt to capture it. They flew the tricolour over the Athenaeum building, which they had made their headquarters, and paraded uniformed in the streets. They also occupied Vinegar Hill, where the United Irishmen had made a last stand in the 1798 rebellion. The public largely supported the rebels and many local men offered to join them.


title: Easter Rising

text: By Saturday, up to 1,000 rebels had been mobilised, and a detachment was sent to occupy the nearby village of Ferns. In Wexford, the British assembled a column of 1,000 soldiers (including the Connaught Rangers), two field guns and a 4.7 inch naval gun on a makeshift armoured train. On Sunday, the British sent messengers to Enniscorthy, informing the rebels of Pearse's surrender order. However, the Volunteer officers were sceptical. Two of them were escorted by the British to Arbour Hill Prison, where Pearse confirmed the surrender order.


title: Easter Rising

text: In County Galway, 600–700 Volunteers mobilised on Tuesday under Liam Mellows. His plan was to "bottle up the British garrison and divert the British from concentrating on Dublin". However, his men were poorly armed, with only 25 rifles, 60 revolvers, 300 shotguns and some homemade grenades – many of them only had pikes. Most of the action took place in a rural area to the east of Galway city. They made unsuccessful attacks on the RIC barracks at Clarinbridge and Oranmore, captured several officers, and bombed a bridge and railway line, before taking up position near Athenry. There was also a skirmish between rebels and an RIC mobile patrol at Carnmore crossroads. A constable, Patrick Whelan, was shot dead after he had called to the rebels: "Surrender, boys, I know ye all".


title: Easter Rising

text: On Wednesday, arrived in Galway Bay and shelled the countryside on the northeastern edge of Galway. The rebels retreated southeast to Moyode, an abandoned country house and estate. From here they set up lookout posts and sent out scouting parties. On Friday, landed 200 Royal Marines and began shelling the countryside near the rebel position. The rebels retreated further south to Limepark, another abandoned country house. Deeming the situation to be hopeless, they dispersed on Saturday morning. Many went home and were arrested following the Rising, while others, including Mellows, went "on the run". By the time British reinforcements arrived in the west, the Rising there had already disintegrated.


title: Easter Rising

text: In County Limerick, 300 Irish Volunteers assembled at Glenquin Castle near Killeedy, but they did not take any military action.


title: Easter Rising

text: In County Clare, Micheal Brennan marched with 100 Volunteers (from Meelick, Oatfield, and Cratloe) to the River Shannon on Easter Monday to await orders from the Rising leaders in Dublin, and weapons from the expected Casement shipment. However, neither arrived and no actions were taken.


title: Easter Rising

text: More than 2,600 were wounded; including at least 2,200 civilians and rebels, at least 370 British soldiers and 29 policemen. All 16 police fatalities and 22 of the British soldiers killed were Irishmen. About 40 of those killed were children (under 17 years old), four of whom were members of the rebel forces.


title: Easter Rising

text: The number of casualties each day steadily rose, with 55 killed on Monday and 78 killed on Saturday. The British Army suffered their biggest losses in the Battle of Mount Street Bridge on Wednesday, when at least 30 soldiers were killed. The rebels also suffered their biggest losses on that day. The RIC suffered most of their casualties in the Battle of Ashbourne on Friday.


title: Easter Rising

text: The majority of the casualties, both killed and wounded, were civilians. Most of the civilian casualties and most of the casualties overall were caused by the British Army. This was due to the British using artillery, incendiary shells and heavy machine guns in built-up areas, as well as their "inability to discern rebels from civilians". One Royal Irish Regiment officer recalled, "they regarded, not unreasonably, everyone they saw as an enemy, and fired at anything that moved". Many other civilians were killed when caught in the crossfire. Both sides, British and rebel, also shot civilians deliberately on occasion; for not obeying orders (such as to stop at checkpoints), for assaulting or attempting to hinder them, and for looting. There were also instances of British troops killing unarmed civilians out of revenge or frustration: notably in the North King Street Massacre, where fifteen were killed, and at Portobello Barracks, where six were shot. Furthermore, there were incidents of friendly fire. On 29 April, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers under Company Quartermaster Sergeant Robert Flood shot dead two British officers and two Irish civilian employees of the Guinness Brewery after he decided they were rebels. Flood was court-martialled for murder but acquitted.


title: Easter Rising

text: According to the historian Fearghal McGarry, the rebels attempted to avoid needless bloodshed. Desmond Ryan stated that Volunteers were told "no firing was to take place except under orders or to repel attack". Aside from the engagement at Ashbourne, policemen and unarmed soldiers were not systematically targeted, and a large group of policemen was allowed to stand at Nelson's Pillar throughout Monday. McGarry writes that the Irish Citizen Army "were more ruthless than Volunteers when it came to shooting policemen" and attributes this to the "acrimonious legacy" of the Dublin Lock-out.


title: Easter Rising

text: The vast majority of the Irish casualties were buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in the aftermath of the fighting. British families came to Dublin Castle in May 1916 to reclaim the bodies of British soldiers, and funerals were arranged. Soldiers whose bodies were not claimed were given military funerals in Grangegorman Military Cemetery.


title: Easter Rising

text: General Maxwell quickly signalled his intention "to arrest all dangerous Sinn Feiners", including "those who have taken an active part in the movement although not in the present rebellion", reflecting the popular belief that Sinn Féin, a separatist organisation that was neither militant nor republican, was behind the Rising.


title: Easter Rising

text: A total of 3,430 men and 79 women were arrested, including 425 people for looting. A series of courts-martial began on 2 May, in which 187 people were tried, most of them at Richmond Barracks. The president of the courts-martial was Charles Blackader. Controversially, Maxwell decided that the courts-martial would be held in secret and without a defence, which Crown law officers later ruled to have been illegal. Some of those who conducted the trials had commanded British troops involved in suppressing the Rising, a conflict of interest that the Military Manual prohibited. Only one of those tried by courts-martial was a woman, Constance Markievicz, who was also the only woman to be kept in solitary confinement. Ninety were sentenced to death. Fifteen of those (including all seven signatories of the Proclamation) had their sentences confirmed by Maxwell and fourteen were executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol between 3 and 12 May. Among them was the seriously wounded Connolly, who was shot while tied to a chair because of his shattered ankle. Maxwell stated that only the "ringleaders" and those proven to have committed "coldblooded murder" would be executed. However, the evidence presented was weak, and some of those executed were not leaders and did not kill anyone: Willie Pearse described himself as "a personal attaché to my brother, Patrick Pearse"; John MacBride had not even been aware of the Rising until it began, but had fought against the British in the Boer War fifteen years before; Thomas Kent did not come out at all—he was executed for the killing of a police officer during the raid on his house the week after the Rising. The most prominent leader to escape execution was Éamon de Valera, Commandant of the 3rd Battalion, who did so partly because of his American birth.


title: Easter Rising

text: As the executions went on, the Irish public grew increasingly hostile towards the British and sympathetic to the rebels. After the first three executions, John Redmond, leader of the moderate Irish Parliamentary Party, said in the British Parliament that the rising "happily, seems to be over. It has been dealt with with firmness, which was not only right, but it was the duty of the Government to so deal with it". However, he urged the Government "not to show undue hardship or severity to the great masses of those who are implicated". As the executions continued, Redmond pleaded with Asquith to stop them, warning that "if more executions take place in Ireland, the position will become impossible for any constitutional party". Ulster Unionist Party leader Edward Carson expressed similar views. Redmond's deputy, John Dillon, made an impassioned speech in parliament, saying "thousands of people […] who ten days ago were bitterly opposed to the whole of the Sinn Fein movement and to the rebellion, are now becoming infuriated against the Government on account of these executions". He said "it is not murderers who are being executed; it is insurgents who have fought a clean fight, a brave fight, however misguided". Dillon was heckled by English MPs. The British Government itself had also become concerned at the reaction to the executions, and at the way the courts-martial were being carried out. Asquith had warned Maxwell that "a large number of executions would […] sow the seeds of lasting trouble in Ireland". After Connolly's execution, Maxwell bowed to pressure and had the other death sentences commuted to penal servitude.


title: Easter Rising

text: Most of the people arrested were subsequently released, however under Regulation 14B of the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 1,836 men were interned at internment camps and prisons in England and Wales. Many of them, like Arthur Griffith, had little or nothing to do with the Rising.


title: Easter Rising

text: Until 1916 the camp housed German prisoners of war in a yellow distillery and crude huts, but in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, the German prisoners were moved and it was used as an internment camp for approximately 1,800 Irish republicans, held without trial. Among them such notables as Michael Collins, who were accorded the status of prisoners of war. Among the prisoners were the future Hollywood actor Arthur Shields and sportsman and referee Tom Burke. Elwyn Edwards, a local councillor, historian and poet suggests that the Irish War of Independence was won in Fongoch in Wales.


title: Easter Rising

text: Later the camps such as Frongoch became known as ("Universities of Revolution") where future leaders including Michael Collins, Terence McSwiney and J. J. O'Connell began to plan the coming struggle for independence.


title: Easter Rising

text: After the Rising, claims of atrocities carried out by British troops began to emerge. Although they did not receive as much attention as the executions, they sparked outrage among the Irish public and were raised by Irish MPs in Parliament.


title: Easter Rising

text: One incident was the 'Portobello killings'. On Tuesday 25 April, Dubliner Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, a pacifist nationalist activist, had been arrested by British soldiers. Captain John Bowen-Colthurst then took him with a British raiding party as a hostage and human shield. On Rathmines Road he stopped a boy named James Coade, whom he shot dead. His troops then destroyed a tobacconist's shop with grenades and seized journalists Thomas Dickson and Patrick MacIntyre. The next morning, Colthurst had Skeffington and the two journalists shot by firing squad in Portobello Barracks. The bodies were then buried there. Later that day he shot a Labour Party councillor, Richard O'Carroll. When Major Sir Francis Vane learned of the killings he telephoned his superiors in Dublin Castle, but no action was taken. Vane informed Herbert Kitchener, who told Maxwell to arrest Colthurst, but Maxwell refused. Colthurst was eventually arrested and court-martialled in June. He was found guilty of murder but insane, and detained for twenty months at Broadmoor. Public and political pressure led to a public inquiry, which reached similar conclusions. Major Vane was discharged "owing to his action in the Skeffington murder case".


title: Easter Rising

text: The other incident was the 'North King Street Massacre'. On the night of 28–29 April, British soldiers of the South Staffordshire Regiment, under Colonel Henry Taylor, had burst into houses on North King Street and killed fifteen male civilians whom they accused of being rebels. The soldiers shot or bayoneted the victims, then secretly buried some of them in cellars or back yards after robbing them. The area saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Rising and the British had taken heavy casualties for little gain. Maxwell attempted to excuse the killings and argued that the rebels were ultimately responsible. He claimed that "the rebels wore no uniform" and that the people of North King Street were rebel sympathisers. Maxwell concluded that such incidents "are absolutely unavoidable in such a business as this" and that "under the circumstance the troops [...] behaved with the greatest restraint". A private brief, prepared for the Prime Minister, said the soldiers "had orders not to take any prisoners" but took it to mean they were to shoot any suspected rebel. The City Coroner's inquest found that soldiers had killed "unarmed and unoffending" residents. The military court of inquiry ruled that no specific soldiers could be held responsible, and no action was taken.


title: Easter Rising

text: These killings, and the British response to them, helped sway Irish public opinion against the British.


title: Easter Rising

text: A Royal Commission was set up to enquire into the causes of the Rising. It began hearings on 18 May under the chairmanship of Lord Hardinge of Penshurst. The Commission heard evidence from Sir Matthew Nathan, Augustine Birrell, Lord Wimborne, Sir Neville Chamberlain (Inspector-General of the Royal Irish Constabulary), General Lovick Friend, Major Ivor Price of Military Intelligence and others. The report, published on 26 June, was critical of the Dublin administration, saying that "Ireland for several years had been administered on the principle that it was safer and more expedient to leave the law in abeyance if collision with any faction of the Irish people could thereby be avoided." Birrell and Nathan had resigned immediately after the Rising. Wimborne resisted the pressure to resign, but was recalled to London by Asquith. He was re-appointed in July 1916. Chamberlain also resigned.


title: Easter Rising

text: At first, many Dubliners were bewildered by the outbreak of the Rising. James Stephens, who was in Dublin during the week, thought, "None of these people were prepared for Insurrection. The thing had been sprung on them so suddenly they were unable to take sides."


title: Easter Rising

text: There was great hostility towards the Volunteers in some parts of the city. Historian Keith Jeffery noted that most of the opposition came from people whose relatives were in the British Army and who depended on their army allowances. Those most openly hostile to the Volunteers were the "separation women" (so-called because they were paid "separation money" by the British government), whose husbands and sons were fighting in the British Army in the First World War. There was also hostility from unionists. Supporters of the Irish Parliamentary Party also felt the rebellion was a betrayal of their party. When occupying positions in the South Dublin Union and Jacob's factory, the rebels got involved in physical confrontations with civilians who tried to tear down the rebel barricades and prevent them taking over buildings. The Volunteers shot and clubbed a number of civilians who assaulted them or tried to dismantle their barricades.


title: Easter Rising

text: That the Rising resulted in a great deal of death and destruction, as well as disrupting food supplies, also contributed to the antagonism toward the rebels. After the surrender, the Volunteers were hissed at, pelted with refuse, and denounced as "murderers" and "starvers of the people". Volunteer Robert Holland for example remembered being "subjected to very ugly remarks and cat-calls from the poorer classes" as they marched to surrender. He also reported being abused by people he knew as he was marched through the Kilmainham area into captivity and said the British troops saved them from being manhandled by the crowd.


title: Easter Rising

text: However, some Dubliners expressed support for the rebels. Canadian journalist and writer Frederick Arthur McKenzie wrote that in poorer areas, "there was a vast amount of sympathy with the rebels, particularly after the rebels were defeated". He wrote of crowds cheering a column of rebel prisoners as it passed, with one woman remarking "Shure, we cheer them. Why shouldn't we? Aren't they our own flesh and blood?". At Boland's Mill, the defeated rebels were met with a large crowd, "many weeping and expressing sympathy and sorrow, all of them friendly and kind". Other onlookers were sympathetic but watched in silence. Christopher M. Kennedy notes that "those who sympathised with the rebels would, out of fear for their own safety, keep their opinions to themselves". Áine Ceannt witnessed British soldiers arresting a woman who cheered the captured rebels. An RIC District Inspector's report stated: "Martial law, of course, prevents any expression of it; but a strong undercurrent of disloyalty exists". Thomas Johnson, the Labour Party leader, thought there was "no sign of sympathy for the rebels, but general admiration for their courage and strategy".


title: Easter Rising

text: The aftermath of the Rising, and in particular the British reaction to it, helped sway a large section of Irish nationalist opinion away from hostility or ambivalence and towards support for the rebels of Easter 1916. Dublin businessman and Quaker James G. Douglas, for example, hitherto a Home Ruler, wrote that his political outlook changed radically during the course of the Rising because of the British military occupation of the city and that he became convinced that parliamentary methods would not be enough to expel the British from Ireland.


title: Easter Rising

text: A meeting called by Count Plunkett on 19 April 1917 led to the formation of a broad political movement under the banner of Sinn Féin which was formalised at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis of 25 October 1917. The Conscription Crisis of 1918 further intensified public support for Sinn Féin before the general elections to the British Parliament on 14 December 1918, which resulted in a landslide victory for Sinn Féin, winning 73 seats out of 105, whose Members of Parliament (MPs) gathered in Dublin on 21 January 1919 to form Dáil Éireann and adopt the Declaration of Independence.


title: Easter Rising

text: Shortly after the Easter Rising, poet Francis Ledwidge wrote ""O’Connell Street"" and ""Lament for the Poets of 1916"", which both describe his sense of loss and an expression of holding the same "dreams," as the Easter Rising's Irish Republicans. He would also go on to write "lament for Thomas MacDonagh" for his fallen friend and fellow Irish Volunteer. A few months after the Easter Rising, W. B. Yeats commemorated some of the fallen figures of the Irish Republican movement, as well as his torn emotions regarding these events, in the poem "Easter, 1916".


title: Easter Rising

text: Some of the survivors of the Rising went on to become leaders of the independent Irish state. Those who were executed were venerated by many as martyrs; their graves in Dublin's former military prison of Arbour Hill became a national monument and the Proclamation text was taught in schools. An annual commemorative military parade was held each year on Easter Sunday. In 1935, Éamon de Valera unveiled a statue of the mythical Irish hero Cú Chulainn, sculpted by Oliver Sheppard, at the General Post Office as part of the Rising commemorations that year – it is often seen to be an important symbol of martyrdom in remembrance of the 1916 rebels. Memorials to the heroes of the Rising are to be found in other Irish cities, such as Limerick. The 1916 Medal was issued in 1941 to people with recognised military service during the Rising.


title: Easter Rising

text: The parades culminated in a huge national celebration on the 50th anniversary of the Rising in 1966. Medals were issued by the government to survivors who took part in the Rising at the event. RTÉ, the Irish national broadcaster, as one of its first major undertakings made a series of commemorative programmes for the 1966 anniversary of the Rising. Roibéárd Ó Faracháin, head of programming said, "While still seeking historical truth, the emphasis will be on homage, on salutation." At the same time, CIÉ, the Republic of Ireland's railway operator, renamed several of its major stations after republicans who played key roles in the Easter Rising.


title: Easter Rising

text: Ireland's first commemorative coin was also issued in 1966 to pay tribute to the Easter Rising. It was valued at 10 shillings, therefore having the highest denomination of any pre-decimal coin issued by the country. The coin featured a bust of Patrick Pearse on the obverse and an image of the statue of Cú Chulainn in the GPO on the reverse. Its edge inscription reads, "Éirí Amach na Cásca 1916", which translates to, "1916 Easter Rising". Due to their 83.5% silver content, many of the coins were melted down shortly after issue. A €2 coin was also issued by Ireland in 2016, featuring the statue of Hibernia above the GPO, to commemorate the Rising's centenary.


title: Easter Rising

text: With the outbreak of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, government, academics and the media began to revise the country's militant past, and particularly the Easter Rising. The coalition government of 1973–77, in particular the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Conor Cruise O'Brien, began to promote the view that the violence of 1916 was essentially no different from the violence then taking place in the streets of Belfast and Derry. O'Brien and others asserted that the Rising was doomed to military defeat from the outset, and that it failed to account for the determination of Ulster Unionists to remain in the United Kingdom.


title: Easter Rising

text: Irish republicans continue to venerate the Rising and its leaders with murals in republican areas of Belfast and other towns celebrating the actions of Pearse and his comrades, and annual parades in remembrance of the Rising. The Irish government, however, discontinued its annual parade in Dublin in the early 1970s, and in 1976 it took the unprecedented step of proscribing (under the Offences against the State Act) a 1916 commemoration ceremony at the GPO organised by Sinn Féin and the Republican Commemoration Committee. A Labour Party TD, David Thornley, embarrassed the government (of which Labour was a member) by appearing on the platform at the ceremony, along with Máire Comerford, who had fought in the Rising, and Fiona Plunkett, sister of Joseph Plunkett.


title: Easter Rising

text: With the advent of a Provisional IRA ceasefire and the beginning of what became known as the Peace Process during the 1990s, the government's view of the Rising grew more positive and in 1996 an 80th anniversary commemoration at the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin was attended by the Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, John Bruton. In 2005, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, announced the government's intention to resume the military parade past the GPO from Easter 2006, and to form a committee to plan centenary celebrations in 2016. The 90th anniversary was celebrated with a military parade in Dublin on Easter Sunday, 2006, attended by the President of Ireland, the Taoiseach and the Lord Mayor of Dublin. There is now an annual ceremony at Easter attended by relatives of those who fought, by the President, the Taoiseach, ministers, senators and TDs, and by usually large and respectful crowds.


title: Easter Rising

text: The Rising continues to attract debate and analysis. In 2016 "The Enemy Files", a documentary presented by a former British Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Portillo, was shown on RTÉ One and the BBC, ahead of the centenary. Portillo declared that the execution of the 16 leaders of the insurrection could be justified in its context – a military response, against the background of the appalling European war – but that the rebels had set a trap that the British fell into and that every possible response by the British would have been a mistake of some kind. He commented on the role of Patrick Pearse, the martyrdom controversy and the Proclamation's reference to "our gallant [German] allies in Europe".


title: Easter Rising

text: In December 2014 Dublin City Council approved a proposal to create a historical path commemorating the Rising, similar to the Freedom Trail in Boston. Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke announced that the council had committed to building the trail, marking it with a green line or bricks, with brass plates marking the related historic sites such as the Rotunda and the General Post Office.


title: Easter Rising

text: A pedestrian staircase that runs along 53rd Avenue, from 65th Place to 64th Street in west Queens, New York City was named 'Easter Rising Way' in 2016. Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams spoke at the naming ceremony.


title: Easter Rising

text: The Easter Rising lasted from Easter Monday 24 April 1916 to Easter Saturday 29 April 1916. Annual commemorations, rather than taking place on 24–29 April, are typically based on the date of Easter, which is a moveable feast. For example, the annual military parade is on Easter Sunday; the date of coming into force of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 was symbolically chosen as Easter Monday (18 April) 1949. The official programme of centenary events in 2016 climaxed from 25 March (Good Friday) to 2 April (Easter Saturday) with other events earlier and later in the year taking place on the calendrical anniversaries.


title: I Have a Dream

text: "I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history.