Belfast - Ireland 2014 - page 541

To Nationalists (who are usually Catholic), “1916” brings to mind the Easter
Uprising—whichtookplaceinDublininAprilofthatyearandwasthebeginningof
the end of 750 years of British rule for most of Ireland (see sidebar on here ) . Some
Nationalist murals still use images of Dublin's rebel headquarters or martyred lead-
ers like Patrick Pearse and James Connolly. To this community, 1916 emphasizes
their proud Gaelic identity, their willingness to fight to preserve it, and their stub-
born anti-British attitude.
To Unionists (who are usually Protestant), “1916” means the brutal WWI Battle
of the Somme in France, which began that July. (For more on the Somme, visit the