Definitely one of the most critical dates of Irish history; the Easter Rising of 1916 precisely transformed the visions of people concerning the very existence and nature of the Irish nation. Recently, the BUCHANAN: Dublin Time Machine group has been exploring the event on Twitter with extensive historical rumination, often fiery debate, and at times quite out-of-place modern political rants. The Twitter thread is filled with extremely vivid descriptions of the chaos and disorder that surround the opening days of the rebellion, while the ensuing reaction indicates how resonant, and how divisive, Ireland’s past still are today.
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His original tweet set the dramatic scene with Patrick Pearse declaring Ireland’s independence in front of the General Post Office in Dublin while raising two flags over the building: the green “Irish Republic” flag and the tricolour. Initially, there was confusion and disbelief in Ireland about the rebellion, which history would soon label a watershed in the struggle for independence, but the responses revealed little consensus in viewing the Rising in this light.
Clay More struck back with: “And in the last 15 years, you gave it away.” What that means is that others behind More may have been previously rather less explicit in their assertions, that is, in the present-day Ireland, the notion that the modern-day Ireland forsook the very revolutionary cause of 1916. One masochistic soul called Jon Scott, came back with: “So how does a once proud Nation now bend the knee to moslem masters?” Replies were a mixed bag and flew off into different modern political grievances, with some users mapping Ireland’s historical troubles against modern-day debates against immigration. Jeff58274419 again went one step ahead with: “Ireland is gone. Muhammad island will be the new name. RIP.”
Other comments were much less out-and-out vitriolic. A couple corrected the original post for historical inaccuracies. DubFan commented the Irish Republic flag was painted by Theobald Wolfe Tone Fitzgerald and not by Eamon Bulfin. The users were thanked for correcting the BUCHANAN: Dublin Time Machine, effectively acknowledging an error on its part in a rare showing of humility on social media. Additional context was provided by John Crotty naming Fitzgerald’s whole name and bringing out a trend of naming children after revolutionary figures. Sugary small nuggets of history are the ones we treasure more when reading such threads.
Then came the wacky ones. MonkeyKing said it might have been an early affirmation of trans rights, citing the bit about the “trained her manhood.” Goldfishfinger pondered it to be an irony that the proclamation was in Irish while the flag was in English. The debate concerning the choice of flags by the rebels went on, where Teresaaa_Mull questioned if showing two flags would be an indicator of the Irish Civil War. The history buffs were loving it.
The thread played a role in uniting the past with the present. Some comments congratulated the nation for the independence earned through their strenuous efforts, including a comment by BowTiedStack that said, “Ireland for the Irish!” Such fades into a lament for what they think has been the decline of the country. The Easter Rising, it seems, far from just writing into history books, provides a mirror for reflection to a lot of today’s anxieties and pride.
You stopped before the best, then Marco Polo appeared to complain. This is classic Twitter.
This way, the answers, whether talking of history or ranting about current politics, show that feelings for Ireland’s revolutionary past still run deep. To some, it is a source of pride; to others, it is a hope long lost. Either way, the thread posted by BUCHANAN: Dublin Time Machine very clearly announced one thing: history is never over, and it is mulled over in every venue, social media becoming just another.
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So when the next time you saunter past the GPO, remember that the echoes of 1916 are not there only in stones; they’re there in tweets reverberating with them.
This story originally appeared on Celebrityinsider
