no.7 Padraig Pearse
Teacher, poet and nationalist, Pádraig Pearse is best known as an instrumental force in the 1916 Rising. Born at 27 Great Brunswick Street (now Pearse Street), he developed an appreciation for the Irish language at an early age.
At 16, he joined the Gaelic League and a few years later he became editor of its newspaper. In 1908, Pearse founded a bilingual school in Ranelagh called St Enda’s – he believed that language was central to the identity of a nation. Increasingly involved in politics, he became a member of the Irish Volunteers and was later appointed as director of its military organisation. In 1916, he was named official spokesman for the Rising and gave the initial orders for the attack.
On May 3, 1916, Pearse was executed alongside 14 other rebels. Before his death he said, “You cannot conquer Ireland. You cannot extinguish the Irish passion of freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom, then our children will win it by a better deed.”
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