The official court martial records of the Easter Rising leaders have been released online and are now available to the public.
The documents, which were acquired from the UK’s National Archives, are to be published on several websites, including that of the National Archives of Ireland, IrishNews.com reports.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins officially launched the records at Richmond Barracks in Inchicore, Dublin, on Thursday.
#1916 courtmartial files online launched by President Higgins #richmondbarracks @DubCityCouncil @dubcilib pic.twitter.com/JCfKmx6rop
— peter finnegan (@peterjfinnegan) September 22, 2016
The barracks was the site where many of those involved in the 1916 Rising spent their final days and also where the proceedings of the courts martial were recorded.
Read more 1916 centenary news here
President Higgins explained that for many years the documents were "kept secret and were inaccessible to the general public."
He added the documents "provide moving and valuable insights into the proceedings; imparting a human dimension that can so often be missed from conventional factual historical accounts.”
All set for the launch of #1916 court martial files by @PresidentIRL in Richmond Barracks in co-op with @UniIreland pic.twitter.com/q9TQ5wXv7C
— @NARIreland (@NARIreland) September 22, 2016
"Thomas MacDonagh’s statement that he fully co-operated with British soldiers after the surrender, or the image of Seán McDiarmada unable to walk after surrender because of polio contracted five years before, indicate a dignified sadness that echoes across the years," he said.
"They, and the many other images captured in these records, remind us that the leaders of 1916 were human and wounded agents of our freedom, not abstract or mythical characters; and they enable us to have a profound appreciation of the real and human sacrifices that they and their families made in order that future generations might inhabit a free and independent state."
Read more: Easter Rising leader executed in 1916: Thomas MacDonagh
The documents can be viewed online at www.nationalarchives.ie
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