Part six of a ten part documentary by TG4 on the 1916 Easter Rising
The sixth video on the series looks at the life of Seán Mac Diarmada, and how he came to be a key figure of the Easter Rising.
He grew up in Co Leitrim and was aware from a young age of the oppression of the Irish people. Mac Diarmada was very strong willed and had great powers of persuasion.
Mac Diarmada and Clarke were the ‘talent spotters
He spent his life travelling across Ireland and organising nationalists. Mac Diarmada had a close relationship with Tom Clarke – another of the Rising leaders – and the two of them were seen as the masterminds of the Rising.
Mac Diarmada and Clarke were the ‘talent spotters’ who scouted the other leaders from the ranks of the Irish Republican Brotherhood before inviting them into the Military Council.
It was Mac Diarmada that got last minute assurances from Eoin MacNeill – the leader of the volunteers – that MacNeill would support the Rising.
When MacNeill went back on his word and rather than support the Rising, told all his men that they were not to take part in any action, Mac Diarmada and the other leaders were furious.
Take a look at the sixth video below.
Parts seven and eight of the documentary look at the role of Éamonn Ceannt in the Easter Rising.
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