Tweet The Rising

“Tweet the Rising” is an innovative project that used Twitter to bring the history of the Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising to life, providing a unique opportunity for people everywhere to immerse themselves in the events of that week and ultimately to draw their own conclusions about what is arguably the most important event in Irish history. Twenty fictional but historically accurate characters were featured in the project and some of their Twitter story is retold here. Below is a selection of the over 1,000 Tweets that went out live over the course of the week marking the centenary of the Rising in 2016. The stories told here are drawn from first hand accounts found in published memoirs and archival material in the National Archives of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin Archives, and Irish Military Archives. Staying true to these accounts, a number of the Tweets contain inaccurate information that reflects the degree to which rumor and speculation formed an integral people's understanding of events as they unfolded in real time (the occasional typo in the Tweets adds an additional layer of authenticity!). The Tweets are organized chronologically to reflect the events of that week as they unfolded, although they have been somewhat rearranged here with a view to narrative flow (hence the inconsistencies in the time stamps from when they were originally tweeted). Gathered together here these Tweets capture the intensity and chaos of that momentous week in Irish history and provide a picture of how events unfolded as seen through the eyes of a diverse group of participants and witnesses. I would like to acknowledge the contribution to this project of my sister Elizabeth Kilroy. She played a key role in conceptualizing and executing the project, and all of the graphic design is her work. I would also like to acknowledge the role of my undergraduate and graduate research assistants: Kara Donahue, Victoria Jones, Ciara Kilroy, Lauren Rabine, Clare Schnabel, and Shobhit Verma.