Members of the public bring artefacts and stories of the Easter Rising to the Irish embassy in London.
Inspiring Ireland is a cultural heritage project run by the Digital Repository of Ireland. A special commemorative event was held at the Irish Embassy in London to collect personal memories and artefacts connected to the Easter Rising. People brought their 1916 memorabilia to be recorded and digitised as part of the Inspiring Ireland project.
Natalie Harrower of the Digital Repository of Ireland describes how these contributions would be recorded, digitised, and made available online, ensuring that individual experiences become part of the historical record.
For Bernadette Wall, daughter of William Parr, the day was especially poignant. She spoke of her father's involvement in the Rising, recalling how he and a group from Manchester volunteered to return to Dublin and fight. They later became known as The Manchester Volunteers. Robin Stocks, another family member, noted that William Parr's role in Ireland was rarely discussed within the family.
The event also included public tours of the Irish Embassy. Irish Ambassador to Great Britain, Dan Mulhall, shared the story of the Wilson family, original owners of the embassy building. The Wilsons operated a shipping line, and one of their vessels was seized by German forces in 1914 in the Kiel Canal. That ship was later renamed The Aud and the vessel was famously used in an attemt to transport arms to Ireland for the 1916 Rising.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 19 March 2016. The reporter is Fiona Mitchell.
