An ecumenical service of remembrance and reclamation for the 40 children who were killed in the Easter Rising took place at St Patrick’s Parish Church in Ringsend in Dublin today and will air on RTÉ One television and RTÉ Radio 1 Extra this Sunday.
Among those in attendance were An Uachtaráin na hÉireann Michael D. Higgins, RTÉ presenter Joe Duffy, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Michael Jackson.
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Alex White TD and Minister for Children and Youth Affairs James Reilly TD also attended.
The congregation included comedian Sil Fox and presenter Gay Byrne, and many living relatives of the child victims.
Musicians and singers included Declan O’Rourke and RTÉ Cór na nÓg. Children from 6th class in St Patrick’s National Schools, Ringsend, lit a candle for every child who died during the Easter Rising, in 1916, and named the children, while holding up placards bearing the name of each known victim.
The service was led by the Reverend Ivan Tonge, who was joined by Church of Ireland Canon Barbara Fryday and Fr Michael Scott, both of whom are related to children killed in the 1916 Rising.
The RTÉ broadcaster Joe Duffy has been researching the identities of all the children victims of the Rising, many of whom were previously unnamed. His book on the subject will soon be published and he is presenting an RTÉ documentary in the coming months on the children of 1916.
“I hope this service of remembrance will lead to a memorial with the inscribed names of all the civilians killed during this seminal moment of our nations creation," Duffy said.
The service will be broadcast this Sunday May 10 on RTÉ One at 11.00am, and on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra / LW252 at 11.45am.
