Name: WriteYourHeartOut (Signed) · Date: 11 Mar 2024 11:26 PM · For: 100 Years.

I really like your writing here. I don't know a huge amount about the history of this event, other than it was to overthrow the English in Ireland, but you write it so well, Roisin's reflections on it all, that it makes me want to know more. You create a very striking picture of what this moment looks like, the people gathered, the cars carrying in dignitaries, the cemetary as she suspects she may be the only person here who actually lived during this time. And I really like how you make a comparison to the present, even though things seem not so great currently either, that though they fought hard for something important, so many issues still exist today. Bit sad, really, but really well done.

Name: Dojh167 (Signed) · Date: 17 Dec 2017 03:30 PM · For: 100 Years.

I think this was an interesting little piece. It definitely draws attention to how things can be different for magical people, just because they live so long. This also brings up a lot of questions for me. What was the role of magical people in the Easter Rising? Or maybe there wasn’t one, and Roisin is referring to muggles she knew. That could make it even sadder, if Roisin really is the only one who remembers the event so personally, with the muggles dead and the wizards indifferent.

 

This was interesting!

 

Sam.

Author's Response:

I actually meant to write a full length story - well, a one-shot - for the centenary, but it just wouldn't go right. And then some of what I wanted to include, like the statue of Jim Larkin that stands in O'Connell Street, didn't quite fit as the city was so packed for the centenary celebrations that there was no chance of getting close enough to see that.

 

I was thinking of how many of the ideals of 1916 got lost somewhere along the way. Not quite sure what James Connolly and even de Valera, who lived until the 70s and wrote our constitution in the late 30s, would say if they could see the number of homeless today. I think they would be disgusted.

 

It is definitely interesting to think about what role witches and wizards may have played in various historical events. I think in some cases, they may have had major moral dilemmas since they are not meant to use magic around Muggles, but how could you stand back and watch people being killed when you had the power to stop it? Especially during things like 1916 when civilians and even children were directly in the firing line (this was actually the stated reason behind the surrender; the leaders could not bear to see civilians being killed). It was said during the centenary commemorations that that week, O'Connell Street may well have been the most dangerous place in the world for children as the battles of World War I did not take place on the main streets of a major cities.

 

Thanks for the review. The 1916 Rising is one of the defining events of Irish history, probably the 2nd most significant after the Famine, though it is hard to explain as it is a week long rebellion that ended in utter defeat.

Name: TreacleTart (Signed) · Date: 09 Dec 2017 12:05 AM · For: 100 Years.

Hey there! 

 

It's been ages since I've dropped by your AP, so I"m here to fix that ASAP! 

 

First of all, I love it when writers incorporate their own culture into the HP world. There's so much room to explore what wizards migth be like or what events they might've witnessed! It's cool to see in this case that Roisin was around for the 1916 Easter Rising. 

 

It's interesting to see Roisin reflecting on the changes that have occured in her country. It sounds optimistic, but like there's still a ways to go. They are recovering from a recession and it sounds like rapidly, but it sounds like rights are still being worked out. 

 

It must be nice for her to have seen the marches for rights and watched her country evolve and shift to what it is in modern day. I imagine it must be fulfilling to see the development. 

 

As usual, a lovely story, and in this case told in a very succinct and precise manner. Great job! 

 

-Kaitlin

Author's Response:

The 1916 Rising is one of the defining events of Irish history - it probably comes next to the Famine in what most people in Ireland would consider to be the most important events of our history. The Famine still has an impact on Irish life today (it is likely that the reason Irish people still tend to marry and have children later than average is due to the effects of the Famine and it is possible that the cultural memory of people being evicted from their homes by unsympathetic landlords contributed to the property bubble of the early years of the millennium). 1916 is hard to explain to non-Irish people as it was a small group of people taking up arms against the British. It was confined to Dublin and utterly crushed in less than a week. But then the English made the mistake of executing the leaders and, as was probably what Pearse intended, that turned the country against British rule. Especially when they tied James Connolly to a chair and shot him because he had been shot in the leg during the the Rising and couldn't stand before a firing squad.

 

And it is Connolly and his Citizen Army that form the background to this story. Connolly was a socialist and trade unionist. It was he who insisted that the Proclamation be addressed equally to men and women and the Citizen Army was the only mixed gender group to take part in the Rising. The Volunteers were all men, Fianna Eireann all boys and Cumann na mBan all women. And while Irish independence DID lead to social change - our current Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is the first to attend Trinity College, which is sort of Ireland's "posh" college; now this is more because it's Protestant and up to the mid-20th century, Catholics didn't really attend, but many Irish Taoisigh did grow up working class - we still have poverty and inequality and homelessness has currently reached national crisis level. A couple of years ago, we had a group of celebrities and activities requisition a building and fit it out for the homeless and declare they weren't leaving until the people they had homed were offered alternative accommodation, which they were. The police apparently told them, "so long as ye don't damage anything, it's a civil matter and we won't interfere."

 

The Proclamation (our equivalent of the Declaration of Independence) talks about "cherishing all the children of the nation equally", a line which is regularly raised in any criticism of inequality and even our Constitution essentially says that while people have the right to property, this ought to be regulated by the principles of social justice and that wealth should not be kept in the hands of the few. Unfortunately what our constitution says and what actually happens can be two different things. I sometimes question when Ireland became mainstream, because it wasn't intended to be. So yeah, I was wondering how the members of the Citizens' Army or in this case, the daughter of one of the Citizens' Army would react to seeing how Ireland developed.

 

I was at the 1916 centenary celebrations.

Name: Vilja (Signed) · Date: 26 Jun 2017 12:51 AM · For: 100 Years.

So I finally got here :) You recommended this to me like ages ago…

I’m not really familiar with the drabble format, so first it was strange to me that it was so short, like I was expecting more to happen here. But looking at this piece again I’m thinking that you have told so many things in so few words.

I very much like the idea that Muggle history interacts with the happenings of the wizarding world (as I’ve probably told you). I like your name choice (Róisín), it immediately gets one’s attention as it is not a well-known name (I mean not an English name). Also, it’s very ingenious how you tell us that she was a witch (“Muggles just didn't live that long.”).

Her thoughts tell us so much about present problems in Ireland. The large cars are also symbolic, and the quote from the Proclamation of the Irish Republic underlies those purposes people were fighting for. I think it’s always very powerful in politics to compare what someone has said long ago and what he/she is saying recently – especially in countries where there has been a change (politicians are way too good to adapt to new circumstances and new ideals…)

I would love to know more about Róisín’s involvement int he Easter Rising, about the people she was thinking about, and in genral about how witches and wizards were involved in these actions!

 

(oh, this review is probably longer than the whole story :P)

Author's Response: Thank you so much for your review. I'm not really a drabble person either. In fact, the two stories I wrote for the site's opening drabble contest are the only two I've written. I did try to write a third but I went over the word count. Being succinct isn't really my thing! I actually intended to make this a full story for the centenary of the Rising 14 months ago, but I couldn't make it work together. There was so much I wanted to include - the difficulty of having the ability to intervene but being forbidden by the Statute from doing so, the tragic loss of life, the experience of being the daughter of one of the rebels and knowing some of the British soldiers shot dead by the rebels on Mount Street Bridge could well be the brothers or cousins or uncles or fathers of your classmates and the way in which I feel some of the ideology behind the Rising was essentially "sold out" on. And yes, the large cars do rather symbolise the latter. Although there is an amusing/sad story about The O'Rahilly (that was what he called himself; he was quite eccentric) turning up to the Rising in a really expensive car, which was later destroyed in the fighting (unintentionally). This isn't DIRECTLY related to the Rising, but to one of the political parties formed after independence and formed by one of the Rising's surviving leaders, so sort of relevant. The party, Fianna Fáil, was founded by de Valera, whose first act almost, on taking power was to cut his own salary and those of his Ministers. He then proceeded to refuse any increase in salary for decades. He did not approve of wealth basically. But in the '70s, a man named Charlie Haughey gained the leadership of the party and Haughey appears to have had only one aim in mind when entering politics - increasing the wealth of Charlie Haughey. Like many Irish leaders, Haughey grew up poor, but before he left politics, he would own an island, a mansion, a yacht...spending three times his annual salary in a year. In complete contrast to his party's founder, his entry to politics would being with his INCREASING politician's salary. De Valera himself accurately predicted that "Haughey will ruin the party" and Dev's close friend, Frank Aiken quit politics over Haughey, threatening to go to the papers and tell them exactly why. The only reason he didn't was because de Valera asked him not to. OK, I'm rambling now but what you said about changes in politics made me think of how Fianna Fáil changed. I just cannot understand how the party of de Valera and Countess Marchievicz - the latter died in a public ward, declaring that what was good enough for the ordinary people should be good enough for the country's leaders - became a party noted for financial corruption in the space of about 50 years. I was actually at the centenary celebrations so the descriptions are based on the reality. Róisín is a reasonably common name in Ireland. Thanks again.

Name: Stella Blue (Signed) · Date: 19 Jan 2017 01:23 AM · For: 100 Years.

This is wonderful. I admit I don't know a lot about Irish history, but the great thing about this story is that even without that knowledge, I can still feel the power of this moment for Roisin. You've indicated another instance where the lines between the Muggle world and the wizarding world probably crossed a bit, as I think it would have tended to do  in really big events, and there's also something so compelling about her thoughts about the people who were involved, and what they would think of how it all turned out and being able to see an independent Ireland. I think that's a pretty universal thought - what people who fought for something would think if they were still alive to see where we are today.

 

An impressive feat to write something this good in so few words - well done.

Author's Response:

I'm glad the story makes sense even without a familiarity with 1916. 

 

I was hoping to write a full length fanfic about this for the centenary, but it didn't really work. I just thought that a Muggleborn student at school with a number of students whose brothers and fathers were probably in the British army and could theoretically be among those gunned down on Mount Street Bridge would have an interesting perspective on the whole thing.

 

And yes, given that Connolly was a Communist and Pearse basically an Irish Montessori, I think they might have a few problems with the country that was formed. 

 

Thank you so much for the review.

Name: StarFeather (Anonymous) · Date: 17 Dec 2016 03:45 AM · For: 100 Years.

I wondered how old Roisin was. She seemed to know the historical event, the 1916 Easter Rising. I've read one famous Irish trad singer's female relative had participated in the rising and seen some photos about it. Roisin must have been full of emotion. Your short lines are full of vivid images that let us imagine those sad battles and their excitment, hunger for freedom.

I love the people in Ireland. People there I know are unaffected and open-hearted. Thinking of the people, your words "cherish all the children of the nation equally" shines brilliantly.

 

Author's Response:

Well, she was at Hogwarts at the time of the Easter Rising - I actually had a longer story planned but it didn't really work when I went to write it so I just wrote this snippet - so about 115.

 

Not sure which singer that is, but in a country with 4 million people, it's not hard to find somebody with relatives who took part in some of these events. I'm actually distantly related to de Valera. His mother and one of my ancestors were 1st cousins, which means his grandmother, who raised him was like my great, great grandaunt or something; I'm not sure how many greats.

 

That line is from the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, which was read out at the beginning of the Rising and which is sort of Ireland's answer to the American Declaration of Independence. It is regularly raised to criticise any form of inequality or injustice. Actually right now a group of Irish celebrities have taken over a building in Dublin and are using it for the homeless. They have taken it illegally, but it's empty and there is likely to be quite a lot of criticism if anybody tries to stop them.

 

Thank you so much for your review.

Name: abhorsen (Signed) · Date: 01 Dec 2016 05:55 PM · For: 100 Years.

Ooooh yes. This is so, so good. I love this little snapshot into both a time period and a place that rarely gets covered in HP fanfic, and the implication that wizards were involved in it as well fits so perfectly with the idea that the wizarding world and the Muggle world absolutely exist in lockstep in a lot of ways. Amazing job.

Author's Response:

Thank you so so much for the review. I'm glad you liked it.

 

I was thinking in terms of a Muggleborn from the Liberties (poor area of Dublin) whose father was involved with the Citizen's Army and the possible conflicts they might feel, knowing that some of their classmates' siblings and parents are in the British army and could be among those being gunned down on Mount Street Bridge. They say some of the British soldiers actually thought they'd landed in France, the change of orders was made so quickly.

 

I've actually thought of writing a "Dumbledore warns de Valera of the first rise of Voldemort in 1970" fic, especially since our Presidential residence is in Phoenix Park.

 

Thanks again for the review.