Century: Signatories

Ceannt is traditionally seen as one of the more shadowy figures of 1916. But primary sources reveal much about the man

As the last man co-opted onto the military council, it is wrongly assumed that Thomas MacDonagh knew nothing of the Rising until a few weeks beforehand

The man who played a key role in organising the Rising was eclipsed for many years

The story of Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford’s marriage in Kilmainham jail, hours before his execution, still captures the imagination of many

Connolly’s tragedy was that his vision of a workers’ republic largely died with him in 1916, as the new independent Ireland became shaped by nationalist and conservative forces

A poet, playwright, journalist and teacher, Pearse had gained a degree of public prominence years before entering the GPO

Seán MacDiarmada was a professional republican for his entire adult life, and his unswerving determination to take up arms against the British led to his being one of the first names on the Proclamation

Some of the men executed were almost peripheral to the Rising

Irish Republican Brotherhood militants were a diehard lot motivated by heroic failure and blood sacrifice