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It is thought that three quarters of the current population in Liverpool has Irish roots, this may be in part due to the influx in the 1840s of people fleeing the Irish famine who settled in the city.

There are in fact records of an Irish community in Liverpool dating back to the 14th Century.

In August 1914, many of the Liverpool Irish would sign up to join the British fight against Germany, but in 1916, fifty of these men, after training at Greenwich Park Athletic Ground in Aintree, would return to Ireland to take part in what has come to be known as the Easter Rising.

Irish nationalists were keen to become independent of Britain, despite their leader saying that fighting on behalf of the British would unite us all.

Around 1,800 ‘Irish volunteers’ seized the General Post Office in Dublin along with several other national buildings. They held out for a week before surrendering. Five hundred people were killed during this uprising.

The rebellion is thought to be the pivotal turning point in Ireland’s evolution during the 20th Century

Location: Greenwich Park Athletic Ground, Liverpool L9 0LQ
Image: Sackville Street in flames during the Irish rebellion in May 1916. Photograph courtesy of IWM

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