Patrick Pearse
Patrick Pearse was a teacher, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist. He was one of the main leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. He was also one of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation and president of the Provisional Government.
© Irish Picture Library.Patrick Pearse
© Irish Picture Library.
© Irish Picture Library.
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Pearse was a teacher, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist. He was one of the main leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. He was also one of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation and president of the Provisional Government.
© Irish Picture Library.Patrick Pearse (1879-1916) was born in Great Brunswick Street - now called Pearse Street in his honour - in Dublin. His father was James Pearse, a Catholic convert. He was originally from England and worked successfully as an artisan and stonemason. His mother, Margaret Brady, was from a Co. Meath family that had fled to Dublin to escape the effects of the Famine.
Both Patrick and his devoted younger brother Willie - who was also involved in the republican movement - were educated at the Christian Brothers School on Westland Row. There they developed a strong interest in the Irish language and literature.
Patrick joined the Gaelic League while still a teenager. He subsequently attended the Royal University, a forerunner of University College Dublin, where he studied arts. He later studied law at Trinity College Dublin and King's Inns.