Rebellion

Has anyone else noticed ? I'm enjoying it as a history lesson that was never even mentioned in school when I was growing up in Liverpool. Strange, because half the population was Irish (as was my own Grandmother). Strange too, because it's only now that I'm learning that the English aristocracy treated the peasants in much the same way as they treated the natives in their colonies. We in Liverpool were too busy trying to eke out a life to be concerned with what was going on in the rest of the dominion. But as I get older and see what mentality drove that same aristocracy, then I have no boundaries for my distaste for them. First of all they take all of the land, then they take all of the resources the land has to offer, then they sequester the crops, then they charge rents for the properties they've stolen. You want more? They call you up to fight their battles for them.

Even that's not enough, they lay ownership to all of the wildlife, birds, beasts, fish and fowl, and pass laws that allow for beatings and execution for any transgressions. Then they turn their attention to the winsome young lasses who grow up in the villages and decide that they should have the right to be the first one to screw them if they so desire.

All of this without a peep of protest to be countenanced............ no wonder the peasants got mad and rebelled.

It's not stellar stuff but it's interesting enough to keep you watching.

I can't get over how I've suddenly realised that there is something that can be called an "Irish" face.

I am 85, I was not there, but met Irish (Republic) people in 1949 in Bradford UK, who had relatives alive and emotionally in this historic event. I was 18 (and from a small community) I was forever imbued by the emotions I witnessed, and the varied descriptions. The programme literally had me saying prayers, I was captivated, excited and horrified with the poverty depicted, which I was personally familiar with, being moved about during the WW11. This is a highly enthralling programme, I was very disappointed to learn that episode 5 is the last one. For me the realism was total, the emotions entirely believable. Casting and acting magnificent. I watched the 5 episodes on Netflix.

The most important things to know about the Easter Rising were that it marked the return to violent rebellion in Ireland and the way that the English dealt with it started the turning the sympathies of the Irish at large against the English and the idea of home-rule as part of the Empire. Those two things are very well demonstrated in Rebellion, from the brutal dealing of the British military with both the rebellion and Irish civilians, the complete lack of due process for those arrested and executed, creating martyrs and setting the stage for the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War.

Superb cast and production value, with adequate direction severely undermined by character and plot disconnects between the two seasons. Why in heaven's name were more than half the strong players and storylines of season 1 disgarded for season 2? Pivotal, well drawn characters simply disappeared into an Irish fog. Obviously some producer or writer decided to fix what was not broken. Nevertheless Gleason is marvelous carrying the the disjointed storyline through the final season.

Rebellion is a worthy attempt to place the Easter Rising of 1916 and the later rebellions involving the key figures of Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera in a historical context. The arrogance of the British and the keen nationalism of the Irish is depicted with great vigour. The support of the Americans in the Irish uprising is also a vital component. What the series fails to display is the lack of planning in carrying out the rebellion against the British rule, and as a result the programme as a whole lacks coherence. This was particularly obvious in the first series where the Rebellion appeared to be little more than an attempt to take over Dublin Castle.

First class acting, matched by beautiful sets - the Dublin of 1920 is shown as a city where British hedonism is counter balanced by the relative poverty of the Irish - makes a strong visual statement, and the harsh handling of both rebellions by the British Government makes one understand how Eire eventually became a republic.