The Sinn Fein Rebellion As They Saw It

Description

Mary Louisa Hamilton Norway’s account of the Easter Rising was first published in 1916 and consists of family letters ‘containing a faithful record of the Sinn Fein Rebellion as I saw it’. Living in the Royal Hibernian Hotel in Dawson Street, she was especially well-placed to observe events. Mrs. Norway’s husband, Arthur, was Secretary of the General Post Office in Ireland – it was his office, literally, which was occupied and used as the insurgents’ headquarters – and we here publish for the very first time his own reminiscences of the period, Irish Experiences In War. Together these accounts provide a vivid and revealing picture of both the official response to events and their impact on the civilian population of Dublin. The narrative also includes the Norways’ schoolboy son Nevil, who served with the Red Cross during the Rising. Later he achieved worldwide fame as the novelist Nevil Shute.

About the Author

Mary Norway watched the 1916 Easter Rising from a hotel in Dawson Street and published her family letters about it the same year. Her husband Arthur worked at the post office the insurgents used as their headquarters, and wrote an account of his own experience.