The rising by the numbers

15

EXECUTED: Seven Proclamation signatories, eight others for taking leading roles in Rising, including Thomas Kent for shooting an RIC man in Co Cork. Some accounts include Sir Roger Casement, though he was arrested before the rising began.

2000

Around 2,000 people took part in the Rising but 3,500 were arrested

Many were released fairly quickly, others were deported to Wales, mainly, but also to English and Scottish prisons. In July, 1916,
official figures for the Richmond Barracks processing centre in Dublin showed that 3,226 had passed through, 1,181 had been freed, 160 convicted by court martial, 23 acquitted, and 1,857 interned. These figures are now thought to understate the true picture.

450

On May 11th, 1916, official figures claimed that 300 people had died, 80 of which were “civilians or insurgents”, the rest being military or police. Subsequent calculations show a much higher figure.

2,600

About 2,600 people were reported wounded or injured during the Rising.

£3m

It is now estimated that £3 million damage was caused to Dublin city. The chief fire officer’s report puts the damage at £2.5 million, but the method of calculation is now thought suspect.

146,00

There were 146,000 Irish serving in the British army in early 1916 and 210,000 fought over the four years. The figures don’t include Irish-born recruits who joined in Britain, Australia and the US.

35,000

There was an estimated 35,000 Irish casualties in the first World War. Official records listed 49,435 dead, but many of these seem not to have been Irish. In 1926,the Registrar General of the Irish Free State produced a figure of just 27,405. The most acceptable estimate at the moment seems to be 35,000.