Easter Rising 1916 in French photograpic newspaper 'Excelsior'

The Easter Rising began in Dublin, Ireland on this day 24 April in 1916. At the time, France was engaged with her ally, Great Britain, in the First World War against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria). Seen from France, the events in Dublin were initially perceived as an attack on France's ally, Great Britain - a stab in the back.

When the Rising commenced, the French press did not have any journalists on the ground in Ireland and therefore they were not sure how widespread it was. This lack of real information is reflected in how they described the Rising. It was variously labelled a riot, skirmish, clash, revolt, and finally rebellion. When they had time to reflect on what had happened in Dublin, they had a more informed reading of the situation and it was no longer seen as just an attack on Great Britain, but a break for Irish independence.

The French daily newspaper Excelsior started to cover events in Dublin from as early as 30 April 1916. According to Clyde Thogmartin's The National Daily Press of France, Excelsior was France's "first photographically illustrated paper". It was started by Pierre Laffitte in 1910 with financial assistance from the controversial industrialist Basil Zaharoff. Excelsior was an innovative publication that used good quality photographs to report on the major news stories of the day. It reached its zenith in the 1930s and ran until 1940. Below, you can see some of the images that they published following the outbreak of the Rising, from the arrival of troops on the streets of Dublin, to the destruction of O'Connell Street (Sackville Street) and the execution of some of the leaders of the Rising.

Excelsior, 30 April 1916. 'Les Irlandais du front répondent aux "égarés" de Dublin' [The Irishmen from the front respond to the "strays" of Dublin]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067275/f6.item

Excelsior, 5 May 1916. 'La Révolte de Dublin est réprimée' [The Dublin revolt is suppressed]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4606732g/f1.item

Excelsior, 7 May 1916. 'Après la révolte de Dublin' [After the Dublin revolt]. Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067349/f1.item

Excelsior, 7 May 1916. 'A Dublin - quelques aspects de la ville au lendemain des événements révolutionaires' [Dublin - some impressions of the city in the aftermath of the revolutionary events].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067349/f8.item

Excelsior, 9 May 1916. 'Au moment où s'achevait la révolte irlandaise...' [The moment when the Irish revolt came to an end].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067364/f8.item

Excelsior, 13 May 1916. 'Maintenant que l'ordre est rétabli en Irlande' [Now that order has been restored in Ireland].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46067401.item

Excelsior, 17 May 1916. 'Plusieurs têtes de la révolte de Dublin' [Some of the leaders of the Dublin revolt].
Source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4606744p/f7.item

An Irishman's Diary on Amy Johnson, Queen of the Air

Amy Johnson (1903-1941) was a remarkable individual who set many flying records and broke all the rules when it came to women and aviation. She was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia.

I have just written an Irishman's Diary newspaper article about her in the Irish Times newspaper. Read it here.

Photograph of Amy Johnson. Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

If you would like to learn more about this world-class pilot, you will find lots of information about Amy Johnson on the internet. Several books have been written about her (including one by Gordon Snell) and some songs have been penned to celebrate her achievements. The Irish singer, Johnny McEvoy, sang about her in a song named 'Amy Johnson'. Listen to it here.

More information about Amy Johnson -

• Read this brief biography on the website of the Amy Johnson Arts Trust.
• Read this contemporaneous newspaper article from the Manchester Guardian about her record-breaking flight from London to Darwin. 
• Read about the route that she took from London to Darwin on this website from the Amy Johnson Arts Trust.

Photograph of Jim Mollison flying over Portmarnock Strand. Source: Wonders of World Aviation