Wexford County Council staff are busily preparing the town of Enniscorthy for what many believe will be the largest ever civic event and State Ceremony to be held in the town.
Enniscorthy was one of just four towns outside of Dublin to "rise" in 1916 and the last town in Ireland to surrender. Enniscorthy has hosted annual Easter Monday celebrations to remember and celebrate the town's historic role during the 1916 Rising.
This year's 28th March Easter Monday Centenary Celebrations in Enniscorthy are the result of years of careful and deliberate planning and the scale, extent and spectacle of these centenary celebrations are expected to attract thousands of spectators from across Wexford and further afield, all seeking to be part of a truly historic day.
Backroads to the Rising Programme
The Backroads to the Rising Programme is currently taking place in many rural villages within the hinterland of Enniscorthy. This unique project will conclude this Easter Monday morning when almost 500 men and women will walk or cycle into Enniscorthy to participate in the centenary celebrations, in doing so following in the footsteps of the hundreds of volunteers who travelled to Enniscorthy back in 1916 from all over County Wexford to join their comrades in support of the Enniscorthy Rising.
Easter Monday
More than 10,000 spectators and participants are expected to be in Enniscorthy on Easter Monday. The celebrations commence at 11.30am with the 1916 Centenary Parade from St. Aidan's Cathedral to the Seamus Rafter Statue, Abbey Square, pausing at The Athenaeum for the raising of the famous Enniscorthy 1916 Battalion Flag, followed by a minute's silence.
It promises to be a spectacular parade, with more than 800 participants, including hundreds of pikemen, re-enactors and relatives of 1916 volunteers, supported by a battalion of troops from the Irish Defence Forces, together with other uniformed participants and military band.
The Parade will travel through the town centre before converging on Abbey Square, where a formal State Commemoration Ceremony will take place. The ceremony will include the reading of the Proclamation and the laying of a wreath at Rafter Monument by a representative of the Defence Forces. The wreath-laying ceremony will be part of a series of synchronised wreath-laying ceremonies, with wreaths also being laid at significant sites in Dublin, Meath, Cork, and Galway. The wreaths will simultaneously be laid at precisely 1.15pm – the time that the Rising's very first shots rang out.
Raising of the Patriot's Flag
The wreath-laying ceremony will be followed with the raising of the Patriot's Flag, one of County Wexford's 1916 legacy projects. The huge flag, measuring almost 6m x 3m, will be raised by a representative of the Defence Forces on a new 16 metre high illuminated flagpole recently erected in the centre of Abbey Square. This spectacular monument will symbolise Enniscorthy's long-standing claim as the first town to fly the Tri-colour when, on 7th March 1848, a flag of green, white and orange was carried in a parade from the town to nearby Vinegar Hill.
Battle re-enactment and Air Corps Fly Past
The first part of the State Ceremony will conclude to the playing of the National Anthem by the Military Band, with an Air Corps Fly Past during the closing notes of Reveille.
The second part of the celebrations will continue at Abbey Square and will feature the performance of a number of songs specially commissioned by Wexford County Council for 2016, the reading of a commissioned poem, and the much-anticipated 1916-themed battle re-enactment.
Wexford County Council has prepared a formal Event Management Plan to cater for the expected large attendance on Easter Monday. Park and Ride facilities will be available on many approach roads and town centre parking will also be signposted. Many of the town centre streets will, of necessity, be closed to traffic, with diversions in place.
Large viewing screens and public address facilities will strategically located in Market Square and Abbey Square to ensure the public can access and enjoy the various elements of the day's celebrations.
Proceedings are expected to close at approximately 3.30pm.
Throughout Easter weekend, the Promenade Festival will take place, with dozens of artisan food and craft stalls expected to locate all along the Promenade, adding to the excitement and atmosphere of the weekend.
Enniscorthy's beloved Athenaeum will also host an "open day" on Easter Saturday, providing a welcome opportunity to the general public to view this newly refurbished iconic building which enjoyed such prominence during the 1916 Rising in Enniscorthy
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