In September 2016, the National Archives of Ireland published papers relating to the courts martial of the Easter Rising leaders.
In his speech, available below, President Michael D. Higgins said the documents were “kept secret and were inaccessible to the general public” for many years.
He said the papers “provide moving and valuable insights into the proceedings; imparting a human dimension that can so often be missed from conventional factual historical accounts”.
“They, and the many other images captured in these records, remind us that the leaders of 1916 were human and wounded agents of our freedom, not abstract or mythical characters; and they enable us to have a profound appreciation of the real and human sacrifices that they and their families made in order that future generations might inhabit a free and independent state.”
