The 1916 Easter Rising was organised by a tiny group of conspirators.
They were the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
Formed in 1858, the IRB was a small, oath-bound organisation dedicated to achieving an Irish Republic by any means necessary, including violent insurrection.
High-ranking members of the secret fraternity included founder of Sinn Fein Arthur Griffith and revolutionary Michael Collins, both who later negotiated for the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Despite the impact of the Rising, the IRB was eclipsed in history by the IRA and faded away in less than 10 years.
Who were the IRB, why did they support Michael Collins’ Anglo-Irish Treaty, and why did the organisation fade away?
Ciarán Dunbar is joined by John O’Beirne Ranelagh, author of ‘The Irish Republican Brotherhood, 1914-1924′.
The birth of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and why they disappeared after the Easter Rising
