Today, May 3rd 2016, marks one hundred years since Pádraig Pearse (1879-1916) was executed for his part in the Easter Rising of 1916. Today my thoughts turn to his mother, who not only lost Pádraig, but merely one day later lost a second son, Willie.
As people all over the United States prepare to celebrate Mothers Day this coming Sunday, Pádraig Pearse’s eloquent poem,”The Mother”, comes to mind.
In his final letter to his mother Pearse refers to this poem:
“You asked me to write a little poem
which would seem to be said by you about me.”
And so, here is Pearse’s poetic vision of his mother’s grief. These words always touch my heart….
The Mother by Patrick Pearse
I do not grudge them: Lord, I do not grudge
My two strong sons that I have seen go out
To break their strength and die, they and a few,
In bloody protest for a glorious thing,
They shall be spoken of among their people,
The generations shall remember them,
And call them blessed;
But I will speak their names to my own heart
In the long nights;
The little names that were familiar once
Round my dead hearth.
Lord, thou art hard on mothers:
We suffer in their coming and their going;
And tho’ I grudge them not, I weary, weary
Of the long sorrow – And yet I have my joy:
My sons were faithful, and they fought.
Pádraig Pearse owned a little thatched cottage in Rosmuc,County Galway right in the hearth of Connemara, where he spent his summers, surrounded by great granite mountains, silver lakes and the beautiful landscape of western Ireland.
I often wonder if his mother Margaret Pearse stayed there with him. Perhaps she sat by the hearth, warmed by a turf fire, and the company of her family.
Then when I read the lines …
“But I will speak their names to my own heart
In the long nights;
The little names that were familiar once
Round my dead hearth.”
…. I feel the depth and pain of her great loss, as she recollects her brave sons in childhood. The voice in this poem expresses Margaret Pearse’s personal grief, but the depth of her sorrow and joy is universally acknowledged by all mothers.
Patrick Pearse’s Final Letter To His Mother:
Pearse’s love for his mother also resonates in the words of encouragement he chose to share in his last and final letter to her, written on the day he died.
“Kilmainham Prison,
May 3rd, 1916.
My Dearest Mother,
I have been hoping up to now it would be possible to see you again, but it does not seem possible. Good-bye dear, dear, mother. Through you I say good-bye to Wow Wow, M.B., Willie, Miss Byrne,. Michael, cousin Maggie and everyone at St. Enda’s. I hope and believe Willie and the St. Enda boys will be all safe.
I have written two papers about financial affairs and one about my books which I want you to get. With them are a few poems which I want added to the poems in MS in my bookcase. You asked me to write a little poem which would seem to be said by you about me.
I have written it, and a copy is in Arbour Hill Barracks with other papers and Father Aloysius is taking care of another copy of it.
I have just received Holy Communion. I am happy, except for the great grief of parting from you. This is the death I should have asked for if God had given me the choice of all deaths – to die a soldier’s death for Ireland and for freedom. We have done right. People will say hard things of us now, but later on they will praise us. Do not grieve for all this but think of it as a sacrifice which God has asked of me and of you.
Good-bye again, dear mother. May God bless you for your great love for me and for your great faith, and may He remember all you have so bravely suffered. I hope soon to see papa, and in a little while we shall all be together again. I have not words to tell you of my love for you and how my heart yearns to you all. I will call to you in my heart at the last moment.
Your son Pat.”
Willie, whom Patrick believed would be saved, was not spared. His brother was executed the following day at dawn.
The Pearse brothers were brave and heroic men, raised by a remarkable woman who believed in the importance of our Irish identity, and instilled in her sons a love of Ireland’s cultural heritage, and the dream of Irish freedom. She paid the ultimate price when she lost her beloved sons.
Slán agus beannacht,
(Goodbye and blessings)
Irish American Mom
Mairead,
I was struck by the following line:
“People will say hard things of us now, but later on they will praise us. ”
How prophet was Patrick’s letter! So heartbreaking to his Mom and so eloquently stating his love.
Beautiful tribute, Thank you! and may you enjoy a wonderfully happy Mother’s Day with your children.
Hi Miriam – Pearse’s insight into the impact of their actions was incredible, and it is only with hindsight we can really appreciate the enormity of the sacrifices and decisions these Irish men made.
Hope you too have a lovely Mother’s Day.
Best wishes,
Mairéad
Oh this is so sad……breaks your heart to think of all the suffering Ireland withstood….the famine and the risings ….I am so proud of my whole Irish family!
Hi Marypat – This is a very sad post, but since these brave men fought and died one hundred years ago, I think it is appropriate we remember them with pride. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Mairéad
Mairead, this brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Hi Maury – My eyes too were a little damp when I read this letter.
All the best,
Mairéad
Oh how moving that letter was to me! Being a mother of 5 sons, I can only imagine the grief she must have experienced , yet the profound pride she must have felt towards her boys and the cause they believed in, then gave their lives for!
Very moving, very touching!
Thank you for sharing!
Mary
Hi Mary – As a mother of boys I too find this letter and poem very moving. Thanks so much for stopping by to check out this post.
Best wishes,
Mairéad
Mairead , thank you for Mrs. Pearse’s poem written by Padraig, her son.
Like most every one else who attended school in Ireland I learned this
poem and so many others growing up and always this poem broke my
heart. (Looking back we were most fortunate to ‘have’ to learn poetry
and also to have an abundance of Irish poets to learn from.) The name
Wow Wow was the family pet name for Padraig’s sister Mary Bridget
who also taught at St. Enda’s; Mrs. Pearse was the the House Mother,
cook and go to person for comfort when the students needed a little
extra caring. She was said to have been aware of all planning for the
Rising as well as the ongoing plans for raids and fundraising both at home
and abroad. A very, very strong woman who raised two very different
sons both of whom had the courage and strength to die for Ireland’s Freedom.
And yes, Padraig was correct when he wrote that people would scorn them
but later would applaud them and that happened quickly when the British
shot and or hung the Volunteers without mercy thinking that the Irish
were cowed but soon found out that it was just the beginning.
Thank you, Mairead, for giving us this poem to remember all Mothers and
the joys and pain that comes with being a Mother.
Hi Martha – I too remember learning this poem off-by-heart when I was at school in Dublin. I also remember learning “The Wayfarer” by Pádraig Pearse, which is another poignant poem. Thanks for adding additional insight into the Pearse family and the commitment of all the family to Ireland’s freedom.
All the best,
Mairéad
This was such a moving post, especially just a few days before Mother’s Day.
One thing I don’t get- how did Patrick write the poem that his mother grieved both sons when he thought his brother would be spared and Patrick was executed the day before? Or did I miss something in the story- did he have another brother who had been killed before?
Hi Deborah – Here’s my understanding of this issue. I believe Pearse started writing this poem before the Rising when all of the leaders believed they would face death for what they were planning to do. In the days after the Rising when they were imprisoned there was doubt about whether the English government would have enough evidence to hold them accountable for treason. That is why Patrick Pearse began to hope his brother Willie would be spared.
Ironically, to prove treason on the part of all the leaders of the Rising, a postscript from Pearse’s letter to his mother on May 1st was used as evidence. He stated “P.S. I understand that the German expedition which I was counting on actually set sail but was defeated by the British.” This postscript line was used as evidence against every one of the 160 people who were court-martialed after the Rising. Without it, perhaps the leaders might have been spared, and the Irish public might never have grown to accept and support the Rising.
If any reader can shed further light on this, please do join in this discussion.
All the best,
Mairéad
Thanks for the further explanation!
🙂 🙂 🙂