This Easter was more than a yearly Christian holiday.
Easter Monday also marked the 90-year anniversary of the Easter Rising, when a small group of people in Ireland fought and died for freedom.
Many scholars call this rebellion of Irish civilians against the British government the turning point in the country's struggle for independence.
"It had always been these splinter groups [fighting for independence]," said Diane Facinelli, an honors professor who leads a study abroad trip to Ireland. "Now it was Ireland against England."
About 75 people attended a presentation Monday to commemorate the event.
The presentation, sponsored by the Barrett Honors College Council and coordinated by accounting graduate student Elizabeth Barber, also featured traditional dance, performed by the Celtic Dance Academy, and music performed by members of The Clare Voyants.
The Irish people had a long history of religious and economic oppression by the British and unsuccessful attempts to gain independence, said Jim Daugherty, the main presenter at the event.
"[The goal of the uprising was] to open the door to freedom wide enough so that it could never quite be closed again," Daugherty said.
The uprising began Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, when an initial 150 rebels seized buildings in Dublin to resist the British military.
It lasted six days before the rebels surrendered, Daugherty said.
Daugherty said when leaders were unfairly tried and executed following the rebellion, it prompted the Irish populace to push more strongly for independence.
"Irish opinion, first hostile to the rebels [because of high civilian casualties and a shutdown of commerce], now swung vehemently in their favor," Daugherty said.
Facinelli said the executions "gave them martyrs."
The public outrage contributed to a Free State Treaty being signed in 1921, and the eventual declaration of a free Irish republic.
But disunity between Irish republicans and northern Irish counties wanting to maintain allegiance to the British crown created strife that remains to this day, Daugherty said.
"The immediate results of the Irish Free State was the Irish fighting themselves ... which is very sad," Facinelli said.
Accounting freshman Jill Millsop said she was not familiar with many topics of the night.
"I learned a lot about the Irish people, their character and their amazing devotion ... to their country," she said.
Reach the reporter at james.kindle@asu.edu.
