WI: Easter Rising as an "Irish Alamo"

Say that for whatever reason, the British decide to not only shell the GPO - but to storm it on the 28th of April 1916. A good deal of the Irish Republicans are killed during the brutal assault and upon surrendering, another large chunk is summarily executed on the spot. All the remaining survivors are then tried and sentenced to death for treason against the Crown, whilst London declares martial law throughout the entirity of County Dublin.

In the aftermath of this bloodier end to the Easter Rising, what happens now?
 
Say that for whatever reason, the British decide to not only shell the GPO - but to storm it on the 28th of April 1916. A good deal of the Irish Republicans are killed during the brutal assault and upon surrendering, another large chunk is summarily executed on the spot. All the remaining survivors are then tried and sentenced to death for treason against the Crown, whilst London declares martial law throughout the entirity of County Dublin.

In the aftermath of this bloodier end to the Easter Rising, what happens now?

Many of the leaders of the later Irish War of Independence, including Michael Collins, were interned after surviving the Easter Rising and public outcry led to their release. Everyone getting slaughtered means a lot of critical leadership from the IRB and for the later IRA is gone, making it harder for the rebels in the long run.
 

Pangur

Donor
This would change how some of the war of indepence played out. OK, Dublin is gutted short term, the rest of Ireland is not. Add to that if OTL the executions caused hatem try mass executions. Loyality of Irish born on the Western front is now questionable. Add to that just how this is seen is the US- badly. End result my guess is near enough the same for Ireland
 
This would change how some of the war of indepence played out. OK, Dublin is gutted short term, the rest of Ireland is not. Add to that if OTL the executions caused hatem try mass executions. Loyality of Irish born on the Western front is now questionable. Add to that just how this is seen is the US- badly. End result my guess is near enough the same for Ireland

Apart from the Irish at the Front, add in the number of troops that the UK will have to keep securing Dublin and the county along with most likely other areas like Cork, given the battles of 1916 at the front it could have an impact as well.
 
Many of the leaders of the later Irish War of Independence, including Michael Collins, were interned after surviving the Easter Rising and public outcry led to their release. Everyone getting slaughtered means a lot of critical leadership from the IRB and for the later IRA is gone, making it harder for the rebels in the long run.
But surely the outrage generated by a massacre would be just as much as, if not worse than that of the OTL executions? Not sure if Ireland can win independence in the long run ITTL (there may or may not be ab equally competent new leadership to replace those who died in the GPO), but good chance that the island will explode in the short term.
 
If the British killed all the rebels in the shelling they might be seen as having brought it upon themselves. The 1916 rebels were not initially at all popular in Dublin. It was the brutal behaviour of Captain Bowen-Colthurst (including the shooting of Francis Sheehy Skeffington, a well known figure who although a conscientious objector was attempting to restore order and prevent further looting - the first example of an innocent victim caught in the crossfire in the Troubles in Ireland) and the subsequent execution/martyrdom of the rebel leaders -and McBride who wasn't actually a leader but the British were convinced was because of his actions during the Boer War, that outraged public opinion -even Southern Unionists didn't like it. If the rebels had all perished without subsequent executions or with all survivors found guilty having sentences commuted to twenty years hard labour, the Easter Rising could have been a footnote in Ireland's history.
Realistically though, the British largely applied the letter of the law even though it would have been politically expedient not to do so. Probably the worst thing they did was to try and hush up Bowen-Colthurst's activities. Actively committing atrocities would have needed a very different commander to Sir John Maxwell. With all their faults, the British Army of 1916 wasn't Santa Ana's Mexicans (the funniest bit of the whole rising was a local cease fire to allow a park keeper to go and feed the ducks!) If Bowen-Colthurst hadn't been about and wiser political counsels prevailed re the executions, the whole thing might have died down, especially if Conscription had been ruled out.
 
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