Breen in Tipperary. The leaders of the I.V.F. who remained at home in Tipperary was Pierce McCan, of Dualla.

The I.R.B. had revived itself considerably in the first decade of this century. All I.R.B. members joined the I.V.F. and to a great extent controlled the movement. The I.R.B. members decided that there should he a rising before the end of the war. Throughout 1915, preparations went ahead for the proposed rising, Joseph Mary Plunkett made his way to Germany to look for help, in the form of men and arms. Sir Roger Casement, though not a member of the I.R.B., went to Germany also. Help from Germany was not forthcoming. Germany did however promise a shipload of arms. The rising was fixed by the I.R.B. secret Military Council for Easter Sunday, 1916, under the guise of manoeuvres.

The Rising was planned for Easter Sunday, 1916. Eoin MacNeill, Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Volunteer Force (I.V.F.), had been kept in the dark about the planned Rising by the Irish Republican Brotherhood's (I.R.B.) secret Military Council. He found out about it in the middle of Holy Week and disagreed with the idea of a Rising as he believed it would be a useless waste of life. He was informed that a large consignment of arms and ammunition was on its way from Germany. When he heard this he reluctantly agreed to remain silent about the Rising.

However, tragedy was to strike the ship bringing the arms. The ship, "The Aud", arrived from Germany on Good Friday, April 21, 1916, but wasn't met by a local pilot as expected because it was supposed to arrive on Easter Sunday. The Captain did not receive notification of the change of plan as there was no wireless transmitter on board the ship. While the Captain waited, the ship was spotted by the British and they decided to escort it to Cobh.  In transit the Captain, Karl Spindler, scuttled the ship. Sir Roger Casement, was also captured on Banna Strand, Co. Kerry, on Good Friday, having been dropped off by a German submarine. When MacNeill realised all the arms were lost he decided to call off the manoeuvres planned for Easter Sunday, which were supposed to be the Rising. Couriers were sent to all parts of, the country and a notice was put in the Sunday papers notifying the I.V.F. of the cancellation of their weekend manoeuvres. The O'Rahilly was sent to Tipperary and went to Eamonn Ó'Duibhir's of Ballagh, to notify him of the cancellation.

There was confusion throughout the country. In spite of MacNeill's order to cancel the Rising, Padraic Pearse, James Connolly and Thomas J. Clarke decided to go ahead, and it started on Easter Monday, in Dublin. As a result of the confusion caused by MacNeill's countermanding order the Rising was confined mainly to Dublin.

The Rising was a military failure and after one week of fighting the rebels surrendered. Ninety of the rebels were condemned to death. Sixteen were executed, fourteen in Dublin, one in Cork and Sir Roger Casement in Pentonville Jail, England. Thousands of men were arrested and sent to prisons in England. A concentration camp was opened in Frognoch, Wales. Local Tipperary men who were arrested were Eamonn Ó'Duibhir of Ballagh and Michael Sheehan of Dundrum (Sheehan was later to figure prominently in both the War of Independence and the Civil War). Eamonn Ó'Duibhir was sent to Reading Jail.

The majority of the prisoners were released on December 22, 1916. The prisoners came borne to a heroes welcome. This was entirely different to the reception they got when they were leaving Dublin for the English jails after the Rising. Immediately after the Rising the people of Dublin jeered the rebels, but following the executions the people changed their minds and sympathised with the rebels. The executions were the cause of the biggest shift in Irish public opinion towards the physical force element in Ireland in the whole history of 800 years of British occupation and Irish rebellion.

Eamonn Ó'Duibhir had met Seamus Robinson in Reading Jail and before returning to Tipperary after his release Eamonn Ó'Duibhir invited Seamus Robinson to return to Tipperary with him. Seamus was