Howth Gun Running re-enacted

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THE 96th anniversary of the Howth Gun Running was marked recently by Dublin Ógra Shinn Féin activists recreating the historic events of 1914.

Wearing replica Irish Volunteers uniforms, ÓSF actvists distributed leaflets in English, Irish, Spanish and Polish to the many locals and tourists who had gathered to watch the commemoration take place. After the distribution of thousands of leaflets and the arrival of the Dublin Republican Flute Band, the crowd paraded along the East Pier in Howth to the very spot where The Asgard unloaded the arsenal of German weapons on July 26th 1914.

The significant milestone in Irish history was in response to the arming of the Ulster Volunteer Force. The weapons were to be used to arm the Irish Volunteers in the run-up to the 1916 Rising. Nine hundred Mauser rifles and 29,000 rounds of ammunition were to prove their worth in the events of Easter Week.

When the gun landed  that day in 1914, they were taken back to Dublin City by the Irish Volunteers aided by young republicans in the Fianna, in which Ógra Shinn Féin has its origins. The British Army fired on a crowd of civilians at Bachelor’s Quay in the city, killing three of them.

Every year, Ógra Sinn Féin in Dublin commemorates the Asgard landing in celebration of the spirit of Irish freedom, in support of the demand for Irish unity and in remembrance of those who died.