A bullet hole from 1916 on the O'Connell monument in Dublin
“There are positive and negative reactions to the word ‘fenian’. Usually it’s negative if it’s followed by the word ‘bastard’.”
We are standing in the basement of the International bar in Wicklow Street in Dublin – myself, Jamie the photographer and a group of representatives of Failte Ireland, the Irish tourist board, listening to our host, Lorcan Collins, author, editor and founder of the 1916 Rebellion Walking Tour. He is setting the scene for the next hour and a half: a walk through the streets of the Irish capital in the footsteps of the rebels who rose on Easter 1916.