The civilian population was by no means uniformly hostile to the Rising, even during Easter week. There was, of course, anger expressed at the number of fatalities it had caused, and the scale of destruction and distress. Its timing outraged those with relatives fighting with the British Army. When they surrendered, some rebel garrisons had to be protected by the British Army from hostile crowds - for example, at the College of Surgeons. But in contrast elsewhere, at Boland's Bakery and the South Dublin Union, the insurgents were heartened by the spontaneous warmth of the popular response. With justification some believed that sympathy for their action had grown as the week progressed. Certainly there was a widespread feeling that they had fought a clean fight in Ireland's cause, and shown courage and conviction and also concern for the suffering caused to the civilian population. There was admiration for the fact that though poorly armed, the volunteers had held out for so long against the resources of an empire, apparently willing and able to deploy limitless numbers of well-equipped troops.
There can be no doubt that the response of the British government to the Rising contributed measurably to the further alienation of Irish public opinion. On 26th April 1916, it had introduced martial law and next day appointed Major-General Sir John Maxwell as Commander-in-Chief of troops, Ireland. He had full authority to restore order, put down the rebellion, and punish its participants. Maxwell never doubted that its leaders should be court-martialled and those most prominent executed. He was also determined that, in order to crush militant nationalism, those who had surrendered with them, and their suspected supporters, should be arrested and their arms seized in a nationwide sweep by soldiers, supported by police. In total, the security forces arrested 3,430 men and 79 women and of these 1,841 were sent to England and interned there. They were substantial figures in relation to the scale of the outbreak, though most (about 2,700) had been released by early August 1916. Meanwhile, those thought to have organised the insurrection had been held back in Ireland for trial – 190 men and 1 woman, Countess Markievicz. In 90 cases the court's verdict was ‘Death by being shot'. Maxwell confirmed this judgement on 15 defendants, and these were executed between 3-12 May 1916.
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