Irish Patriot, Sculptor. He will be remember for his participation in the Easter Rising of 1916 in Dublin, Ireland, which was a conflict between the British and the Irish Revolutionaries at Jacob's Biscuit Company. He was arrested at the scene carrying a white flag, in a court martial found guilty of treason, and sentenced to death in front of a British firing squad. He was the only one to plead “guilty” when asked. He was granted a visit with his brother Patrick Pearse, who was the first President of the Irish Republic, but did not reach the jail before Patrick's execution on May 3, 1916. After a visit with his mother and his sister Margaret, Pearse took communion from a priest and was executed the next morning at 4:30. Although many sources state that he did little at the Easter Rising, the surname of Pearse condemned him to death. Called “Willie”, he was the son of James, an English sculptor owning his own business “Pearse and Sons” and his Irish wife, Margaret Brady. Although his parents grew apart over the years, he was very close to his two-year older brother, Patrick. His home life can be described as having a loving, patriotic mother and an inaccessible father, who was often away making gravestones, church altars and pulpits for his patrons. While Ireland was in the midst of a famine with people starving, his family was comfortable as his father had steady work. Like his brother, he attended Irish Christian Brothers School in Westland Row, but did not attend a university. He studied sculpturing like his father, attending the Art School of Dublin studying under Oliver Sheppard. Pearse received praises for his art work at the Royal College at Kensington in London, England and Paris, France. His pieces can be found in Lemerich Cathedral, the Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba and several Dublin churches. His most famous work, the Mater Dolorosa, can be viewed in the Mortuary Chapel of St. Andrew’s Church on Westland Row in Dublin. He managed the family's stonemason business for nine years after his father's death. In 1909, he sold the business as he had decided to follow his brother Patrick in opening his new school, the St Enda's School, which was a bilingual school teaching Irish culture. An active member of the Gaelic League, he was fluent in the Irish language. Being somewhat a Bohemian with long hair, wide-eyed and a flair for the stage, he taught theater and the arts along with aiding with the general management of the school. With his sister Mary Brigid, he formed the Leinster Stage Society, which held plays at the Abbey Theater for the financial benefit of St. Enda’s. He was considered a fair actor with his slow speech that had a lisp. He was described a quiet, unassertive, inoffensive individual; one could not associate him with bloodshed; and it was said he never fired a gun. He followed Patrick attending rallies of the Irish Volunteers reaching the rank of Staff Captain and becoming an Irish revolutionist. His involvement with starting the school, becoming active in politics, and a young death shortened the production of his sculptures. As a result, the surviving body of work is relatively small. He placed entries in the Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition in 1906, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912, and 1913. At times he signed his Irish surname “MacPiarais” on his pieces. Today, there is a permanent exhibition of his work in the Pearse Museum on Grange Road in Dublin, which includes pieces on loan from the National Museum and Kilmainham Gaol Museum. Of course his brother Patrick has many honors being the first President of the Irish Republic, but William Pearse was honored also: In 1966, Dublin's Westland Row Railway Station was renamed Pearse Station in honor of the Pearse brothers. The bridge over Dodder River on Rathfarmham is named Pearse Brothers Bridge and has a historical plaque depicting the brothers' profile. Their birth place was on Great Brunswick Road, which was renamed Pearse Road. There is a William Pearse Park in Dublin. Crumlin Sinn Féin holds an annual commemoration for him at Willie Pearse Park Crumlin, and one year the local councilor, Cllr Ray McHugh, arranged for two granite stone plaques to be placed at the entrance to the park in memory of Willie Pearse. On his November 15th birthday in 2017, an article was published about Willie in the online newspaper Irish Central. Patrick Pearse wrote about his brother Willie, “Willie and I have been true brothers. Willie’s companionship has been the one solace of my sorrowful life. As a boy, he has been my only playmate, as a man he has been my only intimate friend.” Willie Pearse's biggest crime, it seems, was being the brother of Patrick Pearse.