A NORTH-EAST author is honouring the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Dublin Easter Rising, with the release of the first of a trilogy of Irish historical fiction novels in March.

Tracey Iceton, 38, is a former English teacher and current author from Stockton, and will be taking part in the upcoming Darlington Culture Festival.

She is completing the trilogy as part of her PhD in Creative Writing at Northumbria University, but has been working on the novels since 2010.

Ms Iceton said: “I didn’t actually know much about the Easter Rising before pursuing the novels, but Irish history was always of interest to me.

"I first went to Dublin in 2010 for research knowing that the 100th anniversary was coming up and it was very emotive. I knew then that there was a story to tell.”

The Easter Rising, also known as The Easter Uprising, was an armed rebellion to establish an Independent Irish Republic and end British Rule, beginning on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916.

At the end of the Rising, the 15 men identified as leaders were executed at the now famous Kilmainham jail.

When researching the executed leaders, Ms Iceton found that she has a surprisingly similar profile to one in particular, Patrick Pearse, who was also a teacher and a writer.

She said: “It was amazing. How does someone who was also a writer and a teacher end up in front of a firing squad? So I started researching into his life, and thought this is definitely the way into my novels.”

Green Dawn at St Enda’s will be published on March 7, launching at The Arc in Stockton at 7pm and the next day at 7.30pm at the Tyneside Irish Centre, Newcastle.

The launch events will include question and answer sessions with the author and free refreshments.