Kent was part of a prominent nationalist family who lived at Bawnard House, Castlelyons, County Cork. They were prepared to take part in the Easter Rising, but when the mobilization order was countermanded, they stayed home. The rising nevertheless went forward in Dublin, and the RIC was sent to arrest well-known sympathizers throughout the country. When the Kent residence was raided they were met with resistance from Thomas and his brothers Richard, David and William. A gunfight lasted for four hours, in which an RIC officer, Head Constable William Rowe, was killed and David Kent was seriously wounded. Eventually the Kents were forced to surrender. Thomas and William were tried by court martial on the charge of armed rebellion. William was acquitted, but Thomas was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad in Cork on 9 May 1916.

Patrick Pearse was born in Dublin and spent many summers in Rosmuc in Galway learning Irish. He established a school for boys, St. Enda’s School, where children could learn about Irish culture and language. The public face of the 1916 Rising, Pearse was in charge of the General Post Office (G.P.O.). When the British army overpowered the Irish rebels, it was Pearse who ordered their general surrender in order to save further loss of life. He was tried and executed by a firing squad in Kilmainham Jail on the 3rd of May 1916.

William 'Willie' Pearse was a younger brother of Patrick Pearse, arguably the most famous of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. He was born in Dublin and throughout his life lived in the shadow of his brother, to whom he was devoted. He studied at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin, as well as in Paris, and the Kensington School of Art. He followed his brother into the Irish Volunteers and the Republican movement, taking part in the Easter Rising in 1916, constantly staying by his brother's side at the General Post Office. Following the surrender he was courtmartialed and sentenced to be shot. On 3 May, Willie Pearse was granted permission to visit his brother in Kilmainham Gaol, to see him for the final time. However, while Willie was en route, Patrick Pearse was executed. Willie was executed the following day.