The intimate nature of the conflict means that the rebellion at times takes on the worst characteristics of a civil war, especially in Leinster.

Sectarian resentment is fueled by the remaining Penal Laws still in force and by the ruthless campaign of repression prior to the rising.

Rumors of planned massacres by both sides are common in the days before the rising and lead to a widespread climate of fear.

Atrocities will be committed by both sides during the rebellion.

The aftermath of almost every British victory in the rising is marked by the massacre of captured and wounded rebels with some on a large scale such as at Carlow, New Ross, Ballinamuck and Killala.

The British are responsible for particularly gruesome massacres at Gibbet Rath, New Ross and Enniscorthy, burning rebels alive in the latter two.

For those rebels who ae taken alive in the aftermath of battle, being regarded as traitors to the Crown, they are not treated as prisoners of war but are executed, usually by hanging.