While moral psychology has increasingly examined cultural variation, less attention has been given to how morality changes over time, despite evidence that moral salience can shift in response to historical and sociopolitical events (Wheeler et al., 2019). Although prior research has examined the effects of conflict and conducted temporal analyses of moral foundations, the role of key historical events in shaping moral salience remains underexplored especially in the context of independence movements and rebellions. This study investigated the impact of the 1916 Rising on the moral foundations of Harm/Care, Ingroup/Loyalty, and Authority/Respect during 20th-century Irish independence movements. Using periodical corpora from two major national newspapers (1910–1928), relevant moral language was extracted for text-based analysis. Linear, segmented, and quadratic models showed no immediate influence of the Rising; however, the post-event quadratic trend indicated a delayed increase in moral salience. These findings suggest a more gradual moral shift following the event, with implications for historical, cultural, and moral psychology. Strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.