The Easter Rising

Much of the fighting centered around the General Post Office (the GPO),  as it was the headquarters of the uprising's leaders, though numerous other building throughout Dublin were occupied by Irish forces. It was from outside this building on 24 April 1916, that Patrick Pearse read out the Proclamation of the Irish Republic (effectively the Irish Declaration of Independence). By the end of the week the GPO was surrounded and then bombarded into submission, with the Irish leadership tunneling through the walls of the neighboring buildings in order to evacuate before eventually surrendering after realizing that further resistance was futile.  

Much of the GPO except for the facade was destroyed during the Rising and not rebuilt by the Irish Free State until 1929. Today it still functions as a post office, though An Post (the state-owned provider of postal services in Ireland) moved its headquarters to new premises at North Wall Quay, in 2023. 

While unsuccessful, with the British quickly reasserting control over Dublin and the rest of Ireland (where isolated mini-risings were also ineffective), the subsequent executions and interment of Irish nationalists and increased agression by the British forces eventually led to Irish War of Independence in 1919 and eventually to Irish independence in 1922.  

While the American Revolution's Boston Massacre was accidental, it was similar to the Easter Rising in that both set the stage for a subsequent revolution.   

I was struck by the fact that little has been done to memorialize such hallowed ground. While the building houses the GPO Museum which tells the story of the 1916 Easter Rising, with the exception of a statue emplaced in the GPO lobby (The Death of Cú Chulainn,² visible just over my right shoulder in the above right photo) and some bullet holes, a tourist might not realize the building's importance.      

After my inspection I needed a pint to slake my thirst and allow time for contemplation, so I went to the Confession Box as it was nearby and sounded so very Irish. It didn't hurt that it also played a role in post Easter Rising absolution.     

Auguest 6, 2025

Footnotes:

¹ The O'Rahilly refers to Michael Joseph O'Rahilly, the Irish republican and nationalist and not William James O'Reilly Jr., the American republican and nationalist. O'Rahilly fought in the GPO and was killed while leading a breakout attempt on April 28, 1916.  

² Cú Chulainn's death is a legendary event where the Irish hero, mortally wounded by a magical spear during battle, ties himself to a standing stone to die on his feet, facing his enemies, only succumbing when a raven (The Morrígan) lands on his shoulder, after which his enemies approach to find him still standing but dead. 

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." 

• Mohandas Gandhi