Tour of Easter Rebellion Sites
A Photo Tour of Easter Rising Sites
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Places of the 1916 Rising
Four Courts picture 1
Four Courts, the seat of Ireland's Judiciary, is situated on the River Liffey. Commandant Edward Daly sent a portion of rebel forces, under Lt. Joseph MacGuinnes, to seize Four Courts on the morning the Rising began. The force of only twenty men marched to the Chancery Place entrance, ordered a policeman to hand over the keys and took control of the building. The rebel force was able to hold the building for almost six days before they were forced to surrender the building and escape.
St. Stephen's Green Park picture 2
Formal lawns, flower gardens, Victorian bandstand, fountains and a lake with waterfowl all belie the use of this park in the Rising. During the Rising, Commander Michael Mallin, with the Citizen Army, and his second in command, Lt. Countess Markievicz, with her troop of women and Boy Scouts, entered the Green by two's and three's through eight different entrances to avoid suspicion. Once the public had been ushered from the Park, the Citizen Army set about digging trenches and setting up for the upcoming skirmishes. The Countess' forces set up a commissariat and a Red Cross post for treating the wounded that were anticipated. To help with the defense of the park, Mallin placed men in some of the houses surrounding the Park and blockaded the perimeter. Today statues of prominent literary figures as well as Irish freedom fighters (Countess Markievicz, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, Robert Emmett, Wolf Tone) are spread throughout the park.
Shelbourne Hotel picture 3
The Hotel, built in 1824, is located on the north side of St. Stephen's Green Park. Citizen Army Commander Mallin, when occupying the Green, did not send a detachment to take over the Hotel, with its commanding view of the Park. On the second day of the Rising, the British sent a force of one hundred men to occupy the Hotel and opened fire on the Citizen Army in the Park. After a fierce three-hour assault by British machine guns, Mallin was forced to order a retreat of his forces to the College of Surgeons. The constitution of the Irish Free State was also drafted at the Shelbourne in 1921
Dublin Castle pictures 4 & 5
The Citizen Army, under John Connelly, attacked Dublin Castle shortly after noon on 24 April 1916 and launched an assault on the Guardroom. For some reason, Connelly did not press his takeover of the Castle, but instead sent parties of men to occupy nearby businesses and City Hall. Had he realized that fewer than twenty-five soldiers occupied the Castle, his decision might have been different.
Royal Barracks (now Collins Barracks) picture 6
Collins Barracks now houses part of the collection of the National Museum but until recently was the oldest military barracks built for that purpose. During the 1916 Rising it was known as the Royal Barracks and housed the 10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers - thirty-seven officers and four hundred and thirty men - used to fight against the Citizen Army.
General Post Office - (GPO) picture 7
It was here that Patrick Pearse issued the Proclamation of the Republic on Easter Monday 1916. James Connelly, commander of all rebel forces in Dublin, along with Patrick Pearse other Rising leaders occupied the GPO for a week until the British shelling and resulting fire forced them to evacuate. The GPO was rebuilt in 1929 but bullet holes can still be seen in the Ionic columns facing O'Connell Street.
Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) pictures 8 & 9
The Jail was built in 1796 and was in use until 1924. In 1861 a new East wing was added with features of Victorian design. All cell doors faced into a single vaulted space, cell doors had a spyhole and cells had windows set just below the ceiling (to direct the prisoners gaze upwards towards the heavens and salvation). A glass canopy over the main concourse allowed the area to be flooded with light (picture #8). The Victorian thinking was that this would allow the prisoners to be reformed by the light and its purifying powers. On the eve of their executions the leaders of the Easter Rising were taken to Kilmainham Jail to spend their last hours. At the hour of their execution, they were taken to the courtyard and shot. The cross barely discernible at the end of the courtyard marks the place where they met their death. (picture 9).
Arbour Hill Cemetery picture 10
On a street behind Collins Barracks lies Arbour Hill Cemetery, the final resting-place of fourteen of the leaders of the Easter Rising. It is a simple memorial consisting of a granite wall with the Proclamation of the Republic (in Gaelic and English) etched in it and gold cross in the middle. The grassy area in front of the memorial is marked with the names of the fourteen buried there. In fitting symbolism, the Cemetery is bordered by a prison. Even in death these men are still guarded.
Submitted by Corky ©1998
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