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All Ireland Dublin Dublin General Post Office

Dublin General Post Office

The modern birthplace of Irish freedom.

Dublin, Ireland

Added By
Shannon O'Haire
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The GPO at night   Shannon Ohaire / Atlas Obscura User
The shell of the GPO after the Rising in 1916   National Library of Ireland via Wikimedia Commons
The entrance to the GPO   Shannon Ohaire / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
August 2023   DMStephenson / Atlas Obscura User
  Julius Spada / Atlas Obscura User
Note bullet hole   Julius Spada / Atlas Obscura User
Cúchulainn statue inside the Post Office   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
A majestic structure with so much history.   Julius Spada / Atlas Obscura User
Inside the post office   bohemianman / Atlas Obscura User
A statue depicting the death of the mythical hero Cúchulainn   bohemianman / Atlas Obscura User
  Mark Mones / Atlas Obscura User
General Post Office   Jaszmina Szendrey / Atlas Obscura User
Bullet holes in pillar outside the GPO   clboru / Atlas Obscura User
  Babs81 / Atlas Obscura User
The GPO. Historic building.   spadaadjusting / Atlas Obscura User
The beautiful GPO was used as the rebel headquarters during the Easter Rising, it still has bullet holes in its facade.   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
Available to consider as soon as you walk in.   learncreateeducate / Atlas Obscura User
GPO clock   katielou106 / Atlas Obscura User
This type of detail and evidence of the history are everywhere in the post office.   learncreateeducate / Atlas Obscura User
Thousands of people have used this to prepare and address their mail.   learncreateeducate / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The General Post Office in Dublin on O'Connell street is the headquarters of the Irish Postal Service and a bustling hub of activity, but every Easter it becomes a symbol of Irish revolution and a somber place of remembrance.

Dublin was still under British rule in 1916, when seven unlikely revolutionaries hatched a plan for an armed uprising during the Easter holiday. They wrote a Proclamation of Independence and chose strategic sites in downtown Dublin for their Rising, including the post office along the main thoroughfare of the city. They felt that once the revolution began the people of Ireland would rise with them and they assumed that the British would not destroy their own property in retaliation.  They were mistaken on all counts.

The Rising had its problems from the beginning. Due to a split in leadership and miscommunications, even the date was confused. When the fighting didn't begin on Easter as many thought, would-be reinforcements turned around and went home. Despite this, the planned takeovers of government buildings began on Easter Monday, and the destruction of a large portion of Dublin shortly followed.

The general post office, or GPO, was the headquarters of the revolution. Here the Irish flag was raised and the Proclamation was recited loudly, to the jeers and complaints of the citizenry who just wanted to post their mail. When the British began to shell the area with heavy artillery, the complaints grew louder. The post office was eventually set on fire and mostly destroyed, along with many of the buildings around it. In the end, the British army had no qualms about destroying most of downtown Dublin to defeat the upstarts in the GPO.

The Easter Rising lasted only for 6 days. It would likely have been a mere footnote in history, but for the fact that all seven signatories on the Proclamation were then tried in secret and executed by the Crown, at which point they became martyrs to Irish freedom. Their short-lived fight eventually led to Ireland's independence and the leaders are revered to this day. Decades later, their proclamation is located in many Irish government buildings including the GPO and on countless memorials. It is read every year on Easter at the renovated post office by a member of the Irish Defense Forces.

All that remains of the original building is the beautiful Georgian facade. The facade has its own visible scars of bullet holes, cracks and mortar damage. It is still one of the busiest post offices in all of Ireland and it houses a permanent exhibition of its role in the Rising called Letters, Lives and Liberty. Every year on Easter, a wreath is laid outside the General Post Office, the Proclamation is read and other ceremonies commence to commemorate the men and women who fought in 1916.

 

Related Tags

Architecture Museums And Collections Memorials Celtic Government

Know Before You Go

The exhibition is open Tuesday-Saturdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and costs 15 euros for adults. Tours are available several times a week, check for more info.

Community Contributors

Added By

Shannon Ohaire

Edited By

Mom0ja, MorganGD, Jaszmina Szendrey, clboru...

  • Mom0ja
  • MorganGD
  • Jaszmina Szendrey
  • clboru
  • SEANETTA
  • bohemianman
  • Mark Mones
  • Babs81
  • katielou106
  • Xavixavir
  • spadaadjusting
  • Julius Spada
  • DMStephenson
  • learncreateeducate

Published

April 22, 2014

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Dublin General Post Office
O'Connell Street
Dublin
Ireland
53.349334, -6.261075
Visit Website
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