General Post Office, Dublin

This is the main post office in Dublin. DUBLIN'S premier street is O'Connell street and it is regarding as the heart of the city centre. This is where buses leave for the airport, where major fast food companies have outlets, and where people arrange to meet. No-one ever seems to stop in O'Connell street, probably because it is incredibly busy, and it is not really attractive as far as the prime streets of major world cities go. I love dublin very nice city, and very easy to get around dublin..www.guinness.ie

An Post Museum in Dublin’s GPO opened its doors for the very first time in August 2010 with the Letters, Lives and Liberty Exhibition.
Situated in the very heart of Dublin’s City Centre the An Post Museum gives a unique and wonderful insight in to the history of one of Ireland’s oldest and most respected institutions, the Irish Post Office.

It celebrates the influence that the Irish Post Office has had on Irish society, politics, transport and technology.

From stamps and mail boats to the role of GPO staff on Easter Monday 1916, Letters, Lives and Liberty tells the story of how the Post Office has played a vital role in the development of Irish society over the generations.
The An Post Museum offers visitors a new insight and a chance to experience a rare piece Irish history.

Set inside one of Ireland's most iconic buildings, the GPO, the An Post Museum offers visitors the opportunity listen to the stories of the past describing life as a Postal Servant in Ireland. Visitors can see the finest examples of Ireland's first ever stamps in spectacular colour and detail. Visitors can learn for what it was like to be in the GPO during the 1916 Rising and much more.

The Letters, Lives and Liberty exhibition combines old and new technologies bringing to life the story of the Post Office in Ireland from its earliest beginnings right up to today.
The audio visuals and interactive displays allow visitors to choose subjects of particular interest as they explore aspects of the Irish Post Office story.

Cost of entry to the exhibition is €2 per person

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This was the headquarters of "The Rising" in 1916. It's interior was destroyed by British shelling.

You can easily recognise this building by it's impressive Graeco-Roman style portico supported by six Ionic columns.

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The General Post Office, which has an important place in Irish history, was originally built in 1814-1818. It had just reopened after remodeling in March 1916, in April 1916 it was destroyed during the Easter Uprising. It was here on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, that Patrick Pearse stood on the steps and read the Proclamation of the Republic declaring a free Irish Republic after which he and his supporters barricaded themselves inside the Post Office.

They eventually surrendered on Saturday April 29th, on Sunday April 30 they were marched through town, jeered by Dubliners who were mad that part of their city had been destroyed. That sentiment would change just a few days later after what was believed to be an unfair trial and almost immediate execution of the rebel leaders, in particular the execution of James Connolly who was too weak to stand and was shot while tied to a chair.

Although I didn't look for them, I read that you can still see the bullet holes in some of the exterior columns and inside you can see a series of paintings telling the story of the Easter Uprising.

Near the center of O'Connell St sits the historic General Post Office, epicenter of the 1916 Easter Uprising. As I understand it, the building was bombed during fighting but much of it remained and was restored. The GPO remains a functioning post office with many users daily. There is a statue of the mythical hero Cuchulainn in the main window, depicting his death. The building a good example of Georgian architecture on the inside and out. It is open to the public to walk in and view the building and the paintings on the wall.

Cost: Free
Hours: 8AM-8PM M-S

The General Post Office, which everyone simply calls GPO, is a majestic building located on O'Connell street - it's the headquarters of the Irish postal service but this is of tertiary importance. Tertiary? Yes.

The second reason is mainly an architectonical reason: the General Post Office was the last of the great Georgian public buildings to were erected in Dublin. See the 6 column in front of it? Walk closely and see if you can spot some 1916 bullet-marks.

The first reason why this building is important is historical. The GPO is tied to the 1916 Easter rising: the headquarters of the failed rebellion were here, and it was outside the GPO that Patrick Pearse, president of the Provisional Government, read out the Proclamation of the Republic. for the first time.

I also have my personal reason... back in 1989 the Guilford Four (Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson) were released after having been wrongfully imprisoned in a British prison for 15 years, accused of being IRA members. Paul Hill came to Dublin that year, and spoke to thousands of people in front of the GPO... I was one of them.

The General Post Office, or GPO as it's always referred to as, is one of Ireland’s most important buildings. This importance is not because of its architecture, or its function; rather, the GPO was the headquarters of the Easter Rising in 1916, a hugely significant event in Irish history which lead to Irish Independence from Britain in 1921. There is a statue of the ancient Irish hero Cúchulainn in the main window facing onto O’Connell street.

The original columns outside the buildings still contain bullet marks from the fighting in the Rising, while an original copy of the Proclamation of Irish Independence, a proclamation read out by Padraig Pearse at the building in 1916, is on display.

Aside from its historical importance the GPO building, which dates from the early 19th century, is visually one of the most impressive in Dublin. It was badly damaged but not destroyed during the rising, and was later restored to it’s original state by the new Irish Government. In recent years, O’ Connell street has undergone much restoration, in particular the sections near the GPO - an appropriate act for a building so important to Irish history.

the general post office was built in 1818 and became famous for the 1916 easter uprising. on easter sunday 1916 members of the irish volunteers and the irish citizens army seized the building. the british shelled the post office for a week and finally forced the rebels out. in the following weeks 14 of the leaders of the uprising were caught and were executed at kilmainham goal. today only the facade of the original post office remains.