O'Connell Street - Impact of Events of 1916 and 1922

Impact of Events of 1916 and 1922

The Easter Rising of 1916, when Irish republicans seized the General Post Office (GPO) and proclaimed the Irish Republic, led to the street's bombardment for a number of days by the gunboat Helga of the Royal Navy and several other artillery pieces which were brought up to fire on the north of O'Connell Street. The thoroughfare also saw sustained small arms and sniper fire from surrounding areas. By the end of the week, the rebels had been forced to abandon the GPO, which was burning, and held out in Moore Street until they surrendered. Much of the street was reduced to rubble, the damaged areas including the whole eastern side of the street as far north as Cathedral Street, and the terrace in between the GPO and Abbey Street on the western side. In addition, during the chaos that accompanied the rebellion, the inhabitants of the nearby slums looted many of the shops on O’Connell Street.

The events had a disastrous impact on the commercial life of the inner city, with many businesses forced to close for up to six years for rebuilding, or some never even reopening. Vast tracts of Henry Street, North Earl Street, Eden Quay and parts of Abbey Street were also devastated, resulting in a loss of rates for Dublin Corporation and a rise in unemployment in the city.

In the immediate aftermath of the Rising, the 'The Dublin Reconstruction (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1916' was drafted with the aim of controlling the nature of reconstruction on the thoroughfare. An expert group was also established in October 1916 which included the City Architect CJ McCarthy. Making use of the new Act, the group set out to rebuild in a coherent and dignified fashion, using the opportunity to modernise the nature of commercial activity on the street.

Plans were drawn up for unified terraces or 'blocks' of buildings, lined with retail outlets at street level and housing modern office accommodation in the upper floors. While the unified facades were never realised, and some developments didn't quite match the rest of the reconstruction efforts on the street leading to criticisms of an opportunity lost, Lower O'Connell Street was nonetheless rebuilt in a coherent fashion, its buildings maintaining a standard cornice line and making use of similar materials of limestone, granite, Portland stone, and red brick with stone dressings. The imposing architectural idiom of 'commercial classicism' generates a strong sense of civic importance and grandeur, especially the first set of buildings on the street with their neo-classical features, and grand cupolas and copper domes piercing the skyline.

With the exception of its Sackville Street facade and portico, the vast structure of the General Post Office was completely destroyed - a decade-long refurbishment project only having been completed a few weeks previous to its destruction. In the aftermath of the events, consideration was given to knocking the surviving facade, as were various plans proposed for the site such as a new Catholic cathedral for the city; in the end a new GPO was built behind the 1818 facade. Works got underway in 1924, eight years after the Rising, with the Henry Street side the first to be erected with new retail units at street level, a public shopping arcade linking through to Princes Street, and new offices on the upper floors. The Public Office underneath the portico on O'Connell Street reopened in 1929.

O'Connell Street was again the scene of a pitched battle in July 1922, on the outbreak of the Irish Civil War, when anti-treaty fighters under Oscar Traynor occupied the street after pro-treaty Irish National Army troops attacked the republican garrison in the nearby Four Courts. Fighting lasted from 28 June until 5 July, when the National Army troops brought artillery up to point blank range, under the cover of armoured cars, to bombard the republican-held buildings. Among the casualties was Cathal Brugha. Luckily, none of the post-1916 reconstructed buildings were seriously damaged during the Civil War. The effects of the week's fighting were largely confined to the northern end of the street, with the vast majority of the terrace north of Cathedral Street to Parnell Square being destroyed, as well as a few buildings on the north-western side. As a result, only one Georgian townhouse remains on the street today, though there are still some other Georgian buildings extant on the corner with Henry Street, as well as some masked behind Victorian facades on the lower end of the street.

Because of the extensive destruction and rebuilding, most of the buildings on O'Connell Street date from the 1910s and 1920s. Apart from the GPO, the famous buildings include the Gresham Hotel (reopened 1927), Eason & Son booksellers, the Royal Dublin Hotel (opened 1963) and Clerys department store (reopened 1922).