General Post Office

In Real Life:

Architecturally, this is the most important building on O'Connell Street. The building was designed by Francis Johnston, and opened in 1818, The three statues on the top of the building - Mercury, Hibernia and Fidelity, are 1933 replicas of the original statues sculpted by John Smyth in the early 1800s. Mercury is the Messenger of the Gods; Hibernia represents Ireland, and Fidelity, with her faithful hound, represents the trust placed by a nation in their postal service. The facade and the interior of the GPO were extensively refurbished in the mid 1990s and again in 2006.

During the Easter Rising of 1916, the GPO was the headquarters of the Irish Volunteers. On Easter Monday of that year, armed detachments of the Irish Volunteers and the Citizen Army. commanded by Padraig Pearse and James Connolly, took over the GPO where they proclaimed the Irish Republic.

The rebels held out for a week there, as well as in other occupied positions throughout the city, before surrendering to British forces. While the interior of the GPO was destroyed by fire after persistent shelling, the main frontage escaped serious damage. Under the new Irish Government, reconstruction of the GPO began in 1925 and the building as it is now re-opened in 1929.

A bronze statue of the legendary hero, Cuchulainn, stands in the front window of the GPO as a memorial to the participants of the 1916 Rising. The ancient Irish legend says that when fatally wounded in battle, Cuchulainn tied himself to a pillar so that he might face his enemies even in death. Only when a raven perched on his shoulder did they dare to approach. This memorial was unveiled on Easter Sunday, 21st April 1935. The names of the seven signatories and the third paragraph of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic are inscribed on the plaque underneath the statue.