The Moore Street buildings have become synonymous with the last stand of those fighting in the GPO in 1916. It was here at No 16 that the Rising’s leaders had their final council of war on the morning of Saturday, April 29th.
The previous day a detachment led by Michael Joseph O’Rahilly began the evacuation from the burning GPO towards Moore Street, with the intention of joining the rebels’ Four Courts garrison via Parnell Street. O’Rahilly was killed when his detachment met a British army barricade.
The remainder of the GPO garrison, including Pearse, Connolly, Clarke, MacDiarmada, Plunkett and Collins, followed, occupying buildings along the eastern side of Moore Street under heavy fire.
Tunnelling through the gable walls, they spread out through the buildings and made sorties towards various British forces. On the morning of April 29th they surrendered, sending out a white flag to British Brigadier General Lowe.
Covered by a 2007 Preservation Order under the National Monuments Acts, Nos 14-17 are the most original, complete and continuous section of substantially intact pre-1916 buildings on Moore Street. They are believed to date from 1756-1773 and retain significant internal 18th-century additions, including staircases, partitions, doors, floors, fittings and fixtures.
Physical evidence of the 1916 rebels also survives in the form of the openings broken through partition walls.
In 2015 the buildings were acquired by the State to ensure their long-term future, and work is under way to conserve, stabilise and restore the buildings.
The conservation work will reveal the period architectural detail, the living conditions and, above all, the imprint of the rebellion.
The primary focus of the work is to show the buildings as they were during the Rising, allowing them to illuminate that period in our history. Once completed, a new commemorative centre will act as a lasting tribute to the 1916 leaders, allowing people to step back in time to the dramatic final moments of the Rising.
It is expected the restoration project will be completed at the end of the centenary year, but there may be limited access on the Rising’s centenary week.
The Moore Street commemorative centre will be just minutes’ walk from the visitor centre being developed at the GPO. – Darragh Murphy
