General Post Office (Dublin)

The General Post Office (GPO) (Ard-Oifig an Phoist) in Dublin is the headquarters of the Irish postal service An Post, and Dublin's principal post office. Sited in the centre of the city's main thoroughfare O'Connell Street, it is one of Ireland's most famous buildings and was the last of the great Georgian public buildings to be erected in the capital.

Architecture

The GPO was at first located in a small building on the site of where the Commercial Buildings used to be (now the Central Bank building) off Dame Street, and was afterwards removed to a larger house opposite the Bank of Ireland building on College Green, and on 6 January 1818, the new post-office in Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) was opened for business. The foundation-stone of the building, which is built after a design of Francis Johnston, was laid by Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth on 12 August, 1814, and the structure was completed in the short space of three years, for the sum of £50,000. The front, which extends 67.1 metres (220 ft), has a portico (24.4 metres (80 ft) wide), of six fluted Ionic columns, 137.16 centimetres (54 inches) in diameter. The frieze of the entablature is highly enriched, and in the tympanum of the pediment are the royal arms. On the acroteria of the pediment are three statues by John Smyth: Mercury on the right, with his Caduceus and purse; On the left Fidelity, with her finger on her lip, and a key in her hand; and in the centre Hibernia, resting on her spear, and holding a harp. The entablature, with the exception of the architrave, is continued along the rest of the front; the frieze, however, is not decorated over the portico. A handsome balustrade surmounts the cornice of the building, which is 15.2 metres (50 ft) from the ground. With the exception of the portico, which is of Portland stone, the whole is of mountain granite. The elevation has three stories, of which the lower or basement is rusticated, and in this respect it resembles the India House of London, where a rusticated basement is introduced, although the portico occupies the entire height of the structure.

History

During the Easter Rising of 1916, the GPO served as the headquarters of the uprising's leaders. The assault by the British forces extensively damaged the building and it was not repaired until the Irish Free State government took up the task some years later. The original columns outside are still pocked with bullet-marks. An original copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic is on permanent display in the GPO philatelic office. The building has remained a symbol of Irish nationalism and Irish national history. In commemoration of the failed Rising, a statue depicting the death of the mythical hero Cúchulainn is housed in the front of the building. This statue was featured on the Irish ten shilling coin of 1966 and on the "B Series" £20 currency note. Despite its fame as an iconic place of Irish freedom, ground rent continued to be paid to English and American landlords until the 1980s.

The broadcasting studios of 2RN, which later became Radio Éireann, were located at the GPO from 1928 until the 1960s. Draws for Prize Bonds are held weekly, on Fridays, in the building. As of 2008, the Irish government is considering a proposal to incorporate an Easter Rising museum, a philatelic museum, a museum of Dublin and converting the two current courtyards into a lager civic space that may be used for future inauguration of the President.

Formerly Nelson's Pillar was located in the centre of O'Connell Street adjacent to the GPO, however the Pillar was destroyed by the IRA in an explosion in 1966. The Spire of Dublin now takes a dominant position on the site of the Pillar.

References

External links

• Irish Architecture Online: GPO history and pictures
• Project Gutenberg Article
• An Post History and Heritage - The GPO
• The 1916 Rising by Norman Teeling a ten-painting suite highlighting historical moments of the Easter Rising acquired by An Post for permanent display at the GPO

Images