Given that the GPO served as the headquarters for the volunteers during the Easter Rising, it’s fitting that the Dublin landmark’s significance in Irish history is finally being memorialised. After five years in the making, the €10 million GPO Witness History exhibition opened to the public on Tuesday 29 March. Included in the centre is an audiovisual space, artefacts and exhibits that provide context to the events leading up to the Rising and beyond, from the Gaelic revival to formation of the State.
Given that the GPO served as the headquarters for the volunteers during the Easter Rising, it’s fitting that the Dublin landmark’s significance in Irish history is finally being memorialised.
After five years in the making, the €10 million GPO Witness History exhibition opened to the public on Tuesday 29 March. Included in the centre is an audiovisual space, artefacts and exhibits that provide context to the events leading up to the Rising and beyond, from the Gaelic revival to formation of the State.
Indeed, we were impressed during our visit. The facility caters for all ages, with interactive panels and games suitable for children. We enjoyed perusing the posters and propaganda of the time, with some urging the Irish to either fight in WWI, others asking to support Home Rule or the Republican movement. Newspaper clippings also give visitors a great insight into the mood at the time, as well as exhibitions contrasting the lives of those in the tenements and the upper class.
Historians such as Kevin Myers, Diarmuid Ferriter, JJ Lee and Michael Laffin offer varying views on events, while you can also chart the difficult relationship between the two sides of the divide in the years that followed the Rising.
The slick 15-minute film tracking the Rising from the various locations, with the GPO at the heart of the action, was the highlight for us. Giving viewers a bird’s-eye strategic overview of events, it tells the story of 1916 without glamourising the brutality, but strikingly shows how it all unfolded on the streets of Dublin.
In addition to the exhibition, the inner courtyard of the GPO was renovated as part of the project and includes artist Barbara Knezevic’s special memorial to the 40 children killed by bullets during Easter week. It’s a stark and sad reminder of the innocent lives lost during the conflict.
Brimming with activity during the day, it’s easy to forget what happened inside the GPO during 1916 and its role in history. A visit to GPO Witness History is essential for anyone visiting Dublin in the centenary year.
Visit www.gpowitnesshistory.ie to book tickets.
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