Dublin's main post office is the stand-out architectural and historic landmark on bustling O'Connell Street. The grand building was designed by Armagh-born architect Francis Johnston and built at a cost of £50,000. Opened in 1818, the three storey Wicklow granite building features a classical Greek façade with six columned Portland stone portico. Perched on the central 50ft balustrade are the symbolic figures of Hibernia, Fidelity and Mercury.

THE GPO and the 1916 EASTER RISING
On 24 April 1916, a group of armed rebels led by barrister and teacher Patrick Pearse and leading socialist James Connolly took over the GPO in an attempt to declare Irish independence from the UK.

Gathered mostly from the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army, and including Michael Collins, the rebels resisted a week of outside attacks from armed forces. An Irish Tricolour flag was raised alongside another bearing the words Irish Republic - and Pearse emerged onto O'Connell Street (then Sackville St.) to read the Proclamation of Independence.

However, as fighting broke out across the city - and the GPO lay in smouldering ruins - Pearse surrendered. Records indicate around 2000 insurgents - and up to 5500 British Army troops - took part in the Rising which resulted in 300 fatalities. All seven signatories of the Proclamation, including both leaders, were executed by the British Army at Kilmainham Gaol - Connolly's wounds so severe that he was executed whilst seated and tied to a chair.

Though the Rising itself failed, Britain's actions in its aftermath provoked international outrage and hastened Ireland's independence in 1921. You can still see bullet pock-marks from the Rising on the GPO's columns and Daniel O'Connell statue. Full copies of the Proclamation are kept at important locations including the GPO, Trinity College and the National Museum of Ireland. To find out more about this pivotal event in Ireland's history, see our History Timeline.

STATUE OF CÚCHULAINN
In the window of the GPO, a bronze statue depicting the death of this mythical Irish legend serves as an allegorical commemoration of the Easter Rising. 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF IRELAND'S POSTAL SERVICE
Ireland's postal service dates back to the 16th and 17th century when English affairs in the country demanded better communication between London and Dublin. When Oliver Cromwell outlawed private postal services in 1657, a State monopoly was established and continues - in some form - to this day. Click here to find out much more about its significant role in Irish history.