This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on General Post Office (Dublin) is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
The General Post Office (GPO) (Irish: 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.
Contents |
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.1
The broadcasting studios of 2RN, which later became Radio Éireann, were located at the GPO from 1928 until the 1960s.2 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.3
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
- ^ Debate on GPO ground rent
- ^ Sexton, Michael (2005). Marconi: the Irish connection. Four Courts Press. pp. 104. ISBN 1851828419.
- ^ McDonald, Frank (March 28 2008), "GPO may become setting for presidential inaugurations", Irish Times: 1, http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/frontpage/2008/0324/1206144654457.html
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
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: General Post Office |
_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_12595.png) The General Post Office in an engraving from about 1827 |
 The GPO Dublin 2007. |
 GPO at night in 2006 |
|
 A plaque commemorating the Easter Rising at the GPO, with the Irish text in Gaelic script, and the English text in Latin script |
 The GPO Dublin 2007. |
|
|||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 10 December 2008, at 02:48.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "General Post Office (Dublin)".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.