Chronology of the Easter Rising
Monday, 17 April, 1916
• The Military Council meets and approves the draft of the
Proclamation of the Irish Republic. The Council also agrees who
will form the provisional government, the seven of whom will also
put their names to the Proclamation.
The Proclamation (L) and the leaders of the Rising (R). (Images: National Library of Ireland)
Wednesday, 19 April, 1916
• Those who will act as commandants during Easter week are
made aware that the Rising is scheduled to begin at 6.30pm on
Easter Sunday.
Thursday, 20 April, 1916
• Bulmer Hobson uncovers the plans for a Rising, and
immediately informs Eoin MacNeill. The two men drive to
St Enda’s
at midnight and confront Pearse who tells them that they are
powerless to stop the Rising from taking place.
Friday, 21 April, 1916
• MacNeill spends the early morning trying to halt the
Rising. He issues orders to the Volunteers to ignore
Pearse’s plans and instructs them that in future they must
only obey orders issued by MacNeill himself. J.J. O’Connell
is dispatched to Cork in an attempt to halt the Rising there.
• MacNeill is later visited by Seán Mac Diarmada who
convinces him to support the Rising in light of his revelation of
the impending arrival of a large shipment of arms from Germany.
His mind changed, MacNeill then cancels his countermanding
orders.
• In the evening Bulmer Hobson, as a moderate within the
Volunteer leadership who opposed the Rising, was taken prisoner by
the IRB at 76 Cabra Park. At the same time the Military Council
held what they believed would be their last meeting prior to the
commencement of the Rising at Houlihan’s Shop on Amiens
Street.
• Unbeknown to those planning in Dublin, the German U Boat,
U19, carrying Casement, Monteith and Beverley had come alongside
the Kerry coast in the early morning. At around 3am the three men
landed in a small boat at Banna Strand. Casement took refuge in
McKenna’s fort, while the other two men attempted to make
contact with the local IRB. All three are arrested by local
police.
• In the early morning the Aud had also arrived off
the Kerry coast at Fenit, but found no one waiting to meet the
ship. By lunchtime two British ships began tracking the
Aud, and by early evening had cornered it and began
escorting it to Queenstown.
Eoin MacNeill (Image: UCD Archives)
Saturday, 22 April, 1916
• At dawn a messenger from the Kerry Volunteers arrived in
Dublin and informed Connolly that Casement had been arrested.
• A meeting of the Military Council was hastily organised,
and the decision taken not to inform MacNeill about
Casement’s arrest.
• In the morning the captain of the Aud makes the
decision to scuttle his ship. While he and the crew are rescued,
the armaments on board the Aud are lost. By early
afternoon the Military Council are made aware of the loss of their
arms shipment.
• At 6pm Sean Fitzgibbon, Colm O’Loughlin and The
O’Rahilly arrive at Woodtown Park and inform MacNeill of the
arrests and the loss of the Aud. After confronting Pearce
at St Enda’s, MacNeill and others gather at the house of
Seamus O’Kelly on Rathgar Road and a decision is made to
issue countermanding orders cancelling the Rising planned for
Easter Sunday. To make sure that the countermanding order was
received and understood James Ryan was sent overnight to Cork,
Colm O’Loughlin to Dundalk and Coalisland, Sean Fitzgibbon
to Wateford and Min Ryan to Wexford. The O’Rahilly travelled
to Limerick, Kerry, Cork and Tipperary.
• During the evening, General Friend, General Officer
Commanding of British forces in Ireland, travelled to London on
leave in wake of the capture of the Aud believing that
any potential insurgency had been stopped. Chief Secretary Birrell
was also in London having attended a Cabinet meeting. Both men
would remain in London through Easter, leaving Under Secretary
Matthew Nathan as the most senior British official remaining in
Dublin.
Roger Casement (Image: UCD Archives, LA 30/PH/408)
Sunday, 23 April, 1916
• 01.00 – MacNeill arrives at the offices of the
Sunday Independent and delivers his countermanding order
cancelling all Volunteer activity. The order is included in the
day’s paper for distribution on Sunday morning.
• 09.00 –
The Military Council
begins a four hour meeting to discuss what to do in light of
MacNeill’s countermanding order. The meeting decides to go
ahead with the Rising beginning at noon on Easter Monday. It also
finalises the text of the Proclamation to be read out at the GPO
and elects Pearse as Commandant-General of the Army of the Irish
Republic. In the afternoon messengers are sent to local
commandants in Dublin and beyond informing them of the new
timetable for the Rising.
• 14.30 – The Irish Citizen Army meets at Liberty
Hall.
The Irish Citizen Army outside Liberty Hall, Dublin in 1914. (Image: National Library of Ireland, Ke 198)
• 16.45 – 200 members of the Citizen Army take part in
a route march through the centre of Dublin city.
• 22.00 – A conference is held at the Viceregal Lodge
in Phoenix Park to discuss the events of the last few days. In
attendance are Under-Secretary Nathan, Colonel H.V. Cowan (Army),
Major Ivon Price (Military Intelligence), Chief Commissioner
Edgeworth-Johnstone (Dublin Metropolitan Police) and Viscount
Wimborne (Lord Lieutenant of Ireland). The meeting discusses the possibility of raiding Liberty Hall
and arresting the known ring leaders of any plot, but the decision
is made that no action would be taken until a final decision is
made by Chief Secretary Birrell in London. As he did not receive
the telegram asking for his opinion until Easter Monday, no
preemptive action is taken by the British.
The Viceregal Lodge in Dublin, the home of the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wimborne and where a conference was held by the administration on the day before the Rising. (Image: National Library of Ireland, LROY 337)
Monday, 24 April, 1916
• 10.55 – Members of the Irish Volunteers are seen
gathering in uniform at Blackhall Place.
• 11.00 – Large numbers of Volunteers begin gathering
at Liberty Hall. They are joined by members of the Irish Citizen
Army. Volunteer activity is also observed around St
Stephen’s Green.
• 11.15 – Volunteers are observed moving towards the
Grand Canal.
• 11.35 – Volunteers are also seen coming together at
Bishop Street and have also moved into Jacob’s Biscuit
Factory.
• 11.40 – Members of the Irish Citizen Army take
control of St Stephen’s Green, and Volunteers have entered
the South Dublin Union. Nearby Volunteers also take control of the
Four Courts.
• 11.55 – GPO seized by rebels. Further groups
dispatched to the Imperial Hotel, Clery’s and other shops
facing O’Connell Bridge.
• 12.00 – British ammunition convoy ambushed near Four
Courts.
• 12.00 – Citizen Army under Michael Mallin take
control of St Stephen’s Green. Unarmed DMP constable,
Michael Lahiff, killed. Michael Cavanagh also killed when he tried
to remove his cart from a barricade that had been built outside
the Shelbourne Hotel.
• 12.17 – Rebels attack Magazine Fort in Phoenix
Park. Attack fails, but teenage son of fort’s commandant is
killed.
• 12.20 – 3rd Royal Irish regiment comes under
fire from Volunteers inside the South Dublin Union.
• 12.30 – Bolands Mills and Bolands Bakery taken over
by rebels.
• 12.30 – The British response begins. Colonel Cowan
orders 6th Reserve Cavalry to send a patrol to Sackville Street
and for the three battalions of the Dublin Garrison to send men to
defend Dublin Castle. He also contacts the Curragh by phone and
asks that the mobile column of the 3rd Reserve Cavalry is sent to
Dublin.
• 12.35 – The Mendicity Institution is taken by
Volunteers and its residents forced onto the street.
• 12.35 – Lord Wimborne orders the 6th Reserve Cavalry
to send detachments to defend the Magazine Fort and Viceregal
Lodge in Phoenix Park.
• 12.45 – Pearse appears outside the GPO and proclaims
the establishment of the Irish Republic.
• 13.00 – Eamon Bulfin and other rebels raise two flags
above the GPO: the Irish tricolour and a green one bearing the
words ‘Irish Republic’.
• 13.00 – Volunteers gather in pockets across County
Galway led by Liam Mellows.
• 13.10 – Volunteers take buildings around Fumbally
Lane and Malpas St.
• 13.15 – A troop of the 6th Reserve Cavalry
proceeds down Sackville Street and is engaged by rebels in the GPO
and buildings opposite. Four lancers killed.
• 13.15 – In addition to the buildings they have taken,
Volunteers are also securing control of various bridges across the
city. It seems that they are attempting to erect a cordon around
the centre of the city and control the main routes into the
centre.
A map showing the cordon of troops surround the city. (Image: Irish Life: A Record of the Irish Rebellion, 1916. Full collection available in the National Library of Ireland)
• 13.20 – Members of the Irish City Army, led by
Seán Connolly, fail to take control of Dublin Castle. In
their attempted attack a policeman, Constable O’Brien, is
killed. They move next door and take control of City Hall.
• 13.30 – Rebels take control of Harcourt Railway
Station but critically fail to take control of other major
transport terminals in the city or the quays of the Dublin
docklands.
• 13.40 – Pickets of the 3rd Royal Irish Rifles
and 10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers arrive at the Ship Street Barracks
after coming under fire at the Jacob's Factory and Mendicity
Institution respectively.
• 13.40 – British cavalry attacked as they pass
the Four Courts.
• 13.50 – Intense fighting around City Hall. The rebels
are on the roof, while soldiers on the street fire at their
positions. Seán Connolly is shot and killed and becomes the
first rebel to die during the rebellion.
• 14.00 – There is increased fighting across the city
as troops begin to respond to the Rising. As they try to move
around the city they come under fire from positions held by the
rebels. Troops from Richmond Barracks are attacked at the South
Dublin Union, while others are engaged in Portobello.
• 14.20 – Fighting continues at the South Dublin Union
as troops attempt to clear the rebel positions. Rebels holding the
Marrowbone Lane Distillery respond with intense fire.
• 15.00 – Members of Georgius Rex veterans squad
return to Beggars Bush after manoeuvres. They are aged and unarmed
but come under fire from Volunteers on Northumberland Road. Four
are killed. Pearse subsequently issues order that no unarmed men,
even if in uniform, are to be shot at.
• 15.30 – Looting begins across the city as people take
advantage of the upheaval and the apparent lack of law and
order.
• 16.00 – The military response to the Rising begins in
earnest. Lead elements of the Curragh Mobile Column arrive and
secure Kingsbridge Station.
• 16.30 – Trains carrying the main body of troops from
the Curragh begin to arrive at Kingsbridge at 15-20 minute
intervals.
• 16.30 – Detachments from the Army Musketry School at
Dollymount filter through the city and secure the facilities at
North Wall.
• 17.20 – Troops recently arrived at Kingsbridge
Station have made their way to Dame Street and are engaged in a
fierce battle with the rebels at City Hall.
• 17.30 – Rebels have secured positions on all sides of
O’Connell Street Bridge.
• 17.45 – Nurse killed during sustained fighting at
South Dublin Union.
• 19.00 – Officer Training Corps and porters defending
Trinity College reinforced by numbers of British and colonial
servicemen on leave in Dublin.
• 19.30 – Captain Elliotson of the Curragh Mobile
Column conducts reconnaissance of rebel positions around City Hall
and the Rates Office, which is shortly followed by a full scale
attack on the rebels holding City Hall.
• 20.00 – Rebels around Jacob’s Factory leave the
on-street positions they held during the day and seek night time
safety inside the factory.
• 20.00 – The army attack on City Hall continues and
the interior of the building has been cleared with rebels
retaining control of the roof.
• 20.30 – Looting continues in Sackville Street,
and fires also begin breaking out in premises on the street.
Postcard depicting the fires that engulfed buildings along Sackville (O'Connell) Street during the rebellion. (Image: South Dublin County Libraries)
• 23.15 – The rebels have stormed into the Gasworks on South Lotts Road and dismantled the machinery there which has left much of the south side of the city in darkness.
Tuesday, 25 April, 1916
• 02.15 – Capt. Elliotson and an army machine gun
group of 100 men secure Shelbourne Hotel which offers them
military control of St Stephen’s Green.
• 03.20 – Troops take control of Royal Services
Club on St Stephen’s Green.
• 03.45 – Brigadier Lowe arrives at Kingsbridge
with remainder of 25th Reserve Infantry Brigade and takes personal
control of British forces.
• 05.30 – Intense gunfire around Stephen’s Green
under fire with high numbers of rebel casualties.
St Stephen's Green where the rebels stationed themselves on Monday (L) and the Shelbourne Hotel, seen from St Stephen's Green, where a group of soldiers secured positions to allow them to take military control. (R) (Image: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA)
• 08.00 – British forces take control of City Hall
having re-captured the roof. All rebels remaining in the building
are taken prisoner.
• 08.30 – Under heavy fire the Citizen Army force at St
Stephen’s Green take the decision to abandon their exposed
positions in the Green and take up new positions in the Royal
College of Surgeons. They take to the roof and begin exchanging
fire with British forces. Four rebels are confirmed killed in the
Green.
• 10.30 – At Portobello Bridge and in the street around
Jacob’s Factory there is intense sniper fire from the
rebels.
• 11.20 – While British troops have been trying to take
the South Dublin Union for hours, they cannot dislodge the rebels
who are firing at them. The decision is made to temporarily halt
the British attack on the Union building.
• 13.00 – Shooting has continued all morning around the
GPO.
• 14.00 – The British have continued to rush troops
into the city from across Ireland. During the morning the Reserve
Artillery have arrived from Athlone, the 4th Royal Dublin
Fusiliers from Templemore and the Ulster Composite Battalion from
Belfast. The Dublin Fusiliers come under attack near City Hall as
they attempt to dislodge rebels from the
Evening Mail offices.
• 14.20 – The British attack the positions held by
Seamus Murphy and 50 Volunteers at the Jameson’s distillery
on Marrowbone Lane. A two-hour-long battle ensues in which the
British suffer losses. The attack fails and the Volunteers hold
their position.
• 15.00 – British 18-pounder artillery based at
Grangegorman Asylum opens fire on rebel positions in the Phibsboro
area.
• 15.15 – The 6th Reserve Cavalry moves into the
Phibsboro area and two hours later have largely secured the
area.
• 17.25 – Volunteers attack Broadstone Railway Station
where British troops are based.
• 18.00 – Rebels in Galway have attempted to take
control of RIC barracks at Oranmore and Clarinbridge. Both attacks
fail.
• 20.00 – After having taken control of the Mail and
Express Building, British troops advance into Parliament Street
and come under sustained fire from rebels in the Exchange Hotel.
Soldiers are killed and seriously wounded. When the attack ends
the rebels vacate the Exchange Hotel and move towards Sackville
Street.
• 20.00 – The journalist and pacifist. Francis
Sheehy-Skeffingtoin is arrested on Portobello Bridge and taken
prisoner by the British and removed to Portobello Barracks.
• 20.15 – British gun yacht, the HMY
Helga has entered the Liffey and fired at Boland’s
Mills damaging the upper storeys.
• 22.00 – Rebels have spent the day strengthening their
hold on the Sackville Street area and now hold both the Imperial
and Metropole hotels. Fighting continues in St Stephen’s
Green between the British holding several key vantage points and
the rebels based on the roof of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Wednesday, 26 April, 1916
• 06.00 – British troops have been arriving at
Kingstown all night. They number in their thousands and are
largely men who have recently finished their basic training and
had been waiting at Watford for dispatch to the Western Front
before being diverted to Ireland.
• 07.00 – At Carnmore, County Galway, in an exchange of
fire between Volunteers and the RIC, two policemen have been
killed.
• 08.00 – The news that Martial Law has been proclaimed
by British authorities is announced. This means that civilians are
not allowed out on the streets between 7pm and 5am.
• 08.30 – The HMY Helga and HMY
Seahawk are anchored in the Liffey and have begun
shelling Liberty Hall.
• 09.00 – Fighting has resumed at dawn around
Jacob’s Factory and Dublin Castle. There is also intense
sniper fire across Sackville Street. It is widely reported that
civilians are being killed when caught in the crossfire.
• 09.15 – Daily life across Dublin has been disrupted
by the fighting. Businesses are closed, transport halted and basic
supplies of food are becoming scarce. Looting has also been a
night time feature on the main shopping streets of the city.
• 09.30 – The Composite Battalion of 15th Reserve
Infantry launches bayonet attack across Beresford Place towards
Eden Quay and Lower Abbey Street.
• 10.00 – Sheehy Skeffington with two journalists,
Thomas Dickson and Patrick MacIntyre, shot dead by firing squad
under the orders of Capt J.C. Bowen-Colthurst inside Portobello
Barracks. Bowen-Colthurst will be found guilty of unlawful killing
but found to be insane.
• 10.30 – British troops recently landed at Kingstown
have begun their march into the city centre. Half will take the
inland road into town through Donnybrook, while the others will
march along the coast road and will enter the city via
Northumberland Road and Mount Street Bridge.
• 12.00 – The naval bombardment of Liberty Hall has
effectively destroyed the building. The HMY Helga has now
turned its guns on targets on Sackville Street.
• 12.15 – Intense fighting is taking place at the
Mendicity Institution and has been continuing for two hours. The
British are pushing large numbers of troops into the attack and
are using hand grenades to force an advantage. The Volunteers have
offered stout resistance, and troops have now withdrawn.
• 12.20 – The 2/7th and 2/8th Sherwood Foresters have
begun moving forward from the Royal Dublin Showgrounds towards
Northumberland Road. They are marching in strict formation, and
the company HQ has been established behind them in Pembroke Town
Hall.
• 12.40 – The Sherwood Foresters enter Northumberland
and come under intense fire. Michael Malone and James Grace are
fortified inside 25 Northumberland Road and can fire freely at the
advancing troops. Within minutes there are a large number of dead
and injured troops on the street.
• 12.45 – A further wave of Sherwood Foresters is sent
down Northumberland Road in an attempt to dislodge Malone and
Grace. The attempt fails and more men are killed and injured.
• 12.55 – Renewed fighting at the Mendicity Institution
as the British try to take the building in a fresh assault.
• 13.10 – British troops have crossed Baggot Street
Bridge and moved down the canal on Percy Place. Rather than being
able to support their fellow troops on Northumberland Road they
come under fire from rebels holding Clanwilliam House. The
fighting in the whole area is intense, and the British are
suffering high casualty numbers.
• 13.45 – Mendicity Institution has fallen to the
British. Seán Heuston leads his exhausted men out of the
building and they are taken prisoner. Shortly afterwards a
Volunteer is killed by British forces.
• 14.00 – Troops from Trinity College begin to occupy
buildings in D’Olier and Westmoreland Streets
• 14.15 – Attention shifts from the Mendicity
Institution and the Four Courts becomes the next battleground.
• 14.25 – Fighting continues in the Northumberland Road
area. The rebel positions appear to be holding, and the number of
British casualties rises. A number of civilian dead are also
reported. Doctors and nurses from a local hospital have gone to
the area to treat the injured.
British soldiers in Talbot Street, Dublin holding the line against the rebels. (Image: UCD)
• 14.40 – British troops have been moved into positions
across the city and an effective British cordon around rebel
positions in the city is complete.
• 14.40 – A number of British artillery positions have
been established around Sackville Street and have begun shelling
the main rebel strongholds.
• 15.00 – The British have halted their assault on
Northumberland Road and have begun to regroup.
• 15.10 – The British attempt a fresh assault on
Northumberland Road, but troops are fired on from 25
Northumberland Road, the Parochial House and Clanwilliam House.
Casualty figures continue to rise.
• 15.30 – Artillery attacks on rebel positions on
Sackville Street continue, as do the exchanges of sniper fire
around St Stephen’s Green and at Marrowbone Lane.
• 17.00 – In a brief lull in fighting on Northumberland
Road, medics from the nearby Sir Patrick Dun’s hospital are
administering to wounded soldiers who have been left lying in the
street during the incessant fighting.
• 17.10 – British infantry make an attempt to
cross O’Connell Bridge and enter Sackville Street but they
are forced back by rebel fire.
• 17.20 – 25 Northumberland Road, still held by Malone
and Grace is under a full frontal assault. Soldiers are supported
by machine gun fire from the tower of Haddington Road Church.
• 18.00 – Troops have finally forced their way into 25
Northumberland Road. Malone has been killed, but Grace appears to
have escaped. The two men have resisted the British onslaught for
five hours. With the building secure, troops begin advancing
further down the street towards their next target at Clanwilliam
House.
• 18.15 – Fighting continues around the Four Courts,
with rebels setting fire to buildings in an attempt to hamper the
military advance.
• 18.30 – The Sherwood Foresters move past the
Parochial House on Northumberland Road. Four Volunteers from the
building are arrested as they exit the rear of the building.
• 18.35 – Attention on Northumberland Road turns to the
schoolhouse. In pursuit of that target the British are still being
attacked from Clanwilliam House.
• 18.45 – The schoolhouse is taken by the British but
actually found to be empty. The last rebel stronghold, Clanwilliam
House, now becomes the sole target.
• 18.55 – The frontal assault on Clanwilliam House
continues, but the intense fire from the seven Volunteers in the
building means that troops are struggling to even cross Mount St
Bridge. Casualty numbers continue to rise.
• 19.00 – Fighting continues around the Four Courts and
the British are now using artillery to shell the building.
Throughout the area the noxious smoke from burning buildings is
making life impossible for the civilians huddling together in
their draughty tenements. Pantries are running dry and the overall
situation is rapidly reaching desperation.
• 19.45 – British attempts to take Clanwilliam House
are being further hampered by Volunteer fire from a nearby railway
line.
• 19.55 – The Sherwood Foresters begin another attempt
to storm Clanwilliam House, but the attack fails with further
losses.
• 20.10 – British troops have finally made it across
Mount Street Bridge, and begin to try and enter Clanwilliam
House.
• 20.15 – The British begin throwing hand grenades
into Clanwilliam House. Fires start burning in the
building.
• 20.35 – Clanwilliam House is taken. Three
Volunteers have died in the building, while four others have
managed to escape and avoid arrest.
• 21.00 – The fighting has ceased in the Northumberland
Road area. It has taken nearly nine hours for the Sherwood
Foresters to advance the 300 yards from 25 Northumberland Road to
Clanwilliam House. Five rebels have died in the fighting, four
have been arrested and a remaining five have evaded arrest. The
British put over 1,500 men onto the street during the day and four
officers and 216 other ranks have been killed or seriously
wounded.
• 22.00 – Through the night there is constant
sniper fire across the city.
• 22.30 – During the day rebels in County Galway have
congregated in Athenry. They number approximately 500 and are now
camped at Moyode Castle and Limepark to the south of the town. The
HMS Gloucester has moored in Galway Bay and has been
regularly shelling the Volunteer positions.
Thursday, 27 April, 1916
• 05.00 – In the early hours of the morning, Volunteers
in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, took control of the town hall and
have surrounded the RIC barracks, cutting off its gas and water
supply. They have established their HQ at the Athenaeum Club
beside the town’s castle.
• 05.15 – British troops begin using improvised
armoured cars to move men and materials more safely around Dublin.
The vehicles have come from the Guinness factory.
• 07.00 – The number of British troops now stationed at
Trinity College is estimated to be as high as 4,000.
• 08.00 – Food shortages becoming apparent in the
city. Shops, businesses and banks closed. Decision taken that
troops will open warehouses across the city and distribute food to
civilians.
• 08.40 – Intense exchanges of fire begin again in
Marrowbone Lane.
• 10.00 – British begin to shell Sackville Street
area. An 18-pound shell hits the Irish Times building and
ignites rolls of newsprint.
• 10.30 – The fire at the Irish Times building
spreads quickly, and British troops are able to move forward under
the cover of smoke as far as Middle Abbey Street.
• 10.35 – In Marrowbone Lane the latest British attack
on rebel positions has been repulsed.
• 10.40 – Firing reported in Merrion Square and St
Stephen’s Green.
• 13.00 – Continued fighting around the Four Courts
with the rebels now under intense fire from shells being launched
from the roof of Jervis Street Hospital.
• 13.15 – Ceannt’s 4th battalion at South
Dublin Union engage 2/7th and 2/8th Sherwood Foresters who are
attempting to march to Kilmainham via Leeson Street bridge.
• 14.00 – Troops encircling Marrowbone Lane are
attacked with homemade hand grenades which briefly repels the
British advance.
• 15.00 – British infantry attack on Sackville Street
has stalled. Fires in the area are intensifying and spreading from
building to building on Lower Abbey Street.
• 15.15 – James Connolly wounded by a ricochet as
he watched fighting on Middle Abbey Street.
James Connolly, one of the leaders of the rising was wounded during the fighting. (Image: Illustrated London News, [London, England] May 6 1916)
• 16.35 – Renewed fighting at the South Dublin
Union.
• 16.45 – Capel St Bridge taken by the British.
• 17.00 – The fires in and around Sackville Street have
taken hold, and are burning freely, and the shelling of the area
continues unabated.
• 19.00 – A and B companies of 2/5th Sherwood
Foresters mistaking each other for the enemy open fire on each
other.
• 20.00 – North of the Liffey British troops begin
tunnelling through houses to reach objectives and avoid enemy
fire.
• 20.05 – The British have taken control of Capel
Street. This means that the rebel HQ at the GPO is cut off from
the Four Courts garrison.
• 20.30 – The combination of the fires and the heavy
shelling means that rebel held buildings such as the Imperial
Hotel and Clery’s will have to be abandoned.
• 22.00 – Fire spreads to Hoyte’s Druggists
igniting large oil drums and chemicals in storage; fire spreads
out of control.
• 22.30 – The inferno on Sackville Street, coupled
with the British advances during the day, means that some of the
smaller outposts held by the rebels are being evacuated and they
are moving back to the GPO.
Friday, 28 April, 1916
• 00.01 – Fire out of control in Sackville Street
and the Dublin Fire Brigade is stood down due to danger of small
arms fire in the area.
• 02.00 – General Sir John Maxwell arrives at
North Wall Dock to assume command of British operations in the
city.
• 07.55 – Shelling resumes targeting the GPO.
• 08.30 – 2/4th Lincolns throw a cordon around de
Valera’s 3rd battalion based at Boland's Bakery.
• 10.00 – The Battle of Ashbourne begins. The Fingal
Battalion under Thomas Ashe attack the RIC barracks at Ashbourne.
After an intense gun battle, during which the RIC are reinforced
by a squad from Slane, the Volunteers take the building. Eight
policemen and two volunteers are killed. The fighting ceases at
around 16.00 in the afternoon.
• 10.12 – Maxwell orders 2/5th and 2/6th South
Staffordshires to move from Trinity College and in on the Four
Courts.
• 10.20 – 2/5th and 2/6th Sherwood Foresters and
the 3rd Royal Irish Regiment are ordered to close in on the GPO
from the west and the 5th Leinsters join the eastern cordon.
• 10.30 – 3rd Royal Irish Regiment occupies Great
Britain Street
• 10.45 – By mid-morning all rebel held positions are
surrounded by British troops. Most positions are being shelled,
and all locations are seeing intense sniper fire.
• 12.15 – Troops advancing along Henry Street have been
ambushed by rebels and forced to retreat.
• 14.10 – Extensive fighting on North King Street.
British troops moving down North King Street are attacked by
rebels inside Langan’s Pub.
• 14.30 – The fires on Sackville Street have taken hold
in most buildings along the street.
• 14.45 – Intense gun battle between rebels and British
troops around Broadstone Railway Station.
• 15.00 – British troops again try to take rebel
positions on North King Street, again they fail. In fierce
fighting the British make several attempts throughout the
afternoon to dislodge the rebels in Langan’s Pub. Casualty
numbers on both sides are growing.
• 17.00 – The artillery attack on the Sackville Street
area, particularly the GPO, shows no sign of slowing down. Much of
the area is destroyed and the fires still burn intensely.
• 18.00 – Fighting is intense around North King Street.
The British troops are using armoured cars in an attempt to take
the rebel positions. All their attempts fail, and the rebels hold
their positions.
• 18.30 – The walls of the GPO, damaged by flames and
artillery fire, have begun to collapse.
• 19.30 – The British have taken buildings across the
street from rebel positions on North King Street. The two sides
are firing at each other at point blank range.
Aerial view of the GPO showing the damage done after the fighting. (Image: Manchester Guardian History of the War, 1916)
• 19.40 – The occupation of the GPO has ended. The
building is on fire, and a first party of 20 rebels have begun to
evacuate and head towards Moore Street.
• 20.10 – The initial rebel breakout from the GPO has
failed with most of the men struck by machine gun fire.
• 20.25 – The Metropole Hotel has collapsed. Oscar
Traynor evacuates his men and they move to the burning shell of
the GPO.
• 20.30 – The O’Rahilly has been killed. He had
agreed to lead a diversionary charge, along with 12 other men,
against a British barricade at the junction of Henry Street and
Moore Street. He is shot, and drags himself to the back of
Kelly’s shop, 25 Moore Street. He writes a last letter to
his wife before dying of his wounds.
• 20.40 – Pearse orders the total evacuation of the
GPO. Men and women rush from the building in small groups towards
Henry Street. They are fired on as they try to move. Pearse is the
last man to leave the GPO.
• 20.50 – The rebels, using a truck for cover, manage
to move into buildings on Moore Street and Henry Place. The
leaders of the Rising gather in 10 Moore Street, to discuss what
to do next. In the terraced houses and backyards of Moore Street
there are up to 300 rebels gathered.
• 21.00 – The rebels on Moore Street are under constant
fire from British positions at the Rotunda. Volunteers, and the
civilian residents of Moore Street, are being shot and killed.
• 21.30 – The British are now fully aware of the
evacuation of the GPO and are concentrating their fire on Moore
Street.
• 21.40 – The leaders of the Rising decide to
move. By tunnelling through the houses of Moore Street, they make
their final HQ at Plunkett’s Poultry shop, 16 Moore
Street.
• 21.50 – The GPO has collapsed leaving only a
shell of the building.
• 23.00 – The rebels are surrounded at Moore Street and
various other positions around the city. The British seem content
to wait out the night, and the firing across the city has
diminished. Fighting does continue around North King Street where
the British are still trying to take rebel-held positions. In two
days of constant fighting the British have managed to take only
150 yards of the street and have lost 11 men with a further 32
wounded.
Saturday, 29 April, 1916
• 06.30 – Heavy fighting on North King Street as the
British try and take the remaining buildings. Some rebel positions
have been abandoned, but more soldiers are killed and wounded when
they attempt to take Reilly’s Fort.
• 6.45 – The leadership in Moore Street has
decided on a diversionary attack against the enemy on Great
Britain Street. If it is successful the remainder of the rebels
will attempt to move to the Four Courts where they can join up
with Edward Daly’s 1st Battalion. The attack will be led by
Seán McLoughlin with 20 volunteers.
• 07.00 – The rebels across the city are no longer in
communication with their HQ, and are unaware that the GPO has
fallen. In the Royal College of Surgeons, the South Dublin Union
and the Four Courts the rebels sit tight, whereas in
Boland’s Bakery there is discussion of a break out.
• 08.00 – Civilians trying to escape their homes in
Moore Street are being shot by the British. Other civilians are
being killed and injured in the crossfire.
• 08.30 – McLoughlin and his men have made it to the
end of Moore Street. On looking out from the rear exit of 25 Moore
Street, onto Sackville Lane, McLoughlin sees the dead body of The
O’Rahilly and Volunteer Paddy Shortis. They cover the bodies
and return to 16 Moore Street.
• 09.00 – In the North King Street area, Father Matthew
Hall is full of the injured. Bridgit Thornton later recalls of
that morning that ‘the enemy were closing in. The fighting
was intensifying, the firing deafening’.
• 10.00 – The South Staffordshire Regiment has
continued its attack on North King Street and taken Reilly’s
Fort.
• 10.30 – In 16 Moore Street, McLoughlin is quizzed by
Pearse about the likely loss of civilian life if the rebels
attempt to move from where they are to the Four Courts. Pearse
orders McLoughlin to give a ceasefire order to all Volunteers on
Moore Street.
• 11.00 – Killings on North King Street. Through the
night and early morning the South Staffordshire Regiment have been
working along the street on a house by house basis. In many of
these houses, and in particular between 170 and 177 North King
Street, soldiers attacked innocent men they believed were rebels.
These attacks have now ended, but in the last few hours the
soldiers have bayoneted or shot 15 innocent men.
• 11.15 – Inside 16 Moore Street the leaders discuss
whether to continue fighting or seek surrender terms. Pearse
records that by a majority vote the leaders decided to seek
surrender terms to prevent further slaughter of the civilian
population.
• 12.45 – Nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell leaves 15
Moore Street carrying a white flag. The enemy cease firing and she
is called to the barricade at the bottom of Moore Street on
Parnell Street. She is taken to 75 Parnell Street (Tom
Clarke’s shop) as a prisoner, and held to await the arrival
of General Lowe.
• 13.00 – Despite the white flag on Moore Street
fighting continues on Church Street and Brunswick Street.
• 13.45 – General Lowe arrives on Parnell Street to
meet Elizabeth O’Farrell.
• 14.25 – Lowe informs O’Farrell that he expects
an unconditional surrender from Pearse within 30 minutes. She is
then returned to Moore Street to relay the message to the rebel
leaders.
• 15.00 – There has been a leadership meeting in Moore
Street, and O’Farrell has been sent back to General Lowe
with a note. Lowe repeats that he expects an unconditional
surrender in 30 minutes and that this should be delivered by
Pearse and he should be followed out by Connolly. If that did not
happen Lowe stated that he would resume hostilities.
• 15.30 – Pearse leaves Moore Street with O'Farrell
and meets Lowe to surrender. He hands over his sword, pistol and
ammunition, and signs a document of surrender. It is agreed that
O’Farrell will return to Moore Street and then convey the
surrender to rebel positions across the city. Shortly after
Connolly is carried to the barricade on a stretcher and handed
over to the British.
Pearse and Elizabeth O'Farrell surrendering to the military. (Image: Military Press Bureau)
• 16.00 – O’Farrell, accompanied by Father
Augustine, arrives at the Four Courts with a copy of the
surrender. Daly later addresses his men, and informs them of the
surrender. They hand over their weapons and in the evening march
under guard to the Rotunda arriving there at 20.00.
• 19.10 – Daly had been unable to contact his men on
North Brunswick Street, and they continued fighting through the
afternoon. They are visited by Father Albert, who carries a copy
of the surrender. Paddy Holohan, the commanding officer refuses to
accept that it is official. A truce is agreed in the area that
holds overnight. The truce allows all the casualties that were
being treated in Father Mathew Hall to be removed.
• 19.45 – The rebels from Moore Street are brought into
Sackville Street, and march in formation to the Rotunda where they
are to be held for the night.
• 20.00 – While the former GPO garrison and those from
the Four Courts have surrendered and been taken prisoner, the
other outposts are not aware of the surrender and spend the night
on alert.
• 21.00 – News reaches Enniscorthy of the surrender.
Local Volunteers request confirmation of the surrender. In Galway
the local Volunteers have dispersed on news of the surrender.
Sunday, 30 April, 1916
• 09.00 – Father Columbus requests of General Lowe that
he be allowed to visit Pearse at Arbour Hill Barracks where he is
being held. Father Columbus needs a handwritten order from Pearse
so that the men at North Brunswick Street will surrender.
• 09.45 – The rebels in North Brunswick Street
surrender and 50 men are taken into custody.
• 10.00 – Captains Seamus Doyle and Captain Sean
Etchingham are escorted by the army from Enniscorthy to Dublin.
Once there they will meet with Pearse who confirms the surrender.
The Enniscorthy Volunteers will finally surrender to the British
on Monday morning.
• 10.15 – O’Farrell arrives at
Boland’s Bakery with Pearse’s surrender. De Valera
refuses to accept it, stating that with Pearse a prisoner, he is
now under the command of MacDonagh.
• 11.00 – Father Augustine and Father Columbus arrive
at Jacob’s Factory with the surrender, which MacDonagh
refuses to accept.
• 11.10 – O’Farrell arrives at the Royal
College of Surgeons with the surrender. After an hour of
discussion the Irish Citizen Army in the Royal College of Surgeons
agrees to surrender.
• 12.45 – MacDonagh has met with General Lowe and
agreed to surrender Jacob’s Factory.
• 14.00 – O’Farrell goes back to
Boland’s Bakery with MacDonagh’s order that the 3rd
Battalion accept the surrender order.
• 14.50 – The 120 members of the Royal College of
Surgeons garrison formally surrender, and are marched away.
• 15.30 – The men of MacDonagh’s garrison at
Jacob’s Factory are marched away having surrendered and
handed over their arms.
• 15.00 – Ceannt leaves the South Dublin Union and
surrenders. Forty minutes later he has his men fall in, and they
are marched away. En route they gather Colbert and his men from
Marrowbone Lane.
• 16.30 – The men that have been held at the Rotunda
for nearly 24 hours are being marched to Richmond Barracks where
they will be imprisoned.
• 18.20 – The men at Boland’s Bakery have handed
over their arms and begin their march to imprisonment. They are
the last of the rebels to hand themselves over to the British.
• 22.00 – The rebellion in Dublin is over. More than
1,000 men and women are held prisoner by British authorities. The
British will arrest more suspects in the coming hours and days,
with the total rising to just over 3,500 arrests.
A series of courts martials begin on 2 May, and 90 men are sentenced to death. The executions begin on 3 May with the killings of Pearse, MacDonagh and Clarke, and conclude on 12 May with Connolly and Mac Diarmada the last to die.
In all 15 men are executed, including Roger Casement who is hanged on 3 August in London. 1,480 men are imprisoned in Britain and not released until the end of 1916. The fighting decimated large parts of central Dublin, and will take years to rebuild. In all 447 people have been killed, including 252 civilians, and 2,585 wounded. 64 rebels have died along with 16 policemen and 116 British soldiers.