Editing General Post Office, Dublin (section)

==History==
[[File:1757 map Post Office in Cope Street Dublin.jpg|thumb|Map showing Dublin's General Post Office in the Cope Street area in 1757, the location of the [[Central Bank of Ireland]] building]]

The General Post Office in Ireland was first located in [[High Street, Dublin|High Street]] in Dublin moving to [[Fishamble Street]] in 1689, to Sycamore Alley in 1709 and then in 1755 to Peter Bardin's Chocolate House at Fownes Court on the site where the Commercial Buildings used to be (later the [[Central Plaza (Dublin)|Central Bank building]]).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dublin Post Office |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/2/5/9/12595/12595-h/12595-h.htm |via=Project Gutenberg |journal=The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction |date=1827 |volume=X |issue=272 |publisher=J. Limbird |location=London }}</ref><ref name="Ferguson">{{Cite book |title=The GPO - 200 Years of History |last=Ferguson |first=Stephen |publisher=Mercier Press |year=2014 |isbn=9781781172773 |location=Dublin |pages=14–41}}</ref> It was afterwards removed to a larger house opposite the [[Bank of Ireland]] building on [[College Green, Dublin|College Green]]. On 6 January 1818, the new post office in Sackville Street (now [[O'Connell Street]]) was opened for business.<ref name="linns">{{cite news |last=McCarty |first=Denise |title=Bicentenary commemorative stamp honors Ireland's General Post Office |work=World Stamps |publisher=[[Linns Stamp News]] |date=23 January 2018 |url=https://www.linns.com/news/world-stamps-postal-history/2018/january/bicentenary-commemorative-ireland-gpo.html |access-date=25 March 2018 }}</ref>

During the [[Easter Rising]] of 1916, the GPO served as the headquarters of the uprising's leaders. It was from outside this building on 24 April 1916, that [[Patrick Pearse]] read out the [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/1916/1916-the-articles/easter-rising-day-1-rebels-on-the-streets-1.2575678|title=Easter Rising – Day 1: Rebels on the streets|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2018-06-25|language=en-US}}</ref> The building was destroyed by fire in the course of the rebellion, save for the granite facade, and not rebuilt until 1929, by the [[Irish Free State]] government. An original copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic was displayed in the [[An Post Museum|museum]] at the GPO. 

The museum was closed at the end of May 2015 and replaced by a new visitor centre to commemorate the 1916 Rising, "GPO Witness History", in March 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/the-gpo-then-and-now-1.2488377|first=Darragh|last=Murphy|title=The GPO then and now|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=January 13, 2016|access-date=April 6, 2018}}</ref> The building has remained a symbol of [[Irish nationalism]]. In 1935, in commemoration of the Rising, a statue depicting the death of the mythical hero [[Cúchulainn]] sculpted by [[Oliver Sheppard]] in 1911 was installed at the command post in the centre of the GPO main hall and is now housed in the front of the building. The statue was featured on the [[Irish ten shilling coin]] of 1966, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Rising. Despite its significance in the history of Irish independence, ground rent for the GPO continued to be paid to English and American landlords until the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ceisteanna – Questions: Oral Answers – GPO Ground Rent |work=Dáil Éireann Debate Vol. 328 No. 15 |publisher=[[Oireachtas]] |date=19 May 1981 |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1981-05-19/3/ |access-date=27 June 2021 }}</ref>

The broadcasting studios of [[2RN]], which later became [[Radio Éireann]], were located at the GPO from 1928 until 1974.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/681-history-of-rte/682-rte-1920s/|title=History of Raidió Teilifís Éireann|publisher = [[RTÉ|Raidió Teilifís Éireann]]|access-date=August 8, 2020}}</ref> Draws for [[Prize Bond]]s are held weekly, on Fridays, in the building.

[[Nelson's Pillar]] was located in the centre of O'Connell Street adjacent to the GPO, until it was destroyed by Irish republicans in an explosion in 1966. The [[Spire of Dublin]] was erected on the site of the Pillar in 2003.

The [[Hibernia]] statue was depicted on the [[obverse]] of a commemorative [[2 euro coin]] marking the [[Centenary of the Easter Rising]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last=Flaherty |first=Rachel |title=Commemorative €2 coin released to mark 1916 centenary |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=20 January 2016 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/commemorative-2-coin-released-to-mark-1916-centenary-1.2503511 |access-date=20 July 2022 }}</ref>

The postal service {{lang|ga|[[An Post]]}} moved its headquarters from the General Post Office building to new premises at North Wall Quay in Dublin, in June 2023.<ref name=GPOmove />