Cork Hill Gate - Dublin Castle, Dublin, Ireland
N 53° 20.617 W 006° 16.053
29U E 681896 N 5913976
Cork Hill Gate is one of several entrances leading to the courtyard in Dublin Castle. Cork Hill Gate is the easternmost of two gates on the north side of the castle where this plaque is located that advises of the 1916 Rising.
Waymark Code: WMR1BK
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Date Posted: 04/27/2016
Views: 7
Cork Hill Gate and City Hall are only a few seconds walk apart. The picture on the plaque shows the view from the gate back to City Hall which is the building on the right with columns. The plaque is mid-way between the two and carries text in both Irish and English. The English version reads:
Corke Hill Gate
Three of the first fatalities of the
1916 Rising occurred at this Gate.
Constable James O'Brien was shot shortly before 12 noon, on 24th April, as he tried to slam the gate shut on an advancing rebel troop of Citizen Army fighters. Following a skirmish at the adjoining Guard House (where bayonet marks made by the sentries can still be plainly seen), they withdrew to nearby City Hall.
There, Captain Sean Connolly of the Citizen Army, a professional actor, was hit by sniper fire from soldiers on the roof of Bedford Tower.
Later, Lieutenant Guy Pinfield of the Royal Irish Hussars was killed by rebel fire while leading troop reinforcements from the Curragh camp.
The RTE website tells us:
Dublin City Hall, located at the intersection of Parliament Street and Dame Street in the south inner city, was originally opened as the Royal Exchange in the 1770s and was reopened as the City Hall in 1852. On the afternoon of 24 April 1916 members of the Irish Citizen Army led by Seán Connolly seized City Hall and a number of other buildings in the immediate vicinity. City Hall is located just outside the entrance to the upper yard of Dublin Castle. While there was no attempt made to seize the Castle itself, the location of City Hall ensured that it was a natural vantage point from which to ambush troops who might emerge from the Castle. The occupation of City Hall saw the killing of DMP Constable James O'Brien, who is often classed as the first victim of the Rising: he was shot by Connolly, who later became the first insurgent victim of the Rising after he was shot while on the roof of City Hall. The garrison in Dublin Castle was immediately reinforced when the Rising broke out, and heavy fighting took place in the vicinity of City Hall until troops broke into the building later that day and overwhelmed the small garrison; the building itself suffered only minor damage.