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On the afternoon of Friday, 29^th April 2016, a Dublin City Council plaque commemorating the Jacob’s Factory Garrison that served in the 1916 Easter Rising was unveiled at the Dublin Institution of Technology, Bishop’s Street, Dublin 2.

Locate this plaque on Google maps.

The plaque was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Críona Ní Dhálaigh, and was the third in a series of 1916 Rising garrison plaques unveiled by Dublin City Council in April 2016.

In attendance at the ceremony were relatives of members of the Jacob’s Factory Garrison, as well as a National Colour Party from the Irish Defence Forces and elected members of Dublin City Council.

On Easter Monday 1916, the factory of W. & R. Jacob’s was seized by around 100 members of the 2^nd Battalion of the Irish Volunteers’ Dublin Brigade, led by Commandant Thomas MacDonagh. A few smaller outposts in the area were also established by the garrison, with the overall objective of observing and hindering British troops entering the city centre from nearby military barracks.

After learning of the unconditional surrender of Patrick Pearse and James Connolly the previous day, MacDonagh surrendered on Sunday, 30^th April. He was executed shortly afterwards at Kilmainham Gaol along with the two other most senior officers from the Jacob’s Garrison, Major John MacBride and Michael O’Hanrahan.

Those wishing to learn more about the history of Jacob’s factory should consult Séamus Ó Maitiú’s book W. & R. Jacob. Celebrating 150 Years of Irish Biscuit Making (Dublin, 2001).

Submitted by historian in residence James Curry.

On Monday, 25^th April 2016, a plaque commemorating the death one hundred years earlier of Irish Volunteer Gerald Keogh, was unveiled at 117-119 Grafton Street (above Butlers Chocolate Café), with Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha speaking at the ceremony on behalf of Dublin City Council.

On the second day of the Easter Rising, Keogh – a former Fianna member who lived in Ranelagh – was killed near the location of the plaque while returning to the GPO on bicycle from Larkfield House, where he had been sent on a despatch by Patrick Pearse. The bullets were fired by a soldier positioned at Trinity College Dublin, possibly the Australian-born Mick McHugh.

Keogh was initially buried on the grounds of Trinity College before getting interred in Glasnevin Cemetery. Aged 22 years old at the time of his death, the shop assistant was the youngest of four brothers to take part in the Rising.

The plaque unveiling ceremony was attended by Keogh’s grandnephew Raymond M. Keogh, and Patrick McHugh, the great-great-nephew of the soldier who may have fired the shots which killed the young Irish Volunteer on 25^th April 1916.

Those wishing to learn more about the story of Gerald Keogh should consult Raymond M. Keogh’s book Shelter and Shadows. An Awakening to Our Common Identity (2016).

Submitted by historian in residence James Curry.

On the afternoon of Sunday, 24^th April 2016, two Dublin City Council plaques commemorating garrisons in the 1916 Easter Rising were unveiled in the city by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Críona Ní Dhálaigh.

The first of these plaques commemorates the Marrowbone Lane Garrison and was unveiled at the Eir Building, Marrowbone Lane, Dublin 8.

Locate this plaque on Google maps.

This ceremony was attended by relatives of members of the Irish Volunteer’s 4^th Battalion, who occupied the South Dublin Union and surrounding buildings throughout the Rising. Also in attendance was a National Colour Party from the Irish Defence Forces.

Some of the fiercest close quarter fighting of the Rising took place at the South Dublin Union, which at the time was a sprawling complex of hospitals and workhouses. Led by Eamonn Ceannt, who would later be executed at Kilmainham Gaol, and his second-in-command Cathal Brugha, the Volunteers sought to hinder the movements of British soldiers from nearby military barracks and Kingsbridge (Heuston) Station. On Easter Monday and Thursday intense fighting took place in the vicinity which saw seven rebels, at least four civilians and more than twenty British forces killed.

Those wishing to learn more about the South Dublin Union and life of the commandant of the 4^th Battalion of the Irish Volunteers should consult Mary Gallagher’s biography 16 Lives: Eamonn Ceannt (2014).

Submitted by Historian in Residence James Curry.

Located off Philipsburgh Avenue, this plaque commemorates the location of the training grounds used by the Irish Citizen Army and the Volunteers in the period leading up to the Rising.

Locate this plaque on Google maps.

It is one of several plaques erected during the 1916 Centenary year to mark the garrison sites around the city, and to honour those who fought and died during the Rising.

The plaque was unveiled on 14th December, 2016.

Commemorating Sean McLoughlin, ‘the forgotten boy commandant’, this plaque is at 5 North King Street, Dublin 7.

Locate this plaque in Google maps.

You can read about Sean McLoughlin in Dictionary of Irish Biography

The plaque was unveiled on 5th March 2017.

On the afternoon of Sunday, 24^th April 2016, a Dublin City Council plaque commemorating the Easter Rising’s Mendicity Institution garrison was unveiled on a pillar outside the oldest working charity in Dublin.

Established in 1818, the Mendicity Institution creates opportunities for “people experiencing homelessness, isolation and marginalization to live better lives”. It is located at Usher’s Island, Dublin 8.

The plaque was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Críona Ní Dhálaigh, with historian Dr John Gibney and Deputy City Librarian Brendan Teeling also speaking at the ceremony.

On Easter Monday in 1916 the Mendicity Institution was seized by a small garrison of Irish Volunteers led by Seán Heuston, with orders from James Connolly to occupy the building for a short period and delay the advance of British troops along the north side of the River Liffey. With a force of less than thirty men, Heuston’s garrison held the Mendicity Institution for two days, before surrendering on Wednesday morning. One member of the garrison, Peter Wilson, was killed on this day, while another, Liam Staines, was badly wounded at an earlier stage and died two years later. Heuston was later executed at Kilmainham Gaol for his role in the Rising.

Those wishing to learn more about the life of Seán Heuston and the Mendicity Institution’s role during the Easter Risng, should consult John Gibney’s book 16 Lives: Seán Heuston (O’Brien Press, 2013).

Submitted by historian in residence James Curry.