The Road to Independence: Private Walking Tour of Dublin
Explore some of the most important sites of the Easter Uprising of 1916 in the beautiful city of Dublin, independent Ireland's capital city. See the scenes of fierce fighting, the statues of rebel leaders on O'Connell Street and the rebels' HQ at the General Post Office – end at the moving Gardens of Remembrance.
On your private tour, you will:
- Learn about Ireland’s long road to independence from Britain, and the many significant figures who played key roles in fighting for it, from Victorian politicians, doctors and priests, to the leaders of the Easter Uprising in 1916;
- Learn about the Uprising that took place in the middle of the First World War, and how it was brutally and swiftly crushed by British soldiers;
- See the General Post Office, where Patrick Pearse read aloud the Proclamation of Irish Independence in 1916 – effectively kickstarting the Easter Rising. It became the rebel headquarters, the scene of a bloody five-day siege, and the site of their final surrender;
- Learn about the uprising’s failed attempt to capture Dublin Castle at the start of the conflict;
- Relive the intense struggle that took place in the City Hall, and hear about the horrific police brutality;
- See the Shelbourne Hotel, where the Irish Constitution was drafted in 1922;
- Walk up O'Connell Street, lined with statues of the men who outspokenly called and fought for Irish independence, starting with Daniel O’Connell (1775 – 1847) who organised many hundreds of non-violent protests and demanded civil rights for Irish Catholics in the British Parliament;
- Notice how many of the pedestals of these Irish heroes of independence are pockmarked with bullet holes, from the violence of the 1916 rebellion;
- Hear the life stories of the many figures of Irish Independence whose statues line the road, from James Larkin founder of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, whose strike in 1913 is considered the ‘first shot’ in the 1916 uprising, to figures from the 19th century like Father Theobald Matthew and Charles Stewart Parnell, who nearly won ‘home rule in the 1880s;
- Finish your tour at the Gardens of Remembrance, where the lives of all the Irishmen who died in the struggle for independence are commemorated.
While the fight for Irish independence or ‘Home rule’ had long been fought for, the Easter uprising of 1916 was a definitive moment in the history of Ireland and its long road to independence from the British. The rebellion took place in the middle of the First World War and was brutally suppressed by the British army. It paved the way for the election of Arthur Griffith as the president of a new nation six years later.
In this 2.5-hour private walking tour, you will explore the most significant sites of the Easter Uprising in Dublin, while learning all about the history of the Emerald Isle and its turbulent, often violent relationship with Britain. Hear about the events that led to the Easter Uprising, its defeat and the fallout from it.
Visit the General Post Office—the headquarters where the rebels declared Ireland a republic and raised the flag—to the City Hall, where fierce fighting took place. You will learn about the failed rebel attempt to capture Dublin Castle at the start of the conflict.
After walking up O’Connell Street, lined with the statues of those who made significant contributions to the fight for Independence, you will end the tour at the Garden of Remembrance, where the lives of all the Irishmen who fought for freedom are commemorated.
The memorial was placed on the site where rebel leaders of the Uprising were held before their execution. Above you’ll see the Irish flag, with the green colour representing Catholics, orange for protestants and white: a symbol of hope, that both can live together in peace. In 2011, Queen Elizabeth II visited the site, the first by a British monarch in 100 years. She laid a wreath of Remembrance and bowed her head. A deeply moving and healing moment for both countries.
