Council to decide on 1916 refuge

Dublin City Council will decide next week whether to save the last refuge of the 1916 Easter Rising leaders.

Labour Cllr Dermot Lacey has tabled a motion for Monday night’s monthly meeting calling for No 16 Moore Street to be listed as a protected building.

Several leaders of the Rising used the building as a final refuge before surrendering and being executed by the English forces.

The dilapidated house is now owned by the Carlton Development Group, which had planned to develop a large site around Moore Street into a retail centre.

Dublin City Council has said that although the building is not listed for its architecture, it can be preserved because of its historical significance.

Cllr Lacey said today: “We cannot allow development to disregard our heritage, we should be doing all we can to preserve and protect this building.”

The former lord mayor’s motion calls for recognition of the location’s importance in the foundation of the state.

It also requests that the leaders of the Rising to be honoured and the vision contained in the 1916 Proclamation be reclaimed.

Cllr Lacey called on the Council and Heritage Minister Dick Roche to do everything they can to preserve the building.

An Taisce’s Antiquities and National Monuments Committee has called for the site to be converted into a museum.

Many of those who sheltered in the building in the dying hours of the Rising - including James Connolly, Padraig Pearse, Thomas Clarke and Joseph Plunkett - were later executed by the British for their role in the rebellion.