Restoration work starts on Easter Rising headquarters

Restoration work has begun on the site of the final headquarters of the Easter Rising rebels on Moore Street in Dublin ahead of next year's centenary celebrations.

The Government purchased14-17 Moore Street for €4 million earlier this year.

The site is to be turned into a commemorative centre, which Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys expects to be completed next year.

Number 16 is recognised as the site where the Rising leaders agreed to surrender.

All four of the buildings will be restored to their 1916 condition following structural stabilisation work and the reinstatement of contemporary interiors.

It was announced that the company behind the recent restoration of Kilmainham Courthouse, Dublin-based conservation and heritage specialists Lissadell Construction Ltd, will undertake the Moore Street project.

National monument

The buildings in question date back to the 18th-century, and were declared a national monument in 2007.

“I am delighted to see this project moving ahead. The national monument at numbers 14-17 Moore Street has such special historical significance in the context of the Easter Rising,” Ms Humphreys said.

“This project is a very important element of the Government’s plans for the 1916 centenary commemorations.

“The conservation work will reveal the period architectural detail, the living conditions and, above all, the imprint of the insurgency.

“The primary focus of the work is to reveal the buildings as they were during the Rising, allowing them to illuminate that period in our history.”

Preservation campaigners have praised the Government for its actions in securing the future of numbers 14 to 17, but some have voiced concerns about development proposals for adjoining houses.

Planning permission still stands for a stalled retail development in the neighbouring area, which may be resurrected after Nama sold its stake in the premises to UK-based property group Hammerson last month.