Tuesday, April 25th, 1916
05.30hrs - Stephen’s Green under fire. Since 04.00hrs the green has been hosed with machine gun and rifle fire. The noise is deafening. Reports are coming in of numerous rebel casualties. Almost every window in the Shelbourne Hotel is manned by the military. The machine gun has been firing, almost non-stop, from the fourth floor.
07.55hrs - City Hall re-captured. Dublin Castle secured by military. After a brief battle the rooftop of City Hall has been cleared of the Citizen Army. Many prisoners have been taken, but there is still fighting in the area. The rebel outpost across the road is still firing across the street.
08.22hrs - Rebel forces have withdrawn from Stephen’s Green into the Royal College of Surgeons under heavy fire. Windows have been smashed in the college while rebel marksmen are firing from the rooftop. The façade of the college is stained with blood and is being saturated with machine gun fire.
09.40hrs - Two rebel outposts in Grantham Street have been captured by Royal Irish Rifles infantrymen who are now advancing towards the city centre.
10.30hrs - Portobello Bridge is under constant sniper fire. It appears that rebel riflemen manning the huge towers in Jacob’s biscuit factory have a clear line of sight to the bridge. Soldiers are directing civilians away. Stray bullets are raking the entire Portobello area from both rifle and machine gun.
11.15hrs - Jacob’s factory’s huge towers have become sniper nests. The firing between here and Dublin Castle is now relentless. The rebels in the towers have a commanding view of a city at war.
11.20hrs - British infantry are pulling out of the South Dublin Union under fire from riflemen from the 4th Battalion Irish Volunteers. They have been unable to dislodge the insurgents. The troops look exhausted, having been in battle for almost 24 hours.
11.30hrs - Saint Patrick’s Park is normally an idyllic haven in the heart of the city. It is currently the scene of several sniper duels as the British attempt to increase their pressure on Jacob’s factory.
13.55hrs - The sniper fire in Sackville Street has not abated all day. Harsh cracks of varying pitches are almost incessant along the wide boulevard. The road is deserted, but occasionally feet clatter along its cobblestones as insurgents dispatch runners to the street’s outposts. Several bodies lie in the street, including some dead horses.
14.10hrs - Shocking casualties at City Hall. Another terrible battle has erupted at City Hall. Just moments ago a platoon from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers suffered heavy casualties attempting to assault the Evening Mail offices across the road. They have come under devastating fire and were forced to retreat to Dublin Castle. A machine gun has just begun firing from the hall’s rooftop at the stubborn position.
14.20hrs - Shocking scenes at Marrowbone Lane. After an assault was made from several directions on rebel positions in Marrowbone Lane several dead and wounded soldiers are lying in the roads and pavements. Dreadful wounds are being inflicted by the rebel’s guns whose deep sounding booms are at odds with the cracks of British Enfields. The huge walls in the area make it impossible to detect the sources of fire. To the west, several bodies line the nearby canal, but the sight of a dead cavalryman being dragged along the bumpy ground with his foot stuck in his horse’s stirrup is truly ghastly. The assault failed.
14.45hrs - Jacob’s biscuit factory appears ready to withstand whatever the British Army can muster. All of its windows have been smashed and barricaded. Its fortress-like walls look impregnable - no doubt the reason for the building’s selection as a Volunteer battalion headquarters.
15.00hrs - Several attacks have been launched from Dublin Castle at the rebel position across the road. The rebels will not concede ground without exacting a heavy price. The air stinks of gunpowder and the street is littered with wounded.
16.10hrs - Artillery fire on the streets of Dublin. North Circular Road has seen the use of 18-pounders to dislodge nearby rebels from their 1st Battalion, as the Dublin Fusiliers strive to dislodge them from a barricade constructed close to Charleville Road. Windows in the area are being smashed to deafening thunderclaps and hailstorms of red-hot shrapnel. The rebels appear to be holding but are under ferocious pressure. The rifle fire is intense.
17.25hrs - Broadstone Railway Terminus is under attack from 1st Battalion Irish Volunteers. The Dublin Fusiliers appear to be holding the position, having filtered in last night. Covering fire is being poured at the terminus from rebel positions to the south in North Brunswick Street.
17.30hrs - Stephen’s Green is today a battlefield. Constant cracks of varying pitch ring out constantly, alternating with the staccato of the Vickers Machine Gun in the Shelbourne, and the duller sounding thud-thud-thud of the British Lewis Gun in the United Services Club on the green’s northern side.
19.50hrs - Dreadful scenes in Parliament Street - British infantry decimated. A short time ago, having secured the Mail & Express position after a prolonged and vicious battle, the Dublin Fusiliers advanced into Parliament Street, unaware that the Exchange Hotel was occupied in force by the enemy. The ambush was merciless and lethal. Twenty-three soldiers are lying in the road. Some were twisting on the ground screaming in agony, while others lie silent. The rebels have now retreated to the northern side of the river.
20.00hrs - The relative quiet in Dublin’s Grand Canal Dock has been shattered. A gunboat has just fired a salvo of two shots, both of which smashed into the upper floors of Boland’s Mills. The entire city echoes to incessant gunshot.
20.10hrs - Volunteers are retreating from positions along the River Tolka to the north of the city. Apparently word has been received of two large enemy forces converging from Drumcondra and Malahide. The retreating Volunteers intend bolstering their headquarters strength in Sackville Street.
21.40hrs - Dublin City remains in a state of shock. Volunteer morale appears very high. As the day draws to a close the streets still resound to rifle, pistol and machine gun. The Imperial Hotel facing the GPO has just been occupied by a detachment of rebels, as well as the Metropole Hotel opposite. The entire southern section of Sackville Street is in the hands of the insurgents and they are burrowing their way through the interconnecting walls throughout the street. Positions are being occupied rearward in Henry Street to consolidate their grip. Any attempt to dislodge them from their various positions in the city has been costly to the authorities. Martial law has been declared in Dublin as they await reinforcements. Ominously, to the south of the city the English Daily Mail is on sale, ominous at least for the Republicans, as it can mean only one thing - Kingstown port is still open to ships.
22.15hrs - Intense firing has broken out again in Stephen’s Green. Scores of bullets are criss-crossing through the still night air. It is unclear if an assault is being planned by the insurgents. The Royal College of Surgeons is firing volley after volley at the Shelbourne and United Services Club. Both positions are replying in kind with machine gun and rapid rifle fire.
When The Clock Struck in 1916 – Close-Quarter Combat in the Easter Rising by Derek Molyneux and Darren Kelly, is published by the Collins Press, at €17.99
