Liberty Hall in Dublin, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union

SIPTU

SIPTU , or in Irish: CSTGT is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Republic of Ireland, although the union does have a Northern Ireland branch...

 (SIPTU). It was formerly the tallest storeyed building in Ireland at 59.4 m (195 feet) high (until superseded by the County Hall

Cork County Hall

The County Hall is a 17-storey office block, owned by Cork County Council and housing its administrative headquarters. The building is located on Carrigrohane Road in the City of Cork...

 outside Cork city

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

), and is currently the third tallest in Dublin after Montevetro and the Millennium Tower in Grand Canal Dock

Grand Canal Dock

Grand Canal Dock is an area in Ringsend near Dublin city centre, surrounding the Grand Canal Docks, an enclosed harbour or docking area between the River Liffey and the Grand Canal...

. It is more historically significant in its earlier form, as the headquarters of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union early in the 20th century, and as that of the Irish Citizen Army

Irish Citizen Army

The Irish Citizen Army , or ICA, was a small group of trained trade union volunteers established in Dublin for the defence of worker’s demonstrations from the police. It was formed by James Larkin and Jack White. Other prominent members included James Connolly, Seán O'Casey, Constance Markievicz,...

 (ICA).

History

Standing on Beresford Place and Eden Quay

Eden Quay

Eden Quay is one of the Dublin quays on the banks of the River Liffey in Dublin. The quay runs the bank between O'Connell Bridge and Butt Bridge. The quay is bisected by Marlborough Street, roughly halfway along its length...

, near the Custom House, the original Liberty Hall used to be a hotel before becoming James Connolly

James Connolly

James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...

's personal fortress in Dublin. Following the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 a banner reading "We serve neither King nor Kaiser

Kaiser

Kaiser is the German title meaning "Emperor", with Kaiserin being the female equivalent, "Empress". Like the Russian Czar it is directly derived from the Latin Emperors' title of Caesar, which in turn is derived from the personal name of a branch of the gens Julia, to which Gaius Julius Caesar,...

 but Ireland" was hung on its front wall, and within was printed the newspaper The Irish Worker. The newspaper was shut down by the British Government for sedition as outlined in the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA). It was replaced for a short time by a paper called The Worker until that was also banned, and in 1915 the Workers' Republic was edited by Connolly until the Rising in 1916.

Prior to the Easter Rising

Easter Rising

The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...

 of 1916, Liberty Hall acted as a munitions factory, wherein bombs and bayonets were made for the impending rebellion. It was on the street in front of the building that the leaders of the rising assembled before their march to the General Post Office

General Post Office (Dublin)

The General Post Office ' in Dublin is the headquarters of the Irish postal service, An Post, and Dublin's principal post office...

 on Easter Monday. They left the building vacant throughout Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 Week, a fact unknown to the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 authorities, who chose the building as the first to be shelled. It was completely levelled by British artillery during the Rising, however was faithfully restored after the rebellion. In the late 1950s however, the Liberty Hall was declared unsafe and promptly demolished.

The current building was constructed between 1961 and 1965. At 16 storey

Storey

A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...

s, the structure was originally built with non-reflective glass, however a 1972 UVF  car bomb explosion led to this being replaced with a reflective variety, as most of the original windows had been destroyed in the attack. This is said to have reduced the aesthetic appearance of the building. The viewing platform, which had only recently opened, was also closed.

On 19 October 2006, it was announced that SIPTU were seeking planning permission to demolish Liberty Hall and build a new headquarters in the same location. A newspaper article from October 2007 says that SIPTU has selected a shortlist of architects to design the new building, with plans to demolish the current building in 2009. The successor is planned to be complete within 18 months. In January 2008 Dublin based architects Gilroy MacMahon, who designed the new Croke Park

Croke Park

Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...

stands, were chosen to design the new Liberty Hall

Liberty Hall was the subject of a documentary that aired on RTE1 in May 2009.