Liberty Hall (), in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU). Designed by

Desmond Rea O'Kelly Desmond Rea O’Kelly (7 November 1923 – 18 February 2011) was the architect of Liberty Hall in Dublin. Liberty Hall was formerly the tallest office building in Ireland, rising to 59.4 metres (195 feet). Technologically innovative for late 1950s ...

, it was completed in 1965. It was for a time the tallest building in the country, at 59.4 meters, (195 feet) high until it was superseded by the County Hall in

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

, which was itself superseded by The Elysian in Cork. Liberty Hall is now the fifth tallest building in Dublin, after Capital Dock, the Exo Building, Montevetro (now Google Docks) and the Millennium Tower in

Grand Canal Dock Grand Canal Dock () is a Southside (Dublin), Southside area near the city centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the border of eastern Dublin 2 and the westernmost part of Ringsend in Dublin 4, surrounding the Grand Cana ...

. Liberty Hall is more historically significant in its earlier form, as the headquarters of the

Irish Transport and General Workers Union The Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) was a trade union representing workers, initially mainly labourers, in Ireland. History The union was founded by James Larkin and James Fearon (trade unionist), James Fearon in January 1909 ...

early in the 20th century, and also as the headquarters of the

Irish Citizen Army The Irish Citizen Army (), or ICA, was a paramilitary group first formed in Dublin to defend the picket lines and street demonstrations of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) against the police during the Great Dublin Lock ...

(ICA).

History

Irish Citizen Army Group Liberty Hall Dublin 1914

Standing on Beresford Place and

Eden Quay Eden Quay () is one of the Dublin quays on the northern bank 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 (Dublin), Marlborough Street and Rosie Hack ...

, near the Custom House, the original Liberty Hall was built as the Northumberland Hotel before it became the headquarters of the

. During the 1913

Dublin Lock-out The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Dublin, Ireland. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often viewed as the most severe and s ...

a soup kitchen for workers' families was run there by

Maud Gonne Maud Gonne MacBride (, born Edith Maud Gonne); 21 December 1866 – 27 April 1953) was an Irish republican revolutionary, suffragette and actress. She was of Anglo-Irish descent and was won over to Irish nationalism by the plight of people evict ...

and

Constance Markievicz Constance Georgine Markievicz ( ; ' Gore-Booth; 4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927), also known as Countess Markievicz and Madame Markievicz, was an Irish politician, revolutionary, nationalist, suffragist, and socialist who was the first woman ...

. Following the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

a banner reading "We Serve Neither King nor

Kaiser Kaiser ( ; ) is the title historically used by German and Austrian emperors. In German, the title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (). In English, the word ''kaiser'' is mainly applied to the emperors ...

, But Ireland" was hung on its front wall, and ICA's newspaper, ''The Irish Worker,'' was printed inside. The newspaper was shut down by the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin Castle was the centre of the government of Ireland under English and later British rule. "Dublin Castle" is used metonymically to describe British rule in Ireland. The Castle held only the executive branch of government and the Privy Cou ...

for sedition under the

Defence of the Realm Act The Defence of the Realm Act 1914 ( 4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 29) (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, four days after the country entered the First World War. It was added to as the war progressed. It gave the government wide-ranging ...

. It was replaced for a short time by a paper called ''The Worker'' until that too was banned. James Connolly edited a third paper, ''The Workers' Republic'', from 1915 until the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...

in 1916. Until the Easter Rising, Liberty Hall also served as a munitions factory, where 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 The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

on Easter Monday. They left the building vacant throughout

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

Week save for Peter Ennis, the Building Manager/Caretaker, who remained there throughout Easter Week, apart from some forays to the GPO. This fact was unknown to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

authorities, who chose the building as the first to be shelled. It was seriously damaged by

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

units during the Rising, but was faithfully restored afterwards. In the late 1950s Liberty Hall was declared unsafe and promptly demolished. The present building, which has sixteen stories, was constructed between 1961 and 1965. It was originally fitted with windows of non-reflective glass, but after they were damaged by a UVF car bomb on 1 December 1972 they were replaced with windows of reflective glass. The viewing platform, which had only recently been opened, was also closed after the car bomb. In October 2006 it was announced that SIPTU (into which the Irish Transport and General Workers Union had merged in 1990) was seeking planning permission to demolish Liberty Hall and build a new headquarters on the same site. By October 2007 SIPTU had selected a shortlist of architects to design the new building and was planning to demolish the current building in 2009. In January 2008 the Dublin architects Gilroy MacMahon, who had designed the new stands at

Croke Park Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...

, were chosen to design the new Liberty Hall. In February 2012 SIPTU was granted planning permission by

Dublin City Council Dublin City Council () is the Local government in the Republic of Ireland, local authority of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the authority was k ...

to demolish the present structure and build a 22-story replacement, with a height of about 100 meters. The new building would have included office space, a theatre and a "heritage centre". However, in November 2012 the planning permission was overturned by

An Bord Pleanála (; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major strategic infra ...

, which ruled unanimously that the new building would be "unacceptably dominant in the city". Liberty Hall was the subject of a documentary broadcast on

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

in May 2009.

References

{{Coord, 53, 20, 54, N, 6, 15, 19, W, region:IE_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Dublin (city) Skyscraper office buildings in the Republic of Ireland Office buildings in the Republic of Ireland Skyscrapers in the Republic of Ireland Modernist architecture in Ireland