Melted glass bottle found in the General Post Office after the Rising.

This melted glass bottle was picked up in the General Post Office (GPO) after the Rising and illustrates how intense the fires were in some part of the city during Easter Week. There are particles of mortar imbedded in the glass.

As Easter Week progressed, Sackville (O’Connell) and the GPO came under sustained artillery and incendiary fire and the situation deteriorated for the rebels in the GPO. By Thursday, 27th April, they could feel the heat of the fires surrounding the building and tried to prevent it from spreading by drenching the window fortifications with water.

On the following day, however, the fire had begun to spread through the GPO and the rebels evacuated the building – just in time before the roof of the GPO collapsed.

Much of the destruction during Easter Week was caused by fires from British troops shelling the city and in some cases from civilians setting shops on fire after looting them. This also happened to shops near the GPO after the Dublin Metropolitan Police had been withdrawn on Easter Monday.