Saving Moore Street, the cradle of the 1916 Rising

The future of Moore Street in Dublin and harnessing its potential was the focus of a special conference on Wednesday.

‘Preserving our Past, Rising to our Future’ was dedicated to exploring and discussing what can be done with the historic site.

Participants included Professor Terry Stephens, tourism advisor to the United Nations, Michael Murphy, architect of the National Lynching Legacy Museum in Alabama, USA, Seán Antoin Ó Muirí, architect of the alternative Moore Street plan, and well-known historian Liz Gillis.

It took place on the day in 1916 that the Easter Rising started, with Moore Street, among many locations, setting the stage that gave birth to the 26 County State.

James Connolly Heron, the Great Grandson of James Connolly and member of the Moore Street Preservation Trust says its vital these locations are protected:

“It’s the difference between reading history from the page of a book or standing in the very places where history was made.

“Uniquely in Dublin, we have many locations that are directly linked to the pivotal event in our history that led to our independence and freedom and there’s been a drip feed of loss in relation to them that has to stop.”

Sinn Féin says successive governments are to blame for the decay and neglect of Moore Street.

Dublin councillor Michael Mac Donnacha says it can be turned around.

“It’s about the creation of a cultural quarter and we have an alternative plan that is, in our view, achievable,” he said.

“It’s an alternative to what has been happening over the last 20 or 30 years, which is just simply, stagnation.

“A huge chunk of our city centre is under the control of developers and they have been allowed to hold it back.”

The city’s historic Moore Street has long been in the discussion for a makeover. In March, the Office of Public Works progressed with plans to erect a monument and a commemorative centre.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said: “As part of the battlefield site of the Easter Rising where the courageous Irish volunteers of 1916 fought and died for the cause of a free Irish republic, Moore Street is hallowed ground.

“But it is not only that. It is also the location of Dublin’s oldest food market, one that predates the famine, where generations of people have come to witness and soak-up our capital city’s heritage and tradition every day.

“Despite successive governments consigning so much of Dublin’s north inner-city to serious neglect, I am firmly of the belief that the preservation and development of Moore Street is something that everyone in Ireland, but in particular the people of Dublin, can be enthused by and get behind.

“This is an area crying out for the right investment, and the care that it deserves - the kind of attention that would benefit all who inhabit our capital city as well as all those who visit or pass through it.”

Ms McDonald said the Moore Street Trust plan has “the potential to drive exciting regeneration of Dublin’s North Inner City”.

Urgent Appeal