10/08/2013
Boland’s Mill is located on the Grand Canal Dock in Dublin, Republic of Ireland at the corner of Pearse Street and Barrow St. It is a building steeped in history and holds a special place in Dubliner’s hearts.
It was here during 1916 that the 3rd Battalion under Commandant Eamon de Valera occupied Boland’s mills, one mile to the south-east of the GPO, on Grand Canal Dock. The battalion was at a key location as it controlled the docks at which any troops sent to Dublin would disembark, the railway line and the main road from Dun Laoghaire (then Kingstown) to the city centre. There were no direct assaults on Boland’s until the Thursday of the Easter Rising. The garrison held out until Sunday when Nurse Elizabeth O’Farrell brought news of the surrender.Eamonn de Valera was one of only two of the leaders of the rebellion who escaped the death sentence. Eamonn de Valera could not be executed as a traitor as he held no British citizenship, described himself as a citizen of the (non-existent) Irish Republic and would have been entitled to either a US or Spanish passport on account of his father. (The other rebel leader who escaped death, Countess Markiewicz had her death sentence reduced to a life prison sentence on account of her s*x.)
Like the G.P.O. (Dublin’s General Post Office) the bullet holes from the rising can still be seen in the brickwork today.
