The 1916 Easter Rising took place primarily in Dublin, Ireland. Beginning on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, Irish republicans seized key buildings in the capital and proclaimed an independent Irish Republic.
The rebellion was organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood’s Military Council and carried out mainly by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army. Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, Tom Clarke, and other leaders established their headquarters at Dublin’s General Post Office on O’Connell Street. Pearse read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic from the building, making the GPO one of the defining locations of the Rising.
British forces eventually surrounded the rebel positions and used artillery to bombard parts of central Dublin. After six days of fighting, Pearse surrendered on 29 April to prevent further civilian deaths. The Rising was militarily unsuccessful, but the execution of 16 rebel leaders in the following weeks shifted public opinion and helped strengthen support for Irish independence.
There were smaller actions elsewhere, including fighting at Ashbourne in County Meath, but Dublin was the centre of the rebellion. Edinburgh, London, and Belfast were not the capital city where the Easter Rising was launched and fought.