Timeline
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1791
The Custom House opens. Sailing ships grace the River Liffey as far upstream as Essex Bridge.
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1834
Ireland’s first railway track opens from Dublin to Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire). The continued development of the railway network in Dublin encourages the wealthier classes to migrate to the suburbs.
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1891
The first train steams over the Loopline.
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1911
The Census of this year records 20,000 families living in one room accommodation in inner city Dublin, the worst slums in the whole of the United Kingdom.
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1916
Twenty eight children die in the Easter Rising, all of them of the poorer classes and aged between two and sixteen. The Rising, timed to exploit Britain’s engagement in World War 1, fails and the majority of the leaders are executed, including the wounded James Connolly who is executed while tied to a chair as he is unable to stand.
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1919
January 21st, Dáil Éireann, meeting in the Round Room of the Mansion House, proclaims the Irish Republic. The War of Independence begins.
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1921
May 25th, the Custom House is burned by the Irish Republican Army. The fire rages for five days and destroyed centuries of irreplaceable records, including birth records. The signing of the Anglo Irish Treaty in December, brings the War of Independence to an end.
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1922
June, Civil War erupts between those who support the Anglo Irish Treaty and those who do not.
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1923
May, the Civil War ends. The pro Treaty side is victorious.
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1926
The decision is made to rebuild the Custom House. The interior of the Gandon building is completely destroyed and the dome has collapsed.