As part of the Government’s Decade of Centenaries, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will today mark the Burning of the Custom House.
It will hold a remembrance event, held in conjunction with relatives of both those who took part in the attack and civilians who were killed in the attack. One hundred years ago today, at 12.55pm on 25 May 1921, the IRA seized the Custom House, Dublin. In what was the IRA’s largest single operation during the War of Independence, it then set fire to the building. Nine people – five IRA members and four civilians – were killed in the gun-battles, which took place in and around the building.
The Custom House, one of the British Government’s most important administrative buildings in Ireland at the time, was completely destroyed. Its administrative records were also destroyed. Six weeks later, the Irish and British sides in the conflict reached a truce, thus marking the end of the War of Independence. The event today will take place from 12:29pm to 1:05pm.
The event will be attended by relatives of those killed. Minister Darragh O’Brien will represent the State. The event can be viewed on the RTÉ News channel, RTE.ie and on RTÉ News across social media and on the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage Facebook channel
