Members include John Connolly, a grandson of James Connolly, one of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation and the leader of the Irish Citizen Army, as well as the great grandson of The O’Rahilly, after whose great grandfather O’Rahilly Parade was named and who was also a leading participant in the Rising and features in subsequent events as a matter of historical record thereafter.
The specific aim of the organisation is to ensure the protection of Number 16 Moore Street and its immediate environs and to ensure that all development in and around this part of Dublin, and indeed in Dublin generally, reflects and is sympathetic to the ideals and the memory of those people and places which featured in that Rising which, it is accepted, was a fundamental catalyst in the founding and the formation of the State.
Our organisation is particularly concerned about No. 16 Moore Street and would be very concerned to ensure that this structure is retained because of its historical importance and its particular significance in the context of the 1916 Rising and subsequent aftermath. The ministerial decision to create 14-17 Moore Street as the National Monument, providing a contextual setting and ‘protective barrier’, around no. 16, has realised a wider opportunity to realise a greater ‘theatre’ of significance in achieving an appropriate memorial for those whom fought and died for our nations birth.