The images seen here are original real photo postcards of the destruction in Dublin in the wake of the Easter Rising. The back of one of the photographs states that “These photos have all been done by Willie”  Willie is believed to be one of the British soldiers seen in the first photograph below. The photographs were printed on postcard paper, which was common at the time, and most of them have written notes describing the subject of the photograph.  These were at one point stored in a private photo album and some show signs of having been mounted as they still have adhesive residue on them. The photo postcards  have also been roughly cut, with most having uneven edges, which may indicate these being printed by an amateur group.  These photo postcards are important to the history of the Easter Rising, as not many private photographs of the events or the aftermath exist.  Within these photographs, we get to see Dublin as the city returned to daily life in the wake of the Rising.  There are many people mingling around the wrecked buildings in these photographs.  They likely wanted to view the damage with their own eyes, or perhaps even hoped to find a souvenir of the fighting.  Historians are able to utilize these photographs to assess the damage from a civilian perspective.  They are able to see how the citizens of Dublin reacted during the days after the fighting.

Willie, the man who took the photographs in this series is believed to be one of the men shown in this photograph.  This photograph was with the others in this series, and depicts two soldiers in the British Army desert uniform from the First World War period.   

This photograph shows the destruction of Wynn’s Hotel, Reis’s clothing store and the Dublin Bread Company (DBC).  There are also many civilians seen observing the damage to these buildings.

Seen here is the damage on Eden Quay.  Many of the buildings along the quay were destroyed by fire that spread from the shelling of Dublin City Center.  There are a few civilians in the background, and a young boy in the foreground, out exploring the damage to the city.

This photo shows the damage done to the shops in Henry Street.  Most were completely destroyed by fire.  Civilians had looted many of the Henry Street shops during the first days of the Rising.  People can be seen here exploring the wreckage, possibly looking for a souvenir of the fighting.

This photograph shows the damage done to Liberty Hall, which was shelled throughout the later part of the week by the British gunboat Helga.

The back of the photograph of the damage at Liberty Hall features the note “These photos have all been done by Willie.”

The extensive damage done to the Metropole Hotel can be seen in this Photograph.  Men under Oscar Traynor had occupied the hotel for most of Easter week.

This is another photograph depicting the burned out buildings along Eden Quay.  You can see people walking along the Quay and horse carriages are back out operating in the city.

This photograph shows the damage along Sackville Street from Hopkins and Hopkins Jewelers to the Dublin Bread Company. 

A British blockade can be seen in this photo.  They have cordoned off the area around Henry St.  Henry Street runs along the right side of the GPO, which can be seen on the left side of the street in this photograph.  A GPO mail tarp can be seen on the left side of the street.

The burnt out remains of Linenhall Barracks can be seen in the background of this photograph.  The Barracks was captured and burned down by members of the Fianna Eireann commanded by Gary Holohan.  The Fianna was a nationalist boy scout like group, all made up of younger boys.  One of the children in the photo appears to have a wounded leg.  He could possible be a Fianna boy who avoided capture and has returned to tell his friend about his exploits during the week.

This photograph shows one of the buildings on Sackville Street that had been occupied by the Irish Volunteers during Easter Week.  You can see that many of the windows have been shot out.

The College of Surgeons is see in this photograph.  The building is located just off St. Stephen’s Green and was the sight of significant fighting during Easter Week, after the men stationed in the Green retreated into the College.

This photograph shows the damage done to Hopkins and Hopkins Jewelers as well as the burned out buildings along Eden quay.

There was little left of the Imperial Hotel after the Rising.  Only portions of the outer walls remained, as fire had burned out the rest of the structure.