The General Post Office building and its Ionic portico were built from 1815 to 1818 by Francis Johnston. It occupies a block of houses at the junction of O'Connell Street and Henry Street. It was the headquarters of the rebels during the 1916 Easter Rising, when it was set on fire. Inside, a series of paintings bear witness to these events and a bronze statue depicts the dying Cú Chulainn, a mythological Celtic hero and symbol of resistance for the Irish people.