On April 26, 1916, as the Easter Rising intensified, British artillery began a sustained bombardment of rebel strongholds in Dublin. Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, was heavily shelled, and the General Post Office (GPO), the rebel headquarters, also came under heavy fire. The arrival of the gunboat Helga on the River Liffey further escalated the attacks, marking a significant increase in the British military's efforts to suppress the rebellion and causing widespread destruction in the city.
