Paul Woods
Visual Artist
Revolution! 1916 - Public Art Trail. Artistic responses to the 1916 Rising
The Theatre
The Coliseum theatre was located on Henry Street beside the G.P.O. It had only opened 1 year earlier on Easter Monday 1915. After the Rising it doors remained forever closed. This painting highlights this by capturing the devastating destruction that this building suffered. The wrought iron maze of twisted and gnarled girders displays the violent destruction of the stage and the gangways in the theatre building.
As the G.P.O became untenable the garrison prepared to leave and take up positions in the streets to the rear. A small group under Pat Colgan from Kildare, including Joe Ledwith, were ordered to occupy the Coliseum Theatre. After some hours they made there way back to the G.P.O to find the H.Q abandoned. Pat Colgan later claimed that Joe Ledwith of Maynooth was the last man to leave the G.P.O.
