27 April 1916

O'Connell Street

By Thursday morning the cordon around the Four Courts and the GPO continues to tighten further. There is now continuous shelling and much of O Connell Street has either been destroyed or is on fire. The military now outnumber the rebels by an estimated 20 to 1. The GPO in particular is under sustained attack. While supervising the erection of a barricade in a nearby street, James Connolly is wounded in the ankle and has to be helped back to the GPO. At about 10 pm on Thursday evening, an oil depot opposite the GPO explodes sending flames high into the night sky.

The situation in Dublin is now critical. With most shops closed since Monday there is a widespread shortage of basic food items such as bread and milk.With large numbers of British soldiers in the city, the military has commandeered much of the available food. Even relatively wealthy families are forced to go out in search of food supplies.

In County Wexford, about 600 Volunteers took over Enniscorthy on Thursday 27 April. They were led by six men and made Athenaeum Theatre their headquarters. The Volunteers blocked all roads and the railway line, and cut the telephone and telegraph wires. They then besieged the RIC barracks, which was defended by a number of armed constables. Shots were fired and one constable was wounded, although no real attempt was made to seize the barracks. The Volunteers also stopped a train travelling from Wexford to Arklow carrying workers to Kynoch's munitions factory.