Armoured cars roll past the reviewing stand outside the General Post Office Building - birthplace of the Republic . When emotion charged Irishmen began a two week Jubilee to commemorate the Easter uprising of 1916 . On the reviewing stand stood the veterans of the war of Independence . They were led by President Eamon de Valera , 83 year old Head of State and sole surviving commandant of the seven day Easter Rebellion which shook the British Empire and roused the Irish nation . 10 April 1966