The street has played an important part in Irish history and features several important monuments, including statues of O'Connell and union leader James Larkin, and the Spire of Dublin. It formed the backdrop to one of the 1913 Dublin lock-out gatherings, the 1916 Easter Rising, the Irish Civil War of 1922, the destruction of Nelson's Pillar in 1966 and the Dublin Riots in 2006. In the late 20th century, a comprehensive plan was begun to restore the street to its original 19th-century character.