Up to 50,000 people stepped back 100 years as O’Connell Street in central Dublin closed all day Monday to traffic.

The street was transformed into 1915 for an RTE Road to Rising event to reflect the lives of Dubliners, rich and poor, and the small group that was already plotting the 1916 rebellion.

In the totally pedestrianized street a mobile cinema, a steam train and a vintage carousel were among more than 60 attractions.

Some re-enactments from 1915 took place. One group of mourners staged a funeral from the time of a man who was struck by a tram as he crossed the road in what was then known as Sackville Street.

Unexpectedly warm Easter weather provided a little discomfort for some in their 1915 costumes.

One woman said, “It is very warm in the furs and we have a lot of layers on underneath. We didn’t think it would be a nice day so we wore loads and loads of clothes.”

She added, “We miss the sunglasses. They weren’t there in 1915.”

One person showed an image of his father, who was a doctor at Jervis Street Hospital a short distance from the historic GPO. He attended to most of the casualties in the Rising.

The event was the first of a series during the next year in the build-up to the centenary 1916 celebrations.

The day before, on Easter Sunday, the annual Easter Rising ceremony was attended by President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny.

Four Air Corps planes flew over O’Connell Street in diamond pattern in a moving military ceremony to commemorate the 1916 Rising.

Army Captain Kate Hanrahan echoed the iconic speech by Padraic Pearse who stood in front of the GPO and read the Proclamation of the Republic.

Read more: 50 facts about the Easter Rising (PHOTOS)