Before the mass executions of its leaders, the rebellion was not looked kindly upon by most citizens of Dublin. Members of the crowd gathered outside the GPO during the beginning of the Rising had either jeered or ignored Padraic's long-awaited reading of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Overtaking so many buildings in the central business district obviously caused great inconvenience. Because the post office was under seize, families could not receive paychecks of soldiers fighting in World War I. Businesses were closed down and buildings were badly damaged. Many people not associated with the Rising had been murdered by British military forces. However, public sentiment (both Irish and British) quickly changed from dislike and ridicule of the "rebels" to widespread outrage over the inhumane treatment and rash executions of the Rising's leaders. Reports of Grace and Joe's prison wedding also increased public repulsion toward British actions.

Following are excepts from articles about Grace and Joe appearing in The Daily Mirror on May 8, 1916:

Mrs. Gifford did not know that her daughter Grace had married Joseph Plunkett until she showed her the wedding ring. In an interview on Friday, Mrs. Gifford said: "That Countess Markieviez has been responsible all along for dragging them into it. They got to know her several years ago, and have largely been under her influence. We knew nothing of what was going on, however, and no one was more surprised than we were when the revolt broke out."

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The stories of the Irish rebellion have revealed tragedy after tragedy, but none more remarkable than the eve-of-death romance of Joseph Plunkett, one of the rebel leaders, and Miss Grace Gifford, a young artist of refined and artistic tastes. The two were married in prison in the dead of night, shortly before Plunkett's execution. With heroic fidelity, Miss Gifford, who is the daughter of a solicitor and well known in Dublin society, visited the cell of her lover, and was married to him at midnight.

Husband and wife were left together for a few hours*, and then Plunkett was taken before a firing party in the barracks courtyard. There was a curt order, the crash of a volley, and the curtain was rung down on the tragedy of two lives. The following morning, the tragic romance was revealed to the world in this simple announcement in the 'Births, Marriages and Deaths' column of the Irish Times: "Plunkett and Gifford.--May 3, 1916, at Dublin, Joseph Plunkett to Grace Gifford."

Miss Gifford bought her wedding ring at a jewellery shop in Grafton Street on Wednesday. When showing her some rings, the proprietor of the shop, Mr. Stoker, noticed that she was deeply agitated, and said he hoped she was not in trouble. She tried hard to keep calm, but eventually almost broke down. Then she told the jeweller that she was the fiancee of Joseph Plunkett, who was under sentence of death, and was to be married to him on the morning of his execution. "For the moment I was thunderstruck," said Mr. Stoker, "and didn't know what to say or do. Somehow or other I managed to express my sympathy with her terrible position, and she thanked me very quietly. Then she selected the most expensive of the rings, paid for it in notes, and left the shop."

* Grace and Joe actually were not allowed any time together except for the brief ceremony and ten minute meeting later.