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Proclamation of the Irish Republic
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Proclamation of the Irish Republic
The Proclamation of the Republic (Irish: Forógra na Poblachta), also known as the 1916 Proclamation or the Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising in Ireland, which began on 24 April 1916. In it, the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, writing as the "Provisional Government of the Irish Republic," proclaimed Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom. The reading of the proclamation by Patrick Pearse outside the General Post Office (GPO) on Sackville Street (now called O'Connell Street), Dublin's main thoroughfare, marked the beginning of the Rising. The proclamation was modelled on a similar independence proclamation issued during the 1803 rebellion by Robert Emmet.
Although the Rising failed in military terms, the principles of the Proclamation to varying degrees influenced the thinking of later generations of Irish politicians. The document consisted of a number of assertions:
The proclamation was printed prior to the Rising on a Summit Wharfedale Stop Cylinder Press in Liberty Hall, Eden Quay (HQ of the Irish Citizen Army). The document had problems with the layout and design because of a shortage of type. It was printed in two-halves, printing first the top, then the bottom on one sheet of paper. The paper was sourced from the Swift Brook Paper Mills in Saggart. The typesetters were Willie O'Brien, Michael Molloy, and Christopher Brady. They lacked a sufficient supply of type in typeface of the same size, and as a result, some parts of the document use an e from a different typeface, which are smaller and do not match.
The language suggested the original copy of the proclamation was signed by the Rising's leaders. However, no evidence is found nor do any contemporary records mention, the existence of an actually signed copy, although if such a copy existed, it could easily be destroyed in the aftermath of the Rising by someone with no appreciation of its historic importance. Molloy says he set the document from a handwritten copy, with signatures on a separate piece of paper which he destroyed by chewing while in prison, but this was disputed by other participants. Molloy also recalled Connolly asked for the document to resemble an auctioneer's notice in general design.
About thirty originals remain, one of which can be viewed in the National Print Museum. Later reproductions are sometimes mis-attributed as originals. After British soldiers recaptured Liberty Hall, they found the press with the type of the bottom of the proclamation, and reportedly ran off some copies as souvenirs, leading to a proliferation of these 'half-copies'. James Mosley notes complete originals rapidly became rare in the chaos, and, over a month later, the Dublin police force failed to find any for their files.
The signatories (as their names appeared on the Proclamation):
The first name among the signatories is not Pearse but Tom Clarke, a veteran republican. If the arrangement of names were alphabetical, Éamonn Ceannt would appear on top. Clarke's widow maintained it was because the plan was for Clarke, a famed veteran, to become the President of the Provisional Republic. This explanation explains his top position. However, others associated with the Rising dismissed these claims made in her memoirs. Later documents issued by the rebels gave Pearse pride of place, although as 'Commanding in Chief the Forces of the Irish Republic, and President of the Provisional Government, not 'President of the Republic'. Historians continue to speculate whether Clarke was to be a symbolic head of state and Pearse as head of government or Pearse was always to be central but with statements ambiguously describing his title.
All seven signatories of the proclamation were executed by the British military (James Connolly who had been wounded in the fighting was executed sitting down in a chair) in the aftermath of the Rising, being viewed as having committed treason in wartime (i.e. the First World War). British political leaders initially regarded the executions as unwise, later as a catastrophe, with British Prime Ministers H. H. Asquith and David Lloyd George stating that they regretted allowing the British military to treat the matter as a matter of military law in wartime, rather than insisting that the leaders be treated under civilian criminal law. Though initially deeply unsympathetic to the Rising (the leading Irish nationalist newspaper, the Irish Independent called for their execution), Irish public opinion switched and became more sympathetic due to the manner of their treatment and executions.[citation needed] Eventually Asquith's government ordered a halt to the executions and insisted that those not already executed be dealt with through civilian, not military, law. By that stage, however, all the signatories and a number of others had already been executed.
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Proclamation of the Irish Republic
The Proclamation of the Republic (Irish: Forógra na Poblachta), also known as the 1916 Proclamation or the Easter Proclamation, was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter Rising in Ireland, which began on 24 April 1916. In it, the Military Council of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, writing as the "Provisional Government of the Irish Republic," proclaimed Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom. The reading of the proclamation by Patrick Pearse outside the General Post Office (GPO) on Sackville Street (now called O'Connell Street), Dublin's main thoroughfare, marked the beginning of the Rising. The proclamation was modelled on a similar independence proclamation issued during the 1803 rebellion by Robert Emmet.
Although the Rising failed in military terms, the principles of the Proclamation to varying degrees influenced the thinking of later generations of Irish politicians. The document consisted of a number of assertions:
The proclamation was printed prior to the Rising on a Summit Wharfedale Stop Cylinder Press in Liberty Hall, Eden Quay (HQ of the Irish Citizen Army). The document had problems with the layout and design because of a shortage of type. It was printed in two-halves, printing first the top, then the bottom on one sheet of paper. The paper was sourced from the Swift Brook Paper Mills in Saggart. The typesetters were Willie O'Brien, Michael Molloy, and Christopher Brady. They lacked a sufficient supply of type in typeface of the same size, and as a result, some parts of the document use an e from a different typeface, which are smaller and do not match.
The language suggested the original copy of the proclamation was signed by the Rising's leaders. However, no evidence is found nor do any contemporary records mention, the existence of an actually signed copy, although if such a copy existed, it could easily be destroyed in the aftermath of the Rising by someone with no appreciation of its historic importance. Molloy says he set the document from a handwritten copy, with signatures on a separate piece of paper which he destroyed by chewing while in prison, but this was disputed by other participants. Molloy also recalled Connolly asked for the document to resemble an auctioneer's notice in general design.
About thirty originals remain, one of which can be viewed in the National Print Museum. Later reproductions are sometimes mis-attributed as originals. After British soldiers recaptured Liberty Hall, they found the press with the type of the bottom of the proclamation, and reportedly ran off some copies as souvenirs, leading to a proliferation of these 'half-copies'. James Mosley notes complete originals rapidly became rare in the chaos, and, over a month later, the Dublin police force failed to find any for their files.
The signatories (as their names appeared on the Proclamation):
The first name among the signatories is not Pearse but Tom Clarke, a veteran republican. If the arrangement of names were alphabetical, Éamonn Ceannt would appear on top. Clarke's widow maintained it was because the plan was for Clarke, a famed veteran, to become the President of the Provisional Republic. This explanation explains his top position. However, others associated with the Rising dismissed these claims made in her memoirs. Later documents issued by the rebels gave Pearse pride of place, although as 'Commanding in Chief the Forces of the Irish Republic, and President of the Provisional Government, not 'President of the Republic'. Historians continue to speculate whether Clarke was to be a symbolic head of state and Pearse as head of government or Pearse was always to be central but with statements ambiguously describing his title.
All seven signatories of the proclamation were executed by the British military (James Connolly who had been wounded in the fighting was executed sitting down in a chair) in the aftermath of the Rising, being viewed as having committed treason in wartime (i.e. the First World War). British political leaders initially regarded the executions as unwise, later as a catastrophe, with British Prime Ministers H. H. Asquith and David Lloyd George stating that they regretted allowing the British military to treat the matter as a matter of military law in wartime, rather than insisting that the leaders be treated under civilian criminal law. Though initially deeply unsympathetic to the Rising (the leading Irish nationalist newspaper, the Irish Independent called for their execution), Irish public opinion switched and became more sympathetic due to the manner of their treatment and executions.[citation needed] Eventually Asquith's government ordered a halt to the executions and insisted that those not already executed be dealt with through civilian, not military, law. By that stage, however, all the signatories and a number of others had already been executed.
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