Printed in conflicting typefaces and pasted throughout Dublin on Easter Monday 1916, a single proclamation started an Irish rebellion. The full text of the royal proclamation of the Republic of Ireland was only six paragraphs long, but it stood together against hundreds of years of British rule.
Patrick Pearse read the Proclamation of the Republic of Ireland in front of the Dublin General Post Office on April 24, 1916. As you read through the entire text, be sure to note the passage referring to the ‘brave allies in Europe ‘, Which in the eyes of the British marked Pearse and his co-revolutionaries as working together with the German Empire. Which, in wartime, meant high treason and the death of the signers at the foot of the printed proclamation.
The proclamation itself declares some basic rights, especially the right of women to vote. In this respect, it was very modern. In other respects, it seems very old-fashioned, mainly due to the difficult wording of some passages.
Only a few copies of the original document remain, but you can find souvenir reprints (often adorned with additional graphics) in almost every souvenir shop in Dublin. Here, however, it is just the plain text (uppercase as in the original):
POBLACHT NA HÉIREANN THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND
IRISH AND IRISH WOMEN: In the name of God and the dead generations from which it receives its ancient tradition of nation, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and fights for their freedom.
Having organized and trained his manhood through his secret revolutionary organization, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through his open military organizations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently honed his discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal himself Now she seizes that moment, and supported by her sons exiled in the United States and by brave allies in Europe, but trusting the former in her own strength, she attacks with full confidence of victory.
We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the property of Ireland and unrestricted control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and unviable. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In each generation, the Irish people have asserted their right to freedom and national sovereignty; six times in the last three hundred years they have claimed it in arms.
Building on that fundamental right and reaffirming it in arms before the world, we proclaim the Republic of Ireland as a sovereign and independent State, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades in arms to the cause of their freedom. of his well-being and of his exaltation among the nations.
The Republic of Ireland is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and opportunities for all its citizens, and declares its determination to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the entire nation and of all its parts, appreciating all the children of the nation for equal and alien. from differences carefully fostered by a foreign government, which has divided a minority from the majority in the past.
Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government, representative of all the people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all its men and women, the Provisional Government shall hereby administer civil affairs and military. of the Republic in trust for the people.
We place the cause of the Republic of Ireland under the protection of the Most High God, whose blessing we invoke on our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will be dishonored by cowardice, inhumanity or robbery. In this supreme hour, the Irish nation must, by its courage and discipline, and by the willingness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, show that it is worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.
Signed on behalf of the Provisional Government:
THOMAS J. CLARKE
SEAN Mac DIARMADA THOMAS MacDONAGH
P. H. PEARSE EAMONN CEANNT
JAMES CONNOLLY JOSEPH PLUNKETT
More on the 1916 Easter Rising
The 1916 Easter Rising may have failed, but it left a huge impact on Ireland and ultimately changed the course of the history of the entire country. This is where to start if you want to learn more about the Irish Easter Rising:
- The story of the Easter Rising
- The myths of the Easter Rising
- When should Ireland really celebrate the Easter Rising?
- Centennial commemorations of 1916 in 2016
