The 1916 Proclamation: controversial document that declared an Irish republic

The 1916 Proclamation was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army at the GPO in Dublin on Easter Monday 1916.

Most historians say it was read aloud by Pádraig Pearse at Nelson’s Column, where the Spire on O’Connell Street stands today, to start the 1916 Rising.

Some, however, now believe it was actually Thomas Clarke who read it out after all. (There weren’t many smartphones around in those days.)

The 1916 Proclamation was modelled on a similar one Robert Emmet had issued in the much smaller 1803 rebellion. In it, the Rising’s seven leaders declare themselves the “Provisional Government of the Irish Republic”, and proclaim Ireland’s independence from the United Kingdom.

In many ways, the Proclamation was ahead of its time. It announces a republic, at a time when most of Europe was ruled by emperors or kings.

It also calls for a new Irish government “representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women”. This meant that, if the rebels triumphed, women would be allowed to vote in Ireland. Suffrage is another word for the right to vote.

Outside Sweden, women in most other European countries weren’t allowed to vote at the time of the 1916 Rising. France only allowed women to vote or stand for election in 1944.

One of the most controversial parts of the Proclamation was the reference to “gallant allies in Europe”. This referred to the German Empire, which had supplied the Irish rebels with arms prior to the rising.

At the time, Britain was fighting the bloodiest conflict in its history against Germany – the first World War – which was to kill almost a million British soldiers.

The British government considered this part of the 1916 Proclamation, the bit about allies in Europe, to be treason. This was the main reason the British military wanted to execute so many rebels.

The British prime minister HH Asquith, and his successor David Lloyd George, later said they regretted putting the British military in charge of punishing the rebels, as the executions made people more sympathetic to the cause of an Irish Republic.

No one really knows who wrote the Proclamation, although most believe it was mainly written by Pearse, with help from Connolly.

Pearse was well-known for his public speaking and was “commander-in-chief” of the Rising, but some of the rebels later said Connolly was actually the better leader.

The 1916 Proclamation is one of the most quoted documents in Irish history. Full original copies can be extremely valuable – in 2006, one was sold for more than €700,000.

A signed copy owned by Sean T O’Kelly, who fought in the Rising and was later president of Ireland, is on permanent display in Leinster House in Dublin.

Other copies are displayed in the GPO, the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks, and Trinity College, as well as in other countries.

Darragh Murphy