SIGNATORIES of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic

The seven members of the IRB’s Military Council decided they would constitute the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic. They finalised the content of the “Proclamation of the Irish Republic” shortly before Easter 1916.  

 

The Proclamation was printed by Christopher Brady in Liberty Hall. It was printed in two parts, the top part first and then the type was reset for the bottom half. The compositors Michael Molloy and Liam O’Brien did not have enough type in the same font, so in some places the letter e has been printed using a different font – notably in the third paragraph.  In the line “to the people of Ireland” sealing wax was used to convert a capital F into an E. Seán T. O'Kelly, who worked at the National Library of Ireland, 1898-1902, and who went on to be President of Ireland, 1945-59, was responsible for distributing and posting copies of the Proclamation all over Dublin.

Éamonn Ceannt, signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, was deeply interested in Irish language and music. He became a fluent Irish speaker and adopted the Irish form of his name. He was a member of the Gaelic League where he met Patrick Pearse. He was also politically active, joining Sinn Féin in 1907 and the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1912. A member of the Irish Volunteers from their formation, he was involved in raising finance to purchase arms. Following the split in the Volunteers, Ceannt was elected to a key role in the Irish Volunteers, along with Pearse and Joseph Plunkett. This gave them virtual control of the organisation. In March 1915 Ceannt became commandant of the 4th Battalion of the Dublin Brigade and soon after joined the IRB Military Council. During the Rising Ceannt and his men occupied the South Dublin Union, a workhouse and hospital off James’ Street. They held part of the complex until the general surrender on Sunday. Ceannt was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Jail on 8 May 1916. He was survived by his wife Áine and son Rónán.

Thomas (Tom) Clarke was born on the Isle of Wight, England, where his father was a British Army soldier. Later, the family moved to Dungannon, Co. Tyrone.

Clarke emigrated to the United States in 1882 and joined the revolutionary organisation Clan Na Gael. In 1883 he was sent to England on a dynamiting mission but was arrested and sentenced to penal servitude for life. Clarke served fifteen years in jail and returned to the US in 1898.

He married Kathleen Daly and they had three sons. The family returned to Dublin in 1907, opening shops in Great Britain Street (Parnell Street) and Amiens Street. Clarke joined the Irish Volunteers and helped to revive the Irish Republic Brotherhood. He was the main link with Fenian and republican organisations in the United States and a member of the IRB Military Council.

Clarke was the first signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and was stationed in the General Post Office. He opposed the surrender, but was outvoted. Clarke was executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Jail on 3 May.

James Connolly was born to extremely poor Irish Catholic emigrants in Edinburgh. An active socialist, he founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party in Dublin in 1896 and published The Workers’ Republic newspaper.

Connolly went to the US in 1903 and returned to Ireland to organise the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union in 1910 Connolly became head of the ITGWU in 1914 and campaigned against recruitment when World War I broke out in August that year.

Connolly, who opposed Home Rule as middle class and capitalist, was commandant of the Irish Citizen Army.  In January 1916 he agreed that the IRB, the ICA and the Irish Volunteers should organize a joint insurrection.

As vice-president of the Provisional Government and commandant general of the Dublin division of the army of the Irish Republic, Connolly was in the GPO. He directed military operations even after being seriously wounded in the shoulder and ankle on Thursday 27th.

Connolly was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Jail on 12 May. He was survived by his wife Lillie and their children.

MacDiarmada was born in Corranmore, Co. Leitrim. He emigrated to Scotland before settling in Belfast. Here he joined the Gaelic League, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and was involved in the Dungannon Clubs and Sinn Féin. Moving to Dublin in 1907 he was instrumental in revitalising the IRB, along with Tom Clarke and others, and managed its newspaper Irish Freedom. In 1911 he contracted polio, which left him lame and using a walking stick. MacDiarmada was active in cultural organisations such as the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Gaelic League, recruiting members to the IRB. In 1915 he was co-opted with Clarke to the IRB Military Council. MacDiarmada believed that the only means of achieving a republic was revolution and he had a leading role in planning the 1916 Rising. He spent the Rising in the General Post Office and was acknowledged by the garrison as one of the commanders, despite holding no military rank. He was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Jail on 12 May.

McDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary. He was educated at Rockwell College where he trained for the priesthood.  On leaving he worked as teacher and joined the Gaelic League, which first introduced him to nationalist ideas. He joined St. Enda’s Boys school when Patrick Pearse set it up in 1908. In 1911 he completed his masters at University College Dublin and was appointed lecturer in English.

MacDonagh joined the Irish Volunteers in November 1913. He was on the provisional committee and involved in the Howth gun-running. A member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, he was co-opted on the Military Council in April 1916, and it is believed that he had a limited part in planning the Rising.

As commandant of the 2nd Battalion of the Dublin Brigade MacDonagh was in charge at Jacob’s biscuit factory in Bishop Street during the Rising.  The Battalion complied reluctantly with Pearse’s surrender order. He was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Jail on 3 May. He was survived by his wife Muriel (née Gifford) and his children Donagh and Barbara.

Pearse was born in Great Brunswick Street (now Pearse Street) Dublin. He became intensely interested in Irish language and literature, joining the Gaelic League at seventeen.

From 1903 to 1908 he was editor of An Claidheamh Soluis newspaper, and wrote poetry and stories in Irish and English. He set up a bilingual boys’ school, Saint Enda’s (Sgoil Éanna) in 1908 and later Saint Ita’s, a school for senior girls and mixed preparatory.

Pearse had supported Home Rule but was frustrated by the failure to enact it. In November 1913, he was a founding member of the Irish Volunteers and he later became director of military operations. In 1914 he was sworn into the Irish Republican Brotherhood and co-opted to the Military Council in September 1915. He had a major role in planning the Rising.

Pearse was president of the Provisional Government and he read the Proclamation outside the GPO on Easter Monday. He issued the order for surrender after the GPO was evacuated. Pearse was executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Jail on 3 May.

Plunkett was born in Dublin, the son of George Noble Plunkett, a papal count, and Josephine Cranny. He contracted tuberculosis as a young man.

Thomas MacDonagh tutored Plunkett and the two men became close friends. Together with Edward Martyn they established the Irish Theatre and the Irish Review journal. Plunkett became editor in 1913 and the journal became increasingly political, supporting Sinn Féín, workers’ rights, and the Irish Volunteers.

Plunkett was elected to the provisional committee of the Irish Volunteers in November 1913. He was also a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and was appointed to the IRB Military Council following a mission to Germany in 1915 to obtain arms.

Together with Connolly and Mac Diarmada, he was heavily involved in the final preparations for the Rising. Plunkett joined other members of the Provisional Government in the GPO despite being ill after a major operation.

 

Plunkett was engaged to be married to Grace Gifford, a sister-in-law of Thomas MacDonagh; they were permitted to marry in Kilmainham Jail on the night before his execution by firing squad on 4 May.