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Poblacht na h ireann.[1]

The Provisional Government of the Irish Republic

To the people of Ireland. IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom.

Having organised and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary organisation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood , and through her open military organisations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army , having patiently perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she now seizes that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in Americaand by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength,

she strikes in full confidence of victory. We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty: six times during the past three hundred years[2] they have asserted it in arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in armsin the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent Statand we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of itswelfare, and its exaltation among the nations.

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity othe whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided aminorityfromthe majorityin the past.

Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrageof all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer thecivil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people.

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God, Whoseblessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonouit by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called.

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[edit ] Principles of the proclamation

Though the Risin g fail ed in military t erms, t he principl es of the Pr oclamati on to varyin g deg r eesinfl ue nced the thinkin g of lat er generations of Iris h politicians. The document c onsist ed of anumber of ass ertions:

y that t he Risin g's leaders sp ok e f or Ir eland (a claim historically ma de by Iris h insurr ectionary m ovements);

y that t he Risin g mark ed another wav e of att empts t o achieve inde pendence thr ough f orce of arms;

y that t he Iris h R e pu blican Br other hood , the Iris h Volunteers and the Iris h Citiz en Army wer e central t o the Risin g;

y " the right of the peo ple of Ir eland to the ownership of Ir eland " , a stat ement s een by s ome contemporaries as q uasi- socialist and which some conservativ es f ound tr ou blesome (similar ass ertions in lat er declarati ons, n otably t he Democratic Programmeado pted bythe First Dil in 1919, w er e deleted or toned down);

y that t he f orm of governm ent was t o be a r e pu blic;

y a guarant ee of " r eligious an d civil lib erty, equal rights an d equal o pportuniti es to all itscitiz ens " , the first m ention of gender equality, given that Iris h women under Britis h lawwer e not allowed to vote;

y a commitm ent t o universal s uffra ge, a p henomenon limit ed at t he time to only a handf ulof countries, not incl ud ing Britain;

y a pr omise to cherish " all t he childr en of the nation equally " (though often misint erpr eted as r ef erring to Iris h childr en and their rights, it act ually m eant p eo ple of all r eligions, w ho wer e all s een as 'childr en of the nation'[citation needed ]).

[edit ] The printing and distribution of the text

This articl e's section call ed " The printin g and distrib ution of the text " needs additionalcitations for verification .

Please help impr ove this articl e by a dding r eliabl e r ef er ences. Uns ourced mat erial may b e challenged and r emoved. ( May 2010)

The pr oclamati on had been print ed secr etly pri or to the Risin g on a S ummit W harf edale Sto pCylin der Pr ess. B ecause of its s ecr et printin g, pr o blems ar ose which aff ected the layout an d design. In partic ular, b ecause of a shorta ge of lettering, the document was print ed in tw o halves,leading to a pr olif eration of 'half c o pies', most of which wer e destr oyed by Britis h soldiers in the aftermat h of the Risin g. The typesetters w er e Willi e O'Brien, Mic hael Molloy an d Christ o pher

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Brady. [3] The y lack ed a suffici ent s u pply of sam e size and f ont l etters, an d as a r esult the latt er half of the document used small er es than t he r est of the text, a distinctiv e f eatur e of the document.

The language sugge sted that t he original c o py of the pr oclamati on had actually b een signed by

the Risin g's leaders. H owever no evidence has ever been f ound, nor do any c ontemporary r ecor dsmention, t he existence of an actually signed co py, t hough had such a co py existed, it c ould easilyhave been destr oyed in the aftermat h of the Risin g by s omeone (in t he Britis h military, a m ember of the pu blic or a Risin g participant tryin g to destr oy potentially incriminatin g evidence) w ho did not appr eciat e its historic imp ortanc e.

The r e ar e abou t 30 original c o pies still r emainin g, one of which can b e viewed in the NationalPrint M useum. [4]