March Document of the Month

(NAI, CSO/RP/1916/8086/4)

The March Document of the Month is a copy of the lower half of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic (NAI, CSO/RP/1916/8086/4).

The Proclamation is accompanied by a letter, dated 8 May 1916, from TW [Thomas W] Lyster, director of the National Library of Ireland, to [E] O’Farrell of the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) (NAI, CSO/RP/1916/8086/1).

In the letter, Lyster, recognising the historical significance of the Proclamation and the need to ensure its preservation, seeks assistance in procuring copies as he believes ‘it will be important for historical purposes in years to come that public libraries should have copies’. He asks if it would be possible for the DMP to supply copies for the National Library of Ireland, the British Museum and the National Library of Wales ‘from which latter I already have had an application on the subject and indeed for some other libraries’.

In response, a report is drafted by Superintendent Owen Brien of the DMP enclosing the copy of the lower half of the Proclamation, which was removed by the Dublin Metropolitan Police from a printing press in Liberty Hall on 9 May 1916. Brien states that the type set for the upper half appears to have been destroyed and no complete copy ‘is obtainable’. As the upper half of the Proclamation was printed first, it is unclear if this copy was printed by the DMP when they discovered the type set or if it had been left in the printing press. (CSO/RP/1916/8086/2-3)

A series of annotations on the report make further inquiries about obtaining a complete copy. By the 23 June 1916, it is stated that no complete copy has been found and Mr Lyster should be informed. An annotation to the Assistant Under Secretary, dated 12 May 1916, states ‘If a complete copy be subsequently found, Mr Lyster’s request may be complied with, though at present I fear he and others must be content with the reprint in the ‘Irish Times Weekly Issue’ dated 13th Inst. [13 May]’.

The half copy of the Proclamation remained in Dublin Castle as part of the Chief Secretary’s Office Registered Papers, until its transfer to the National Archives following the abolition of the State Paper Office under the terms of the National Archives Act, 1986.

Preparation of material for the Document of the Month involves close co-operation with the Conservation Department of the National Archives. For further details on the work carried out please see Conservation and the March Document of the Month.