€1,400
Secret Orders Issued to Military Officers, known as ''The Castle Document'', April 1916 ''The following precautionary measures have been sanctioned by the Irish Office on the recommendation of the General Officer Commanding the Forces in Ireland ....'', handbill, 1pp. 7¾” x 5”, as circulated by Patrick J. Little, New Ireland newspaper, 13 Fleet Street, Dublin, 15 April, 1916. The document that sparked the Rising. Rare.
Provenance:
Whytes Auction, 5 April, 2008, lot 200.
Private Collection.
In an attempt to encourage Eoin MacNeill to order a Rising, the IRB forged a notice purporting to be decoded from a communication from Dublin Castle. Produced by Joseph Plunkett the document appeared to order the execution of Eoin MacNeill, the arrest of Volunteer leaders and the occupation by the Army of strategic points around Dublin. On being shown the forged document, on Wednesday,15 April 1916, MacNeill issued the orders to proceed with the Rising.
New Ireland, a nationalist weekly newspaper, edited by Patrick J. Little, published the text of the document on a single sheet handbill entitled “Secret Orders issued to Military Officers”. By this time MacNeill had discovered the truth and placed his infamous advertisement, countermanding the Rising in the Irish Independent, causing the IRB to defer the rebellion by one day, to Easter Monday, 24 April.
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