On Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, the tricolour flag was hoisted over the General Post Office. Shortly after noon Padraig Pearse, standing beneath the high portico, read the Proclamation publicly proclaiming Ireland a republic and a sovereign independent state. John O'Connor recounts the birth of this historic document which was to become one of the cornerstones of the new state. Why was it necessary? Who wrote it? Who secretly printed it and where? How was it distributed? How many exist? How would you know an authentic print? 'The Proclamation of the Irish Republic has been adduced in evidence against me as one of the signatories; you think it is already a dead and buried letter, but it lives, it lives. From minds alight with Ireland's vivid intellect it sprang; in hearts aflame with Ireland's mighty love it was conceived. Such documents do not die ... ' FROM THE COURT-MARTIAL SPEECH OF THOMAS MacDONAGH