A copy of the Proclamation of Independence of the Irish Republic sold for £305,000 at Sotheby’s sale of English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations in London. It had been estimated at £80,000-120,000. It is one of a small number of surviving copies printed at Liberty Hall, Dublin on Easter Sunday, 1916. This marked the beginning of the Easter Rising and inaugurated modern Ireland. About 1,000 were printed and most of these were destroyed in the storming of Liberty Hall. It is thought that less than 50 survive.
The text of this document was read from the steps of the General Post Office, Sackville (now O’Connell) Street, Dublin, on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, by Pádraig Pearse, who, with Thomas J. Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, Eamonn Ceannt, James Connolly and Joseph Plunkett were the signatories of the Proclamation.