56
141 ‘VOLUNTEERSCOMPLETELYDECEIVED’
EOINMacNEILL’s MANUSCRIPTCOUNTERMANDINGORDER, 22ndAPRIL1916.
A single sheetof foldednotepaper, 67/8x4¼ ins [175mmx108mm],
embossedatheadwithaddress,WoodtownPark /Rathfarnham /Co.
Dublin, bearing thewords in ink, ‘22April 1916 / Volunteers com-
pletely / deceived. All orders / for to-morrowSunday / are entirely
cancelled. / EoinMacNeill’
The text is that of the celebrated notice circulated country-wide by
couriers acting onMacNeill’s instructions on the evening of Easter
Saturday and the morning of Easter Sunday 1916, with the aim of
forcing cancellationof plans for aRisingofVolunteers onSunday, of
whichMacNeill - nominally Chief of Staff of the Volunteers - had
become awareonly a fewdays previously.
After some prevarication, and after receiving news of the failure of
the Kerry arms landing organised by Roger Casement, MacNeill fi-
nally decidedon themorning of Easter Saturday that it was his duty
to seek toprevent the plannedRising, by allmeans short of inform-
ing theauthorities. Hedrafted the short statement aboveand sent for
menwhomhe trusted, instructing them todeliver thecountermand-
ing order to asmany as possible of the local commanders, travelling
wherenecessary through thenight. Hehimselfbrought anexpanded
versionof thenotice to the
Sunday Independent
, where itwas insert-
ed as an advertisement.
The countermand was partly successful. It caused a good deal of
confusion, especially in areas remote fromDublin, where local com-
manders couldnot establishwhatwas goingon. Consequently there
was no Rising inCork or Limerick; a fewweeks later the local Vol-
unteer officers were shipped off to Reading, Wakefield, Lewes and
Frongochwithouthaving fireda shot. InDublin, the I.R.B. group led
byPearse,Connolly andTomClarkemade thebolddecision todelay
by 24 hours, and to strike onEasterMondaywithwhatever forces they
couldmuster, comewhatmay. Muchof theBritishgarrisonwent to the
races at Fairyhouse, and the rest is history.
It isnotknownhowmanycopiesofMacNeill’sdocumentwereprepared.
Theremust have been at least a dozen, perhaps as many as twenty but
very few copies of the order have survived. There is one in theNation-
al Museum and another in theNational Library with slightly different
phrasing. We have been unable to trace any other. Presumably most
copies were discarded as irrelevant once the Rising actually began, or
were lost in the confusionof battle. It is certainly extremely rare.
Thepresent copyhasan impeccableprovenance, by familydescent from
VolunteerEdwardMoranof SouthKildare, aGaelicLeague andVolun-
teer activist, laterCommander of the6
th
Battalionof the I.R.A.’sCarlow
Brigade, three times imprisoned in the 1916-23period (includingFron-
goch after the Rising). There are references to his activities inwitness
statementsrecentlyreleasedby theBureauofMilitaryHistory, seeBMH.
WS0320, ThomasHarrisTD; BMH.WS0850,Major PatrickColgan (pp.
7, 8, 10); BMH.WS0564, Comdt Thomas F. Byrne (pp.17-19). BMH.
WS1497 (pp. 72, 76, 77) refers toMoran’s activities inFrongoch.
Adocumentof thehighest significanceandrarity,whichchanged the
immediate course of Irish history to a significant degree.
Its effects
in the longer term are still open todebate, andwith the exceptionof the
Proclamation itself, it is probably the most important and influential
document of theperiodof theRising.
€30,000–50,000
