The 1916 Proclamation has been claimed across the last 100 years as the founding values of the State, or a vision the State has abandoned, or as something that has yet to be fully realised.
The Proclamation will be the focus of a major conference, Proclaiming the Rising, in the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway, on Friday January 22 and Saturday 23, and will be one of the main events in the university’s commemoration of the Easter Rebellion.
Frequently quoted and often misinterpreted, the Proclamation has been seen as a touchstone for republicans during the struggle for independence. What did it promise? How revolutionary was it at the time? How was it received? The conference will focus on the ideological underpinnings of the proclamation, the issues it sought to address, the contexts in which it was produced and presented, as well its continuing legacy.
The conferences keynote speakers will be Dr Sinéad McCoole, speaking on the proclamation and women; Dr Brian Hanley on republicanism and separatism in 1916; Dr Emmet O’Connor on the radicalism of the proclamation, and Galway West TD Eamon Ó Cuív on the relevance of the Rising and the proclamation today. Eighteen speakers in total will take part.
The full conference programme is on www.decadeofcentenaries.com/22-23-january-2016-proclaiming-the-revolution-nui-galway/ Admission is free but pre-registration is advisable through [email protected].