A type, capital letter Q from the printing press on which the original Proclamation of the Irish Republic was printed. The printing press was an old ‘Wharfdale Double-Crown’ machine located in Liberty Hall, Dublin. Printing began on Sunday, April 23rd 1916 and was undertaken by printer Christopher Brady and compositers Liam O’Brien and Michael Molloy.
Type was set using wooden block letters and shooters to hold each type in position during the printing process. There was insufficient type to complete the Proclamation in a single go. A number of alleviating decisions were made. One was to print the Proclamation in two halves and another was to adapt individual letters. There is no letter Q in the Proclamation and this block escaped adaption.
On the reverse is a handwritten note ‘Type used in setting up Proclamation of Irish Republic Dublin 1916 John MacDonagh’.
