"We Were Stuck For The Letter E"
Christopher Brady was a printer in Liberty Hall from 1915 working on the ITGWU paper 'The Workers Republic' and other union material. Brady recalls how he and his two colleagues, compositors Michael Molloy and William O'Brien were asked to print the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
Thomas MacDonagh read the text to the men and asked their opinion to which Brady replied,
As the son of a Dublin printer I consider it a great honour to do that work.
He describes the difficulties they faced in printing the document. They had to print the document in two pieces as they hadn't got enough type and had to customise the letter 'E'. The men printed 2,500 copies of the Proclamation which were divided into two bundles.
Such was the secrecy surrounding the printing that Mattie and Joe Connolly stood guard in the machine room while Brady printed the document. Even Countess Markievicz was not allowed to enter the room to get her coat.
Brady talks about James Connolly, what he was like as an employer and how Seán MacDiarmada would regularly come by to read 'The Workers Republic' as it was coming off the press.
He describes the raid which took place in Liberty Hall a week before the Rising. Christopher Brady was sent to Emmet Hall to contact Michael Mallin, Connolly's Second-in-Command to tell him that the building was being raided by the police to confiscate copies of 'The Gael' newspaper. The police went away empty handed, not before being threatened by James Connolly and Countess Markievicz who were both armed.
She had the other two hasty policemen covered with her automatic.
After the Proclamation was printed, James Connolly set fire to the proofs as it was too dangerous for them to be lying around.
Christopher Brady also talks about the other leaders, Pearse, Éamonn Ceannt and Tom Clarke.
Christopher J Brady was interviewed for the RTÉ Television project 'Portraits 1916' on 6 November 1965.
Title: |
Portraits 1916 Christopher Brady |
Clip Duration: |
00:20:46 |
Material Type: |
Video |
Clip Title: |
"We Were Stuck For The Letter E" |
Series Title: |
Portraits 1916 |
Information: |
Portraits 1916 is a collection of interviews made for television recording the personal memories of women and men who took part in the Easter Rising. In the early 1960s Telefís Éireann (RTÉ Television) began to record interviews with people who had taken part in the Easter Rising and the War of Independence. Individuals were interviewed under a working title of 'The Survivors'. The first of these interviews were organised by Jack White and recorded at the television studios in Donnybrook on 31 August 1964. Further recordings were organised by James Plunkett with the same working title of 'The Survivors' although none of these interviews were broadcast as full programmes. In 1965 meetings were held to discuss what Telefís Éireann should do to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Veterans continued to be interviewed despite the fact that no decision had been made as to what type of programme, if any they could be used in. James Plunkett did not see 'The Survivors' recordings working as individual programmes. In April 1965 producer Aindras O Gallchoir took over the project continuing to organise recordings with the initial intention of using the interviews to create one programme. By September Aindras O Gallchoir decided to produce seven thirty minute documentaries on the leaders of the Rising but many more people needed to be interviewed. This new project had the working titles of 'Portraits 1916' and 'Seven Signatories'. With very little time over thirty people were interviewed for this series. The interviews took place mainly in studio between October 1965 and January 1966, with the exception of Kathleen Clarke and Leslie Bean de Barra. These interviews would eventually form the basis for the series 'On Behalf of the Provisional Government' which was first broadcast in 1966. The interviews recorded form an extensive record of the events and the people involved in the Easter Rising, and were never broadcast in their entirety. Presented here under the title of 'Portraits 1916' are the personal recollections of men and women who took part in or witnessed the events of the Easter Rising. |
Local Keywords: |
1916, Easter 1916, Easter Rising, Proclamation, Liberty Hall, James Connolly, MacDonagh, Countess Markievicz, Michael Mallin |
Coverage: |
Ireland |
Topic: |
Wars and Conflict |
Contributor(s): |
Aindrias O Gallchoir (Producer) |
Publisher: |
RTÉ |
First Broadcast Channel: |
RTÉ |
Production Year: |
1965 |
Country of Production: |
Ireland |
Original Identifier: |
94D00025 |
IPR Restrictions: |
Rights Reserved - Free Access |
Rights, Terms and Conditions: |
Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Archives. If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us. RTÉ Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us. |
Item Type: |
whole |
Colour: |
Black and White |
Sound: |
Mono |
Aspect Ratio: |
4:3 |
Language: |
English (eng) |
