CONNOLLY, JAMES [1868-1916] Original Citizen Army Mobilisation Order An autograph signed order to numbered members of the Citizen Army for 'a full mobilisation .. on Sunday at 11 a.m. Uniform and...

CONNOLLY, JAMES [1868-1916] Original Citizen Army Mobilisation Order An autograph signed order to numbered members of the Citizen Army for 'a full mobilisation .. on Sunday at 11 a.m. Uniform and full equipment. The Commandant will be personally in charge.' Signed by Connolly as Commandant, entirely in his hand, with a few corrections. On a square sheet of cream laid paper, short tear (circa 1 inch) through part of the signature (probably where previously impaled on a printer's spike), fold mark, a few inky fingerprints, otherwise in excellent condition. This appears to be the original manuscript text of the notice which appears in The Workers Republic of February 12 1916 under the Irish Citizen Army heading at top of page 8. The Irish Citizen Army was founded on Connolly's initiative during the great Dublin lock-out of 1913, initially to provide a trained and disciplined force to protect picketers from attacks by the police. Others who supported its formation included Countess Markiewicz, Captain J.R. White, Francis Sheehy Skeffington and Rev. R.M. Gwynn of Trinity College. Initially its members were armed only with hurleys and similar implements. After the end of the lockout, Connolly kept the force in being, and organised regular marches and parades in and around Dublin, mostly on Sundays. Ìn August 1915 it marched with the Irish Volunteers at the funeral of O'Donovan Rossa. It increasingly took on the character of a military force, sometimes marching openly with rifles, and on one occasion it staged a mock attack on Dublin Castle. The leaders of the IRB, whose plans for a Rising were well advanced, became alarmed that Connolly might trigger a clampdown by the British, and in January 1916 he was made aware of their plans, and joined the IRB and its Military Council. Some hundreds of Citizen Army members took part in the Easter Rising; James Connolly commanded the forces in the GPO (both Volunteers and Citizen Army). Connolly was seriously wounded on Thursday of Easter Week, and was carried from the GPO on a stretcher. On 12 May, still unable to walk, he was placed in a chair and shot. He was the last of the signatories of the Proclamation to be executed. Connolly was not a prolific correspondent, and documents in his hand are very rare.

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