Letter dated 7 October 1921, appointing Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, Robert C Barton, Edmund J Duggan and George Gavan Duffy as Envoy Plenipotentiaries in both English and Irish (the Irish copy is embossed with the seal of the president) signed by Éamon De Valera. Also a list of instructions and rules for the plenipotentiary team.
This is the most important historical document in the museum. Appointing Dáil Éireann’s delegation for the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, it includes signed instructions from Éamon de Valera, who had recently been chosen as Dáil President by his colleagues. It is one of five original copies, and for 40 years the document languished at the back of a filing cabinet in a law firm on Ormond Quay. The exact role and powers of the plenipotentiaries would be disputed in the bitter debate that surrounded the Dáil’s ratification of the Treaty.

History of the 20th century Magazine on Dublin 1916: The Easter Rising

A navy blue flag with the British flag, a Union Jack, in the top left corner that was the ensign on the HMS Dublin. Can also be dated 1927.

The Battle of Jutland was one of the key naval engagements of the First World War. HMS Dublin played a part in the battle, which was fought in 1916. The ship had been adopted by a committee of Dublin citizens and businessmen who raised funds to provide it with a band and other amenities. When the ship was decommissioned in 1926, Dublin Chamber of Commerce was presented with its battle-scarred ensign – complete with Union Jack – and in turn the Chamber donated it to Christ Church, since when it has languished, unseen, in the cathedral crypt.

April 1916, printed and published by Hely's Limited