first part in updates which will take place this Autumn. There are
three new flags for sale- Original Starry Plough (history of this flag
provided below), Connolly Column and Four Province flags- at the
reasonable price of €10. There are also two new A3 posters available.
Both the ‘Britain Out of Ireland’ and ‘An Bhreatain Amach as Éireann’.
Over the past year the simple message of these posters has become a
common sight in Ireland on stickers, posters, t-shirts and online. Now
the posters are available to buy for €5 each.
Original Starry Plough
On the 5th of April 1914 the Irish Citizen Army (ICA) paraded their
colours, the Starry Plough, at a meeting. The flag was unlike any
other used in Ireland and is made up of an agricultural plough with
superimposed upon its structure the star constellation Ursa Major
(also called the Great Bear or Plough or Big Dipper).The flag had a
gilt edge, the background is green, the plough itself is yellow and
the stars are silver.
The original suggestion that the ICA should have its own flag came
from Jim Larkin but the actual design of the flag is credited to
Belfast artist William H. Megahy. At the time of designing the flag he
was working as a teacher in the School of Art located in Kildare
Street in Dublin. Sean O’Casey (the then secretary of the Citizen
Army) carried out research into the origins of the flag and in 1954
submitted the original drawing of the design to the National Museum.
The only major difference between this and the flag produced is that
in the drawing the flag has a blue and not a green background. The
identity of the person who decided to change the colour is not known.
It was produced by the Dun Emer Guild. In a picture of the flag
outside Croydon House, Fairview in the summer of 1915 the flag is
being carried on a pole with an red hand on the top- this is the
symbol of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union.
The Imperial Hotel on O’Connell Street was probably not occupied until
the Tuesday of the Easter Rising, when a detachment of volunteers who
had previously been based on Westmoreland Street were moved into the
building. Later on in the day another section of rebels was sent from
the G.P.O. to reinforce those already there and early on Wednesday the
rebels hoisted a tricolour over the building. Later on during the day
James Connolly sent over the Starry Plough with instructions that it
be placed over the Hotel. Connolly would have been well aware that the
Hotel was owned by William Martin Murphy, who was the employers leader
during the 1913 lockout. The message from Connolly was clearly that in
the new Irish Republic that, workers would be in the ascendant over
the exploiters who lived off their sweat and toil.
After the Rising it was widely believed that the flag had been burned
along with the rest of the hotel. However it still flew over the front
of the building and remained flying there right through till the
following Saturday evening. A Lieutenant of the 9th Reserve Cavalry
Regiment then occupying O’Connell Street spotted the flag flying above
the G.P.O. With the help of a police officer he removed it and took it
as a souvenir. The National Museum acquired it from him in 1955.
In 1934 it was decided to re-establish the ICA in conjunction with the
launch of the Republican Congress. A number of the members of the
original ICA were consulted and their recollections of the design of
the original flag were recorded. Some of these differed radically.
Eventually the new Starry Plough was produced but it was significantly
altered with the agricultural plough now missing and the background
colour blue. Seven white stars which make up the star constellation of
the Plough were kept. It wasn’t until 1955 when the National Museum
managed to acquire the original and authenticate it that the
difference in the two flags was accepted.
Sean O’Casey wrote the following lines about the flag, “Be worthy,
men, of following such a banner, for this is your flag of the future.
Whatever may happen to me; though I should mingle with the dust, or
fall to ashes in a flame, the plough will always remain to furrow the
earth, the stars will always be there to unveil the beauty of the
night, and a newer people, living a newer life, will sing like the
sons of the morning.”
No comments:
Post a Comment