At 1am on Easter Monday morning 2,500 copies of a large poster, entitled Poblacht na hEireann The Provisional Government of the Irish Republic to the People of Ireland, was completed for general distribution. Compositors Micheal J. Molloy, Liam Ó Briain and printer Christopher Brady undertook the printing while Helena Molony of the Irish Citizen Army was assigned to distribute the document.
When the printing of the Proclamation was completed I made up two parcels of the printed copies, 1,250 in each, and brought them to Miss Helena Molony who was lying on a couch in the co-op shop room in Liberty Hall. She told me to put them under her pillow. She was armed with a revolver.
Christopher Brady • Printer
The old Wharfedale Double-Crown printing press, located in Liberty Hall, had been previously employed in the printing of James Connolly's Workers Republic. For the purpose of printing the Proclamation extra type was borrowed from William West Printers on Capel Street. Great Primer type was used along with type adapted by Brady. Throughout the night of Easter Sunday, the compositors arranged the type while Brady oversaw the laborious print process. The hand-written document signed by the seven leaders of the Rising does not survive today. However, a small number of the 2,500 prints produced by the antique printing press on poor quality paper remain.
