The uncrowned green harp flag which was flown from Dublin’s Liberty Hall by the Irish Citizen Army during the 1916 Easter Rising was uncovered in The Inniskillings Museum at Enniskillen Castle and has been presented to President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins ahead of this weekend’s centenary events.

The flag was taken from the ruins of Liberty Hall on Wednesday, April 26, 1916 by 21-year-old Royal Inniskilling Fusilier, Acting Corporal John McAlonen of the 3rd Battalion; one of three Royal Inniskilling battalions sent to quell the Easter Rising. It was presented to the Inniskillings Museum in 1935 by Colonel John McClintock, from Seskinore.

President Higgins described The Inniskillings Museum’s decision to loan the flag to the current occupiers of Liberty Hall, the trade union SIPTU, as: “a generous gesture, a clear manifestation of the mutual respect, friendship, and the new hospitality to different versions of history that can now prevail between the citizens of these islands.”

Curator of The Inniskillings Museum Neil Armstrong and Chairman Mark Scott attended a reception to mark the 102nd anniversary of the Irish Citizen Army in Áras an Uachtaráin on Tuesday, where the flag was presented to the President. The flag will return on loan to public display in Liberty Hall in time for Easter. 

Mr. Armstrong commented: “The Inniskillings Museum is honoured to loan this irreplaceable artefact from its collection to SIPTU where it will reach new audiences and motivate further learning of our past. I hope the exhibiting of the flag will set our collection in context and generate fresh perspectives as history is full of contrasts, and Easter Week 1916 is no exception. At the same time the Rising was raging in Dublin, the 7th and 8th Battalions of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were part of the 16th (Irish) Division at the Battle of Hulluch in northern France where they were subjected to two days of German gas and artillery attacks which left 581 Irish soldiers dead.” 
The flag was made from green tabby weave wool with a centrally appliquéd uncrowned harp in yellow wool and string made from cream braid. After months of analysis and research, all evidence would appear to indicate that this flag is the uncrowned green harp flag that James Connolly placed over Liberty Hall on Palm Sunday, April 16, 1916, a week before the Rising.

Textile Conservator Rachel Phelan commented: “Having conserved many important Irish flags over the years, this is one of the most exciting discoveries to come to light. In construction and design the flag is clearly comparable to other surviving 1916 flags. As it has never been exposed to the light, the strength of the colours are as strong as 100 years ago and the flag would have been clearly visible along the quays.”

During his address in Dublin on Tuesday, President Higgins said: “I am delighted that we will have the opportunity to admire the uncrowned green harp flag of the Citizen Army which one Royal Inniskilling Fusilier found in the rubble of Liberty Hall on Wednesday, 26th April 1916. A century after the Rising, Irish and British people enjoy constructive and trusting relations within a common European Union.”