Map of the Irish Republic

Map of the Irish Republic

1918

Broadside

In 1918 when this map was published, there was no Irish Republic. This broadside was aspirational. In December 1918, after the World War I Armistice was declared, the first British national election was held since the outbreak of the world war. Of the 105 Irish seats in the British Parliament, 73 were won by the Sinn Fein party. Sinn Fein representatives refused to take their seats in London and instead formed the First Dáil Éireann, or Irish Assembly; in 1919 they declared the formation of the Irish Republic, making this map a reality and leading to the outbreak of the Irish War of Independence.

Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations