The original Anglo Irish Treaty document of 1921 has been made available to the public for the first time today in an online exhibition marking 90 years to the day since its signing.
The Treaty was signed in the aftermath of the truce which ended the 1919-1921 War of Independence.
The original document was acquired by the National Archives of Ireland from the Department of the Taoiseach in 2002 and has never before been made available for public consultation, either in its original form or online.
The inked signatures of all the delegates are visible at the bottom of the seven-page document, with most of the Irish delegates having signed as gaeilge.
The signatures on the left of the final page are Arthur Griffith, Micheál Ó Coileáin (Michael Collins), Riobárd Bartún (Robert Barton), Eamonn S Ó Dugáin (Eamonn Duggan) and Seoirse Ghabháin Uí Dhubhthaigh (George Gavan Duffy).
On the British side, the delegates who signed were: David Lloyd George, Austen Chamberlain, Lord Birkenhead (signed as ‘Birkenhead’), and Winston Churchill, who was chiefly responsible for the military clauses in the Treaty.
The "Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland" were signed by both delegations at 2.15am on December 6th, 1921.
British prime minister David Lloyd George had issued an ultimatum to the Irish delegation, including Collins, that they must either sign the text of the Treaty as it stood, or face the consequence of an immediate resumption of war in the event of their refusal to sign.
Collins said on the signing of the document that he had signed his death warrant. At the time, he believed the Treaty creating of the Irish Free State would ultimately lead to full independence, but he was viewed by many as a traitor.
When the heated debate on the Treaty opened in the Dáil on December 14th, 1921, Collins said: “If I am a traitor, let the Irish people decide it or not, and if there are men who act towards me as a traitor I am prepared to meet them anywhere, any time, now as in the past.”
The split over the Treaty and its subsequent narrow ratification by the Dáil in January 1922 ultimately led to the Civil War of 1922-23. Collins was assassinated by anti-Treaty forces at Béal na mBláth in August of 1922.
The Treaty has never before been made available to the public either in its original form or online. It has been made available today courtesy of an online exhibition hosted by the National Archives. A number of documents have been made available since the exhibition was unveiled by Taoiseach Enda Kenny last week, culminating in the display of the final Treaty document today.
Five staples in the original document were removed, as they were corroding and affecting the paper.
Although the staff at the National Archives pronounced the document to be in excellent condition, it was carefully cleaned using a brush and grated eraser, and re-bound in a "Japanese" style to hold the pages together.
According to the National Archives, the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 is “probably THE seminal document of the Irish Free State, which in turn evolved into the Republic of Ireland”.
Minister for Arts Jimmy Deenihan said: “The Irish delegation had travelled to London in October that year and after weeks of negotiations they were faced with a very stark reality - a choice of returning to Dublin and a resumption of war or the signing of the Treaty.
“Irrespective of your political persuasions, this exhibition has no bias and no agenda. It is simply an excellent opportunity for the public to see, not only the Treaty itself but the papers leading up to the signing of the Treaty.”
Mr Deenihan said that as a former teacher of history, he knew the value of such material being made widely available.
“My hope is that this exhibition will bring to life the story of the establishment of the Irish Republic to a much wider audience than before.”
A British Pathé newsclip with footage of the British and Irish delegations outside Buckingham Palace also forms part of the exhibition, which is hosted on the website of the National Archives.