The Turning of the Sovereign Seal of Ireland
In a ceremony little known outside of the Republic of Ireland, on the 21st of January every year, the Sovereign Seal of the Republic of Ireland is “turned”. It commemorates the very first time that the first Dáil Éireann (Irish Legislature) sat and formed the government of the Irish Republic.
At that time a ceremony took place that has been repeated every year at the exact same place and the exact same time.
"On the morning of the 21st January, in Vaughans Hotel on Parnell Square, a man named Tom McGuire elevated and turned the Sovereign Seal of Dáil Éireann, from the rising sun to the setting sun, from north to south and from east to west, and from Pagan to Christian to Sovereign; As in the 1916 Proclamation, claiming sovereignty over the elements, earth, air, fire and water and all there in and there of, on behalf of the Sovereign people and the Sovereign Republic of Éire."
The repeating of this ceremony does more than just commemorate an event. By Irish law, it is essential and necessary, because the ceremony affirms and confirms that the Irish people are sovereign over their own state and they are endowing the Dáil Éireann, the President and the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) with the right to govern over them. This “endowment” is granted after the ceremony of turning when the person conducting it, by tradition, a member of the McGuire family, takes copies of the 1916 Proclamation and places on them a wax seal over an Irish tri-color ribbon and then stamps it with the actual seal of the Brian Boru Harp. A copy of the Proclamation with this seal is then given to the President, Taoiseach and a representative of the Dáil Éireann, indicating that they are being granted their powers.
Although many people outside of Ireland call April 24th the Irish “Independence Day”, as it was the first day of the Easter Rebellion, this is the day that the Irish, themselves, recognize as their true “Independence Day”, as it is the day that they formally imposed self rule on themselves as a nation.
To quote another writer, “What this writer finds curious is why this custom receives so little attention. Somewhere in the pile of notes there is a notation that the turning of the seal is what grants a licence from the people of Ireland to the government to perform as they, the people, desire.”
At that time a ceremony took place that has been repeated every year at the exact same place and the exact same time.
"On the morning of the 21st January, in Vaughans Hotel on Parnell Square, a man named Tom McGuire elevated and turned the Sovereign Seal of Dáil Éireann, from the rising sun to the setting sun, from north to south and from east to west, and from Pagan to Christian to Sovereign; As in the 1916 Proclamation, claiming sovereignty over the elements, earth, air, fire and water and all there in and there of, on behalf of the Sovereign people and the Sovereign Republic of Éire."
The repeating of this ceremony does more than just commemorate an event. By Irish law, it is essential and necessary, because the ceremony affirms and confirms that the Irish people are sovereign over their own state and they are endowing the Dáil Éireann, the President and the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) with the right to govern over them. This “endowment” is granted after the ceremony of turning when the person conducting it, by tradition, a member of the McGuire family, takes copies of the 1916 Proclamation and places on them a wax seal over an Irish tri-color ribbon and then stamps it with the actual seal of the Brian Boru Harp. A copy of the Proclamation with this seal is then given to the President, Taoiseach and a representative of the Dáil Éireann, indicating that they are being granted their powers.
Although many people outside of Ireland call April 24th the Irish “Independence Day”, as it was the first day of the Easter Rebellion, this is the day that the Irish, themselves, recognize as their true “Independence Day”, as it is the day that they formally imposed self rule on themselves as a nation.
To quote another writer, “What this writer finds curious is why this custom receives so little attention. Somewhere in the pile of notes there is a notation that the turning of the seal is what grants a licence from the people of Ireland to the government to perform as they, the people, desire.”