Last year marked the centenary of the 1916 Proclamation, a declaration of self-government signed by the leaders of the Easter Rising. Its words, issued on behalf of the long-pursued Irish Republic, became lore:

In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom . . . 

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible . . . 

The Republic . . .  declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally.

But the 1916 Proclamation was far from the most radical in Irish history. It offered a basis for women’s rights and guaranteed universal suffrage — progressive positions for their time — but was also limited by its tradition’s narrower aspects. Claiming its authority from God and wrapped in the language of mysticism, the proclamation crucially fell short in offering only a vague claim of possession over Ireland’s resources to its people.