\u201cVolunteers completely deceived. All orders for tomorrow Sunday are completely cancelled.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A hand-written order intended to stop the 1916 Easter Rising, valued at up to \u20ac50,000, has come to light and will be sold at auction in Dublin next month.<\/p>\n The countermand was issued by Eoin MacNeill, commander of the Irish Volunteers, in a last-minute attempt to cancel a mobilisation planned for Easter Sunday 1916. The document, described as of \u201cthe highest significance and rarity\u201d, is the only known copy in private ownership.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s Auctioneers of St Stephen\u2019s Green said the document had \u201cchanged the immediate course of Irish history to a significant degree\u201d and, \u201cwith the exception of the Proclamation itself, it is probably the most important and influential document of the period of the Rising\u201d.<\/p>\n The Irish Volunteers had been planning to hold peaceful manoeuvres but, on Easter Saturday, MacNeill discovered that a group within the organisation, led by P\u00e1draig Pearse, had secret plans to launch an armed rebellion against British Rule.<\/p>\n Deception He hand-wrote several copies of his countermanding order, on headed notepaper at his home \u2013 Woodbrook, in\u00a0Rathfarnham, Co Dublin \u2013 and dispatched men to deliver copies to local commanders nationwide.<\/p>\n The countermand was only partly successful and caused confusion, especially outside Dublin. Consequently there was no Rising in Cork or\u00a0Limerick.<\/p>\n The dissidents delayed their plans by 24 hours and launched the Rising on Easter Monday, April 24th, 1916.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to read the article on the Irish Times website<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Article by Michael Parsons in the Irish Times, 3 March 2014: \u201cVolunteers completely deceived. All orders for tomorrow Sunday are completely cancelled.\u201d A hand-written order intended to stop the 1916 Easter Rising, valued at up to \u20ac50,000, has come to Continue reading Order cancelling 1916 Rising to be auctioned in Dublin<\/span>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/letters1916.ie\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/image-2.jpg\")
The countermand was issued by Eoin MacNeill, commander of the Irish Volunteers, in a last-minute attempt to cancel a mobilisation planned for Easter Sunday 1916.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n<\/strong>When he discovered the deception, and after receiving news of Roger Casement\u2019s failed attempt to import arms from\u00a0Germany, MacNeill tried to prevent the mobilisation.<\/p>\n