After the last name was penned onto the Declaration of Independence, the document was packed up and sent by ship to deliver the message to the King of England. But, the ship carrying the declaration ran into very rough seas in early August 1776 and had to stop in Derry, Ireland. A sneaky person broke into the cargo package containing the document, copied down every word, and transmitted the information to the Belfast Newsletter, whose readership hungered for news from abroad. The Belfast Newsletter published the full text of the Declaration of Independence in early August, 1776, meaning that the Irish people read the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence outside of the United States. Belfast's Linen Hall Library has the original printed version of the newspaper and it can be viewed upon request with advance notice.
In checking out the story, here is what I found in Wikipedia on the subject of the publication of the Declaration of Independence:
"British officials in North America sent copies of the Declaration to Great Britain.[109] It was published in British newspapers beginning in mid-August, it had reached Florence and Warsaw by mid-September, and a German translation appeared in Switzerland by October. The first copy of the Declaration sent to France got lost, and the second copy arrived only in November 1776.[110]"
The Linen Hall Library is Belfast's oldest library. Located across the street from City Hall, its curved wooden staircase, wooden stacks and brown leather-covered books evoke a feeling of being cozily wrapped in history. The collection includes every single day's issue of the Belfast Newsletter since 1737, the second year of its existence. Remarkably, the original issues are still intact, collected in bound volumes. The librarians don't believe in wearing white gloves for handling, saying that body oils on the hands are less damaging than the fabric-treating chemicals.
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| An issue of The Belfast Newsletter |
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| The Governors' Room in Belfast's Linen Hall Library |