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    Brendan

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    Everything posted by Brendan

    1. Sold on a well know auction site recently, described as a Rare Old Irish Free State Republican Army Sinn Fein FFE Silver Badge, although my main interest is Irish Military I do have a little knowledge of Scout badges and suspected the SF was for Scoutisme Français, did a google search for Scoutisme Français FFE and found the FFE stands for Fédération Française des Éclaireuses, did a search in the completed listing of that well know auction site and found a very similar badge sold for £15. Am I completely wrong and it is a Sinn Fein badge although certainly nothing I have seen before, just completely baffled.
    2. Thank you speedytop, just what I was looking for.
    3. I am building a pre WW2 model railway based on a southern German town, mid to late 1930s. I want to build a bus station, found lots of pictures of busses but no bus stops, did they use bust stops. If anyone has or can direct me to an image of a bus station or bus stop I would really appreciate it.
    4. Your images show he was approved for a pension so you should be able to get a copy of his pension application which will give details of the operations he took part in. I found when researching my grandfather his pension application gave details of the unit he served in and also the names of his Commanding Officers and several names of other members of his unit, if he did not make a witness statement he might be mentioned in statements given by those he served with. If his pension application contains details of operations he took part in you can search the Irish Times and Irish Independent newspaper archives which, although rarely mention names of IRA Volunteers, give a good account of the event. If he took part in operations in Dublin the Evening Herald is a very good source of information although you have to go to their offices as their archives are not online. I found the witness statement a bit misleading when researching my grandfather as one claimed he had taken part in a bank raid in Dublin when I know for a fact he was on another operation in London and another claimed he was not on a particular operation when two other statements claimed he was. You can apply to Cathal Brugha Barracks for the pension application, you used to be able to go directly to the Pensions Board in Galway but the last two people I helped apply were told they no longer dealt directly with applicants. I have put a link below to a page on my website which shows the type of information contained in the pension application. Officer in Charge, Military Archives, Cathal Brugha Barracks, Rathmines, Dublin 6. http://www.irishmedals.org/gpage14.html
    5. Hi Kev, The Frongoch notebook would have been written after the Rising and as the designs in the notebook were described a proposed this would rule out anything before the end of 1916 when the detainees were released. If the badges were manufactured this must have taken place between 1917 and April 1923 when the Civil War ended. Considering Volunteers avoided any sort of recognition during the War of Independence and cap badges would have been the last thing on the mind of either pro or anti treaty forces during the Civil War I though the period between the 1921 July truce and the beginning of the Civil War would be the most likely time. I have written to the Irish Volunteers Commemorative Society 1913 – 1922 website, as they have the pictures of the badges on their website they might be able to give me some background. Brendan.
    6. I first saw the cap badge in the image below in Cyril Wall’s shop about ten years ago. When I showed an interest in it he explained to me he found images of several cap badges in a notebook compiled by a Frongoch inmate. He had copies of several pages from the notebook with drawings and descriptions of the cap badges, he told me and the notebook made it clear the designs were proposed designs for cap badges to be worn by various brigades throughout Ireland and Cyril said they were never produced at the time but he had some made using the drawing from the notebook. Recently while doing some research I found a website of the Irish Volunteers Commemorative Society 1913 – 1922 which has images of several of these cap badges with the implication that they were genuine and used by the Irish Volunteers. Does anyone know it they were produced by the Irish Volunteers and does anyone have any photos of them being worn. When I see any photos of Irish Volunteers or I.R.A. in uniform I always check buttons, cap badge and belt buckle but to date all I have seen as far as cap badges are concerned are the I.V. harp and the sunburst FF.
    7. Hi An Ceallach, I did contact the seller through Ebay, unfortunately I got no reply. I am always a bit puzzled as to why the recipients of Irish medals have to remain anonymous and does the seller really expect someone to bid that much without knowing who the recipient was. Brendan.
    8. There is a lot of interesting items on that particular auction site lately. There is a posthumously awarded 1916 and Black and Tan medal for 15,000 sterling along with an Oglaigh na hEireann and I.V. belt buckle from the same seller for a grand each. There was also a merchant navy Emergency medal which went for 637.00 Euro. There was also a collection of medals and other items relating to the British Army in Ireland during the 1916 Rising and War of Independence and some interesting items relating to ADRIC members.
    9. Hi Molders, I am not sure what the Ebay seller thinks he has but he is convinced he has something, I was tempted to send him a long list of all the things wrong with his claims about the copy of the Proclamation but judging from his replies to other questions and opinions he has had from other Ebayers I think I would be wasting my time. I suppose if he has paid a lot of money for it himself then he has convinced himself it is genuine and nobody will change his mind. I have read the book you mentioned, I have a copy. Another interesting medal being offer, this one by Kerry Auction Rooms, a named 1916 medal, link below. I can not find his name either on the list in the O'Connor book or a list I got from the National Library (both lists are the same apart form a few variant spellings). Listed under the medals section. http://www.kerryauctionrooms.com/catalogue/auction22-03-09/auction_18.htm
    10. I thought some of the photographs, death cards and other papers went well but you are certainly right about the Irish medals. I was surprised at how little bidding there was on some very nice well documented groups of 1916 and Black and Tan medals. Maybe with the recession the 16 Rising and War of Independence medals have peaked. An interesting item on Ebay caught my eye recently, are we at last going to see that signed copy of the Proclamation. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VERY-OLD-PRINTED-Copy-of-1916-SIGNED-IRISH-PROCLAMATION_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ356QQihZ008QQitemZ180335339669QQrdZ1QQss pagenameZWDVWQQsalenotsupported
    11. I think Paul may be right, it is part of the 1966 commemoration of the 1916 Rising. Although I was only 5 years old at the time I remember there was a march past the GPO of Veterans of the Rising. All of the various organizations were represented such as the Irish Volunteers, Citizen Army, Fianna Eireann and so on. I think the photo might have been taken in Parnell Square, as far as I can remember each group of Veterans stopped outside the garden of remembrance for some form of ceremony, I know the gardens opened in 1966 but as far as I can remember the ceremony took place on the street, maybe the gardens were not finished in time for the commemorations. Descendants of Veterans took part in the parade to represent their relatives who were either killed during the Rising or had died since 1916, I think this accounts for some of the Veterans looking too young to have taken part in the Rising.
    12. A rare medal indeed. Is it the recession uncovering these rarities, I was offer 3 Good Conduct medals at the last North Star fair. And is it the recession that is killing off the Dublin medal dealers. Paddy is gone from the Powers Court centre and I hear Cyril has given up the shop as well.
    13. The new memorial unveiled last Saturday (15th/11/08). The pyramid-shape, granite memorial depicts members of the four component parts of the Defence Forces, The Army, Navy, Air Corps and Reserve. The figures are cast in bronze and standing guard over an eternal flame that emanates from the Defence Forces Badge at the centre of the structure. I have put a few more images on my website. LINK: http://homepage.eircom.net/~historicalstam...rial/newmem.htm
    14. I think there is more a fear of fakes than actual fakes but as in the case of a 1916 medal when you are paying that much cash then you are right to fear a fake, who wants to pay that sort of money for a medal only to find it is worth virtually nothing. At the risk of repeating advice already given on this board, spend your money on a small archive and get to know what you are buying before you buy. Several other threads have suggested that Auction Houses are the safest places to buy but read the small print, below is the text from the terms and conditions of one well known Dublin auction house and the rest are much the same. 'Representations or statements made by the Auctioneer in any Catalogue as to contribution, authorship, genuineness, source, origin, date, age, provenance, condition or estimated selling price or value is a statement of opinion only. Neither the Auctioneer nor its employees, servants or agents shall be responsible for the accuracy of any such opinions. Every person interested in a Lot must exercise and rely on their own judgment and opinion as to such matters.' If you buy it from a dealer, on Ebay, at an auction or from a man you met on the street, if you know what you are buying before you but you will be alright.
    15. The armband was given to 1916 veterans on the 19th anniversary of the Rising in 1935 and was worn on civilian clothes until the 1916 Medal was presented in 1941 on the 25th anniversary of the Rising. I also saw the reproduction armband at the fair on Saturday and it is an obvious reproduction to those who are familiar with the original, if you are not familiar with the original then that would be a completely different matter.
    16. I saw the copy of the 1916-1966 medal at a Dublin fair recently and it is obvious it is not the genuine article and from what I have seen of the Black and Tan medal that looks pretty tacky as well. I suppose it was inevitable that copies would be produced eventually. I suppose another way of 'protecting the original historical medals' would be to forgo the opportunity of making a quick buck and leave off producing such rubbish.
    17. As all the medals issued by the Irish government were issued in or after 1941 they would have been issued by the Government of Ireland, the 1937 constitution changed the name of the country from The Irish Free State to Ireland, and as the 1937 Constitution also removed the Pledge of Allegiance to the British Crown I think that put an end to Dominion Status also. I do not know what the rules are regarding one Commonwealth Country wearing military medals awarded by another Commonwealth Country. If you had a WW1 veteran who fought in the Irish War of Independence and then received an Emergency medal you could say he fought on both sides and none. My uncle served in both the Irish and British Navy, he was in the Irish Navy from 1938 to 1942 and then joined the Royal Navy where he served for 12 years. He settled in London after leaving the Navy and on joining he local British Legion club was told under no circumstance could he add his Irish Emergency medal to his WW2 group and it would be best no to mention his former service with the Irish Navy, this happened back in the 1950s so I am not suggesting it is the same now.
    18. Certainly an interesting story although it would appear a bit unusual for a 'sleeper' to receive his medal in 1934 and everyone else who took part in the 1916 Rising had to wait until 1941 to receive theirs. Also the inscription on the medal 'At Easter 1916' suggests a commemorative medal. An idea what was on the back of the medal?
    19. I suppose it just goes to show you can get anything on Ebay if you are prepaired to pay for it. Here is a couple of Sam Brown Belts I spotted on Ebay, one Irish Army and one British Army although on closer inspection they may have more in common than than you would first think. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Irish-Army-Officers-...1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150236224488
    20. The bi Ullam (Be Prepared) is an Irish Girl Guides badge. I would say the Irish Defence Forces cap badge is more 1986 than 1916, the unusual colouring on it might have been a result of a collision with one of his other auctions. The Clan na Gale buttons are interesting, I though Clan na Gale was a prescribed organization being the fundraising arm of a certain on ?cease fire? Irish group. The WW2 defence medal ribbon is a bit of a mystery, Churchill?s maybe?
    21. Yet another collection of genuine? items offered on Ebay. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=009
    22. Good luck in you endeavours Irish1916 and Irishmedals. I made an application relating to a file containing information on my grandfather's involvement in the War of Independence. At present I am the external review stage after making a request to see the file under the Freedom of Information Act, if permission to see the file is refused under this review the only other option is the High Court. I first made the application to see the file in January 2007, over 1 year and 2 months ago. After the internal review of my request to see the file I was told files are only available to the individual named on the file or his direct descendants, applications must be made with proof of relationship. As I am sure you already know the military archive is only accessible by appointment and as far as the two archivists are concerned the stuff in the archive belongs to them and you have no right to see it. I did attempt, on several visits to the archive, to find a list of the named 1916 medals but the file index system is so bad I am not surprised it takes so long to locate a file. I also attempted to see the original 1916 Roll presented to Dev by the 1916 Veterans Association in 1936 and although both the National Museum (Collins Barracks) and the Military Archive are aware of its existence they were unable to locate it. The 1936 Roll was used to update the 1966 Roll and I was curious to see which names appeared on the 1966 Roll that did not appear on the 1936 Roll.
    23. Hi Danny, Contact Department of Defence, Pensions Administrations Section, Renmore, Galway. Ask for a copy of your Grandfather's file and wait, it can take six months or more but it will eventually arrive. If you are lucky it will contain a wealth of information, if you are unlucky little or nothing, but it is worth a look. You can also contact the Irish Army Archives Department which is located in Cathal Brugha Barracks, Rathmines, Dublin 6, but from experience I have found their attitude is 'it is their archive and members of the public should not be bothering them by requesting to look at things in it'. Good luck with the search.
    24. Hi An Ceallach, I have seen several pieces of research attempting to identify the system used in the numbering of named 1916 and Black and Tan medals and Adams John F is always first. The system uses the causality list from the 1916 Rising, 64 KIA and 16 executed. It is assumed that the first 80 numbered 1916 medals where issued to these 80 causalities and that an alphabetical list was drawn up numbered 1 to 80 so as Adams John F was first alphabetically it is assumed he received medal number one. There is as you will notice a lot of assumption used when working out the system but as they say, it is as good as any. The problem with verifying the assumed system is the restrictive amount of numbered medals researchers have access too and also the number of falsely of faked named and numbered medals that appear. I am always surprised that when these well-documented medals that do appear for sale never have a copy of the pensions application. Pension applications contain a brief description of the person's involvement in the 1916 Rising and were always well vetted and witnesses required to verify the applicant's story. It was and still is a criminal offence to falsify a pensions application, maybe that's why you don't see so many. At the moment only relatives of a deceased person who was in receipt of a war pension can have access to the pension application.
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