Republic of Ireland Whytes April 2011 - History, Literature and Collectibles auction Catalogue now available

[gerardkenny]

I thouht this may be of interest to some here;

The new Whytes April 2011 Auction catalogue has just been released :

HISTORY, LITERATURE

& COLLECTIBLES

Saturday 16 April 2011 at 1pm

Historical manuscripts, documents, photographs and ephemera

(Lots 1-392) 6

Literature, Drama & Music (Lots 393-436) 75

Sporting Memorabilia (Lots 437-467) 80

Coins (Lots 468-522) 84

Banknotes (Lots 523-628) 89

Bid Form 100

http://www.whytes.com/AuctionPDFs/20110416.pdf

There is also an online catalogue :

http://whytes.com/i7.asp?Auction=20110416&Lot=1

The whytes auctioneers site has crashed a couple of times in the last 24 hours so the link may have issues from time to time.

Personally I think the highlights would include :

41

1803. Robert Emmet’s Proclamation

One of the rarest Irish revolutionary documents extant.

“The Provisional Government

TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND”

letterpress, framed

53 by 44cm., 21 by 17.5in.

Provenance:

The Wolfe family, Forenaughts House, Co. Kildare, since 1803;

The Estate of Miss Maud Wolfe, Forenaughts House;

Sale by auction of the contents of Forenaughts House, Hamilton & Hamilton, 23

September 1980, whence acquired by the present owner.

Theobald Wolfe of Forenaughts House was the godfather of Theobald Wolfe Tone,

the son of Peter Tone, a coach builder who married a companion of Wolfe’s wife. It

is interesting that the Wolfe family should have retained this seditious document,

given that Arthur Wolfe, the first Baron Kilwarden, and first cousin of Theobald

Wolfe, was, along with his nephew, killed by rebels during the insuurection of 1803.

(see lot 40 in this sale).

The last member of the Wolfe family to live at Forenaughts, was Emily Maud Wolfe,

the daughter of Cumann na nGaedhal TD George Wolfe and proudly counted

amongst her ancestors Theobald Wolfe Tone and the famous General James Wolfe

who was killed during the Seven Year’s War. Up until her death on the 28th of April

1980 she regularly attended the Bodenstown commemorations

Robert Emmet was born in Dublin in 1778. After attending Whyte’s Academy, in

the company of Thomas Moore, Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) and

Richard Brinsley Sheridan, , he entered Trinity College, Dublin in October 1793 and

became involved in political activism. He was elected secretary to the secret United

Irish Committee in the college, and was expelled in April 1798 as a result and fled

to France to avoid the many arrests that were taking place in Ireland after the

1798 Rebellion. After his return to Ireland Emmet began to prepare for rebellion

with fellow revolutionaries Thomas Russell and James Hope. Unlike in 1798, the

preparations for the uprising were successfully concealed, but a premature

explosion at one of Emmet’s arms depots killed a man and forced Emmet to bring

forward the date of the rising before the authorities’ suspicions were aroused. As

part of the preparations Emmet wrote this proclamation addressing it from “The

Provisional Government to The People of Ireland”. It began by reiterating republican

sentiments expressed during the previous rebellion and calling on the Irish

population to claim their right to independence “You are now called on to show to

the world that you are competent to take your place among nations, that you have

a right to claim their recognisance of you, as an independent country ... We

therefore solemnly declare, that our object is to establish a free and independent

republic in Ireland: that the pursuit of this object we will relinquish only with our

lives ... We war against no religious sect ... We war against English dominion.” The

Proclamation not only served as a call to arms but also as an interim constitution

and is remarkably forward thinking in terms of constitutional law.

The lines “we will not imitate you in cruelty; we will put no man to death in cold

blood, the prisoners which first fall into our hands shall be treated with the

respect” predates the first Geneva Convention by 60 years, which is considered

today as the basis on which rest the rules of international law for the protection of

the victims of armed conflicts on the treatment of prisoners of war. Seán Ó

Brádaigh, in his 2003 book recording the life of Emmet, Bold Robert Emmet, put

forward his argument that the proclamation contains ‘a moral framework’ for

those ‘unfortunate but sometimes necessary events in human life’.

.

Shortly after the rebellion began it disintegrated into little more than a riot, in

stark contrast to the beliefs and ideals that Emmet displayed in the proclamation.

Emmet was unable to secure the help of rebels from Wicklow under the command

of United Irishmen leader Michael Dwyer and many rebels from Kildare who had

arrived to help, turned back due to the lack of firearms they had been promised.

Nonetheless the rising went ahead in Dublin on the evening of 23 July 1803.

Failing to seize Dublin Castle, which was lightly defended, the rising amounted to a

large-scale riot in the Thomas Street area. Emmet personally witnessed a dragoon

being pulled from his horse and piked to death, the sight of which prompted him

to call off the rising to avoid further bloodshed. However he had lost all control of

his followers and in one incident, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Lord Kilwarden

(see lot 40), reviled as chief prosecutor of William Orr in 1797, but also the judge

who granted habeas corpus to Wolfe Tone in 1798, was dragged from his carriage

and hacked to death. Sporadic clashes continued into the night until finally quelled

by the military at the estimated cost of twenty soldiers and fifty rebels dead. After

being captured Emmet was put on trial and made no attempt to defend himself

however he requested that his Proclamation of the Provisional Government be read

out in open court as it reflected his beliefs, morals and aspirations. It expressed his

views on the rebellion, and emphasised his humanitarian concerns about the

treatment of prisoners and the conduct of the republican government. The

proclamation however was one which the British authorities had no intention of

giving any publicity to and Emmet’s request to have it read was rejected by the

court. However Emmet did manage to integrate direct quotations and paraphrased

parts of his proclamation into his famous speech from the dock. He detailed the

actions of the past eight months, the attempt to wrest power from England ‘with

their own hands’, the point that foreign assistance was not ‘the foundation of the

present exertion’ and referred to Ireland taking its place among the nations of the

earth. Emmet was found guilty of treason and was hung, drawn and quartered –

one of the last convicts to suffer this barbaric execution - on 20 September 1803

in Thomas Street, Dublin.

Due to the destruction and suppression of the proclamation it never fully received

the status and acknowledgment as the hugely important historical document that

it is. It provided inspiration for Pádraig Pearse in writing the 1916 Proclamation

and summed up Emmet’s remarkable opinions, some of which could be described as

too modern to be accepted or understood in 1803.

Approximately 10,000 copies of the proclamation are reputed to have been secretly

printed on Emmet’s orders on 23 July 1803, but the British authorities went to

great efforts in order to ensure that its content was suppressed and they were

nearly all destroyed. It is hard to believe that so many were printed clandestinely,

and it is far more likely, as in the case of the 1916 Proclamation, that the numbers

printed were in the hundreds. As far as we have been able to ascertain there are

three examples in private hands, of which the present example is one. About 500

copies of the 1916 Proclamation were printed, of which some fifty survive, mainly

in public collections. We can find no record of an example of the 1803

Proclamation in either the National Library of Ireland, The National Museum of

Ireland or Trinity College Library. As the penalty for possession of the 1803

Proclamation was very harsh, and could even, in certain circumstances, lead to the

gallows, there were few prepared to keep it, which has made it one of the rarest, if

not the rarest important printed document of Irish revolutionary history.

€30,000-€50,000 (£26,100-£43,500 approx.)

& Also :

296

1921: An extremely rare low numbered Thompson Submachine

Gun, No. 142, donated to the Cork Brigade, IRA in 1921 by an

Irish American Sheriff

Provenance:

Purchased by Michael Sheehan, San Mateo, California, May 1921;

Thence to Cork Brigade IRA;

Thence by descent from a War of Independence IRA Volunteer to the present owner,

Co. Cork

Early 1921 model Thompson submachine gun, one of a small number imported and

used by the IRA during the War of Independence. The receiver is marked “Model

1921” with the serial number “142”, Thompson markings and five line patent dates,

along with inspector’s mark directly behind the ejection port. With the rare and

desirable early style of finned barrel (to aid in cooling when fired in a fullautomatic

mode), the adjustable Lyman tangent rear sight with sight protectors

that graduates from 100 to 600 yards, walnut vertical foregrip and detachable

walnut buttstock.

The Thompson Gun began production with serial number 1; the first 40 were all

prototypes, making number 41 the first gun to be sold. The serial number of this

particular gun is 142, the one hundred and second Thompson Gun to be sold and is

very rare with such a low three digit serial number. It is estimated that somewhere

in the region of 15,000 sets of the 1921 model parts were produced, with the

majority of those being used to produce the later M1928A1 model of the weapon

making this complete 1921 model extremely scarce.

Colt records show that this gun, numbered “142” along with serial number “143”

were dispatched by the Colt Company to a Mr M. Sheehan of San Mateo, California.

Sheehan was in fact Sheriff Michael Sheehan, a prominent sheriff based in the San

Mateo district of San Francisco. Sheehan was born in Mountcollins, County Limerick

on 2 February 1861, had emigrated to the United States with his brother in the

1880s and became Sheriff of San Mateo in 1916. He was a member of numerous

Catholic organisations including the Knights of Columbus and lived for some time

in Tilman Street which was only three blocks from the address the guns were

delivered to, at 316 B Street, which was a US Post Office in 1921. The San Mateo

sheriff’s office never ordered Thompson Guns during the 1920s so there is no

possibility that the weapons were for official use.

In many ways the new gun was considered to be ideal for guerrilla warfare with its

rapid fire of high calibre bullets and a removable stock: it packed a powerful punch

whilst also being easy to conceal. The IRA was destined to become one of the first

customers for the new machine-gun, after Michael Collins was contacted by the

financier Thomas Fortune Ryan. With a high price of $225 per gun the IRA placed

an order for 653 weapons, becoming Colt’s only customers at this time. The guns

were to be sent to Ireland in May 1921 through New York but US Customs

impounded 495 of them leaving only 158 which were eventually smuggled to

Ireland. The first three arrived in Dublin in May 1921 and were test fired a few days

later by Tom Barry at a meeting attended by Michael Collins and Richard Mulcahy.

The IRA were also the first in the world to use the machine-gun in combat, when a

group led by Oscar Traynor, used one in an ambush against members of the Royal

West Kent Regiment near Drumcondra, County Dublin.

The Thompson or “Tommy Gun” later went onto achieve world fame when it was

used by both law enforcement and criminal gangs during the era of prohibition in

the United States making it one of the most iconic weapons ever produced.

It is not clear exactly how the gun was brought into Ireland but it is known that

Sheriff Sheehan did make trips during this period to Ireland returning to San

Francisco from Queenstown (Cobh) Co. Cork via New York. We also know that his

nephew was arrested and interned. He later was imprisoned in Limerick during the

Civil War, after which he emigrated to the USA via Canada to join his uncle in San

Mateo. He was a member of the Cork Brigade IRA during the War of Independence.

€10,000-€15,000 (£8,700-£13,100 approx.)

[gerardkenny]

As mentioned on this thread :

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/24625-irish-1916-21-medal-collection-on-ebay/page__st__200

There were many interesting lots.

http://www.whytes.com/AuctionPDFs/Addenda20110416.pdf

THE FOLLOWING LOTS ARE WITHDRAWN FROM THE SALE:

26, 85, 86, 138,186, 394, 494, 502A, 514A, 515A, 598, 601, 608, 609, 610, 613, 615, 617, 621

We are pleased to announce that we have purchased lot 186 from the consignor and donated it

to the Women’s Section (Dún Laoghaire), South County Dublin Branch, Royal British Legion.

Lots 598, 608, 609, 613, 615 , 617 and 621 were duplicate entries in error of other lots in the sale.

This lot was withdrawn on request of the Irish Govt :

138

1900 (26 April). Office of Public Works file on the visit of

Queen Victoria and arrangements for her arrival at Kingstown

(Dun Laoghaire)

manuscript and typescript, various sizes, pp200 approx.

Extremely detailed arrangements for the Queen’s arrival, with correspondence to

and from various government officials, regarding various works to be completed at

the harbour, the size of the Royal railway train, decorations, illuminations, and

protocol down to what type of coat to wear. Fascinating record that may be of use

again when Victoria’s great grand daughter visits Dublin in May, though she will

not disembark from the Holyhead ferry on this occasion.

€400-€600 (£350-£520 approx.)

Here is the list of prices :

http://www.whytes.com/AuctionPDFs/20110416PR.pdf

Lot 241 (mentioned in the thread above) doesn't seem to be on this list for some reason.

Here are some pics from the whytes collection shop across the road from the freemason hall where the auction was held (a stonesthrow from Dail Eireann) - mainly showing lot 291 :

291

1920-1921: Auxiliary Division uniform including tunic, cap,

bandolier and Webley revolver.

Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary uniform including balmoral beret

made by R. A. Knight dated June 1916 complete with cap badge on square khaki

backing, other ranks British WW1 period tunic with general service buttons and

collar badges, black trousers, leather gaiters, black leather sam browne belt

complete with handcuff case and revolver holster, black leather bandolier and Mark

IV Webley service revolver, serial number “125001”. The Auxiliary Division Royal Irish

Constabulary (ADRIC) was founded in July 1920 and by November 1921 the

division was 1,900 strong. The Auxiliaries were part of the RIC, but operated more

or less independently of the police force in a number of rural areas. Divided into

companies, each about one hundred strong, they were heavily armed and highly

mobile in an attempt to combat the IRA flying columns. They operated in ten

counties, mostly in the south and west, where IRA activity was greatest. The

uniforms that they wore, such as this example, were usually a mix between RIC

uniforms or old army uniforms with appropriate police badges, along with the

distinctive Tam-o-shanter or balmoral caps. The cap accompanying this uniform

bears a badge similar to that used by K Company of the Auxiliaries based in

Moore’s Hotel, Cork City (as illustrated on page 278 of Tudor’s Toughs by Ernest

McCall) (8 items)€5,000-€7,000 (£4,400-£6,100 approx.)

[gerardkenny]

Taken with a phone so the quality is not great:

[gerardkenny]

Last couple of pics :

[gerardkenny]

For anyone who is interested there is also the Adams ' Independence ' Auction next tuesday 19th April 2011, Catalogue in .pdf from here

http://www.adams.ie/

INDEPENDENCE

in association with Mealy's auctioneers

Tuesday 19th April 2011

Session I starts at 11.00am

Session II starts at 6.00pm

[gerardkenny]

Here is a RTÉ news report on today's Adams Independence Auction :

http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2011/0419/media-2945053.html#