DUBLIN.- Whyte’s, renowned for their specialised auctions of historical collectibles over the past four decades, have produced a marvellous catalogue of over 500 items connected to the history of this island, including over 100 lots devoted to the 1916 Rising. The auction takes place on 13 March and includes pieces of history to attract both museums and private collectors, and to suit every budget, from less than €100 to €250,000.
The Proclamation of the Irish Republic
The centenary auction of 1916 memorabilia would not be complete without a Proclamation of the Irish Republic printed in Liberty Hall in preparation for the Rising. The most important printed document in Ireland’s history, few of these precious and fragile relics survive. Whyte's believe there are fewer than twenty in private hands.
Lot 184 in Whyte’s History and Literature auction is an original example of this historic document published by the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army acting as “The Provisional Government of the Republic of Ireland”. This is the document that launched an uprising that changed Ireland forever.
This Proclamation was restored and conserved to museum standard in 2001 and is framed and glazed. It is a fine specimen of a truly historic document of immense importance in the history of Ireland.
In a London auction recently a similar example sold for £250,000 (€320,000) so Whyte’s estimate of €150,000 to €250,000 is bound to be tempting for the well heeled collector.
Auction Sunday 13 March at 1pm. Viewing at their galleries Wednesday to Saturday 9-12 March, 10am to 5pm daily.
A piece of the Aud and very rare photographs of Casement on the German U-Boat U-19 that brought him to Banna Strand and ultimately to the hangman!
The failure of the Aud to land its cargo of arms and ammunition on 22 April 1916 provides us with one of the great ‘what ifs?’ of Irish history. Roger Casement’s co-operation with Germany to provide weapons and his arrest, trial and execution by hanging are an essential part of the story of 1916. Whyte’s are offering an extraordinary collection of items relating to Casement and the ill-fated ship in their History and Literature auction on 13 March.
Lot 171 is comprised of three very rare original photographs taken on board U-19, the German submarine which brought Casement, Bailey and Monteith to Banna Strand. The photographs are from an album of photographs owned by the widow of Kapitan Raimund Weisbach, commander of U-19. Estimate €1,500-€2,000.
Lot 172 is a bronze anchor windlass steam valve, salvaged from the Aud in 2008 by the current owner. The Aud was scuttled outside Cork Harbour by her captain, Karl Spindler, rather than have her captured by the Royal Navy warship HMS Bluebell. The valve has been polished to a high shine and is mounted on a plinth. Estimate: €2,000-€3,000.
Lot 174 is a life saving medal awarded to the Aud’s captain, Karl Spindler for rescuing a drowning woman in the frozen River Weser, Bremen. Estimate €300-€500.
Lot 176 is a very rare medal awarded to Aud crew-members “from the Executive Committee for Freedom in America 1931, for his services to Ireland at Easter 1916” Estimate €800-€1,200.
The medals of the first and the last signatories of the Proclamation
The 1916 Rising medals posthumously awarded to the first and last signatories of the Proclamation, Tomas Clarke and Joseph Plunkett, are to be offered at auction in Whyte’s History and Literature Auction on 13 March. Both are officially named to the recipients.
Joseph Plunkett
Joseph Plunkett went to Germany to meet with Roger Casement, who was negotiating with the German government on behalf of Ireland. Plunkett successfully got a promise of a German arms shipment to coincide with the rising.
Plunkett was a member of the IRB Military Committee that was responsible for planning the Easter Rising and it was largely his plan that was followed. Shortly before the rising was to begin, Plunkett was hospitalised and had an operation on his neck glands. Still bandaged, he took his place in the General Post Office with Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and Tom Clarke. His energetic aide de camp was Captain Michael Collins.
Following the surrender Plunkett was held in Kilmainham Gaol, and faced a court martial. Seven hours before his execution by firing squad at the age of 28, he was married in the prison chapel to his fiancé, Grace Gifford.
Lot 207, Joseph Plunkett’s 1916 Rising medal was the last of the Proclamation signatories’ medals remaining untraced. Plunkett’s widow Grace had refused to attend a ceremony in 1941 to receive it. This was probably a protest against the government's wartime policy of internment of IRA members, many of whom were known to her. We now know that when the medal was posted to her she threw it in the bin, where it was rescued by a friend, Cathal Gannon; Grace told him to keep it as she didn't want it. He gifted it to the current owner. Estimate €70,000-€100,000
Thomas Clarke, Father of the Rising
As well as being the first signatory of the Proclamation, it has been said that Clarke would have been the declared President and Commander-in-Chief, but he refused any military rank and such honours; these were given to Pearse, who was more well-known and respected on a national level.
Clarke was stationed at headquarters in the General Post Office during the Rising. Following the surrender on 29 April, Clarke was held in Kilmainham Gaol until his execution by firing squad on 3 May at the age of 59. He was the second person to be executed, following Patrick Pearse.
Before execution, he asked his wife Kathleen to give this message: “I and my fellow signatories believe we have struck the first successful blow for Irish freedom. The next blow, which we have no doubt Ireland will strike, will win through. In this belief, we die happy.”
His widow Kathleen was elected a TD in the First and Second Dála, notably speaking against the Anglo-Irish Treaty. She was presented with her husband's medal by President Douglas Hyde on the 25th Anniversary of the Rising in 1941. This medal is lot 197, estimate €80,000-€120,000.
Husband and wife - soldiers of the Irish Citizen Army
Easter Monday, 1916 in the Joyce household must have been an exciting place to be. Having dressed and breakfasted, James Joyce and his wife of four years, Margaret gathered up their rifles and ammunition and headed out to St. Stephen’s Green to join a revolution.
Whyte's believe that the two 1916 medals they received for their participation in the Rising are the only two awarded to a husband and wife. They had their medals engraved with their names and “I. C. A. - Stephens Green Garrison”. Lot 209 includes a 1916 armband; a 1917-1921 War of Independence combatant's medal, with Comhrach bar to James; a postcard to James Joyce, c/o The Governor, Lewes Prison; a large studio photograph of James Joyce in Irish Citizen Army uniform and a memorial card for Margaret Joyce; also a collection of various veterans' clubs membership cards. Estimate €5,000-€7,000
A taste of 1916 to toast the Rising Centenary
Lot 296 in Whyte’s History and Literature auction is a bottle of 100 year old whiskey by Dublin Whiskey Distillery (DWD).
In 1916 P & F McGlade, 96 Donegall Street, Belfast bought three casks of Dublin Whiskey Distillers’ (DWD) whiskey. The casks were kept in bond for fifty years until, in 1966 Mc Glades decided to sell two of the casks to a broker and to bottle the remaining cask, which at that time had matured for 50 years. As far as we are aware only four bottles remain extant, of which this is one.
Whyte's believe this to be the oldest Irish whiskey ever offered at auction.
Estimate: €15,000-€25,000
P & F McGlade's Bar was beside the offices of the Irish News and The Belfast Telegraph and became a favourite haunt for both local journalists and those from out of town sent to cover the Troubles. In one year alone the visitors book boasted over 1,000 entries from journalists. Other clientele included students and staff from the Art College, local politicians including Gerry Fitt, lawyers from the courts nearby, and others. According to one review “it was one of the few places during the Troubles that could be considered a true ‘melting pot’. Rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic all mingled in harmony. A haven in a sea of madness.”
Coincidentally Seán McDermott – signatory to the Proclamation of 1916 – had a brother, Dan, who worked behind the bar at McGlade’s. Seán went to live with Dan in Belfast in 1905 and worked as a tram conductor until he became a full time organiser for The Dungannon Club and Sinn Féin.
1798-99 The Great Irish Rebellion - Relief of Wexford Medal
An extremely rare medal from the 1798 Rebellion will be offered for sale in this auction.
Sir Richard Musgrave in his Memoirs of the different Rebellions in Ireland, 1801, describes the action. "When General Moore's army was within about two miles of Wexford, …they concluded, that the rebels were burning the town.”
Mr. James Boyd, representative for the town, who commanded the Wexford Cavalry, trembling for the fate of his wife and children, asked permission of the general for him and as many of the yeoman cavalry as would accompany him, to push forward to the town and to make a desperate effort to save their families and their property.” “They dashed into the town with a degree of valour bordering on despair, and announced with a loud voice, that the army was at their heels.” The ruse worked and the town fell to Boyd’s little troop of only ten men.
This medal was presented to John Byrne by Ebenezer Jacob, Mayor of Wexford on 29 June 1799, a year to the week after the relief of the town. Byrne was one of the eight cavalry troopers, led by two officers, who took part in what would, in its day, be called a ‘forlorn hope’.
The medal is engraved, “For his gallantry in volunteering to attend his Captn James Boyd Esq. who at the head of his First Lieut. & eight Privates of his Troop was the first to enter the town on the 21st of June 1798 then in Possession of the Rebels and thereby relieving many of the Loyal Inhabitants who expected a General Massacre, Ebenzr. Jacob Mayor”. Burke’s Commoners records that Lieutenant Percival, Boyd’s second in command, was awarded the medal in gold and it seems reasonable to assume that Boyd himself received a gold award. Thus, this medal is one of only eight silver examples created.
The Relief of Wexford Medal is Lot 29, estimate €3,000-€5,000.
Irish County Court judge and international cricketer.
Lot 125 in Whyte’s History and Literature Auction is a horse-hair , full-bottomed judge's wig made by Ravenscroft of Lincoln’s Inn, London for Irish County Court Judge, John William Hynes, K.C. of Donnybrook. It comes in a black lacquered metal case, which incorporates a removable wig-stand and linen cover.
John William Hynes was born on 28 October, 1856. He entered King's Inns in 1883 and was conferred in 1888. He became Junior to "Peter the Packer," aka Lord O'Brien; the Lord Chief Justice. O'Brien gained his nickname from his policy of ensuring that juries were always pro-government in any trial of a remotely political nature. Under O’Brien, Hynes developed into a skilful advocate and was made a KC in 1913. In 1916, he became a County Court Judge in Cork. Hynes was a noted cricketer. He still holds the record for the highest score made by a University batsman in a First XI fixture, 241 runs for Dublin University against The Dublin Garrison XI. He represented Ireland, twice as captain. Estimate: €800-€1,000
