1916 Proclamation tops list of historic itemsup for auction
A COPY of the 1916 Proclamation that was pasted to the windows of a jewellers on Easter Monday is just one of the exciting items being auctioned in Dublin this month.
The trove contains rare handwritten notes by Wolfe Tone, known as the father of republicanism, and the songbooks of tenor John McCormack. A bronze age sword is one of the oldest items while one of the most recent is a painting of the infamous Gorse Hill mansion in Dublin by a family member.
Ian Whyte, managing director at Whyte’s, said: ‘This is the largest auction since our 1916 anniversary auction four years ago. The Proclamation is a very rare and desirable document, and the Wolfe Tone papers are extremely rare.’
He expects the Proclamation to go for as much as €150,000. The current owner inherited it from an uncle and it hung on his kitchen wall for about ten years before a friend persuaded him to send it to Whyte’s for analysis.
One of an estimated 55 surviving authentic documents, the typeface shows where James Connolly had to use an ‘F’ instead of an ‘E’ when they ran short of the metal lettering. Sealing wax was used to create an extra stroke.
On the other side of the political divide is the archive from prominent Loyalist William ‘Plum’ Smith. A member of the UVF and Red Hand Commandos, he was central to the negotiating team on the Good
Friday Agreement. Letters signed by Bill Clinton and George Mitchell sit alongside cryptic notes on Long Kesh inmates from 1976.
Other fascinating remnants of the 1916 uprising include a Howth Mauser rifle later used again in the War of Independence.
On a lighter note, the auction offers a bottle of 100-year-old whiskey from the Dublin Whiskey Distillery. Mr Whyte said: ‘This could go for €20,000 to €30,000. We syringed some out and sent it to a whiskey taster. He said it is drinkable and has a nice flavour but he said it has a touch of engine oil to it.’
A watercolour marks the battle for solicitor Brian O’Donnell’s Gorse Hill mansion – painted by his son Blake. The family fought a rearguard legal action against Bank of Ireland’s bid to reclaim the mansion in Killiney. The painting is expected to fetch €700.
Personal song-books with handwritten notes by Irish tenor John McCormack are expected to fetch up to €60,000, while a Bronze Age sword, originally found in Co. Monaghan, could sell for up €8,000.
The auction takes place on July 24 and 25. Punters can bid in person at the Freemason Hall in Dublin on Saturday only. Online bidding is open on both days.
‘The document is very rare and desirable’