Michael Collins' pistol lanyard from the day he was shot among historical items for auction
The pistol lanyard worn by Michael Collins on the day he was shot at Beal na mBlath
Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, the Titanic — if celebrity sells, then two auctions in Cork next Saturday (August 29) have it in spades. The choice between Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill and Marshs in Ballinhassig is entirely yours. If this poses a logistical challenge, the good news is that both sales are online and they can be easily viewed separately next week.
Regular readers of these weekly pages already know that a heart-shaped pendant cherished by a Titanic survivor who lost her husband and the Mercedes used by Hitler's Ambassador to Ireland during the Second World War, on whom the then Taoiseach Eamon de Valera called with condolences on the death of the Führer, are to be sold at Lynes and Lynes and Marshs respectively.
With 472 lots in Carrigtwohill and 333 in Ballinhassig, each sale offers much more than such singular collectibles.
Lynes and Lynes has Michael Collins's pistol lanyard, given by his older sister Mary Collins Powell to Commandant Frank O’Friel at Shanakiel Hospital on this day 104 years ago exactly.
Commandant O’Friel was part of the escort of the remains, brought to Shanakiel following the shooting of Michael Collins at Beal na Blath on August 22, 1922. The coffin was moved from Shanakiel to Penrose Quay under military escort, which included Comdt. O’Friel and General Tom Ennis.
The estimate on this unique piece of Collins memorabilia is €10,000-€15,000. Comdt. O'Friel's gold medal for the Eastern Command Football Championship in 1927 is estimated at €200-€300.
The sale includes lots from the estate of the well-known and greatly liked Cork businessman Ted Crosbie, including some Cork and Scottish silver, seascape paintings, yachting books and period furniture. Viewing for an auction, which includes a wide variety of items ranging from Waterford Crystal to toys, trains, postcards, and a selection of framed posters relating to Youghal in days of yore, starts today.
The auction by Marshs next Saturday will jog even more memories of those bygone days. On offer here is the collection of Alan and Mary Barry of the Ramble Inn, Ballinhassig.
There are vintage tractors and lorries, original cast-iron famine pots, tractor seats, horse-drawn potato diggers, ploughs and thistle toppers, a 1947 flatbed truck, old railway signs, enamel advertising signs, an antique brass cash register, and all sorts of agricultural memorabilia.
This is an auction that will excite considerable interest, particularly at a time when the market for collectible memorabilia is so strong.
The same cannot be said of the furniture market, but two lots in this auction will excite the interest of serious collectors of contemporary furniture. They are two early furniture pieces by the Riverstick-based maker Joseph Walsh, whose stellar reputation is now global.
A Canadian cherrywood three-part wall cabinet stamped December 1999, and a handcrafted cherrywood TV cabinet will be sold separately. Viewing gets underway in Ballinhassig next Wednesday (August 26) at 10.30am.
The German Ambassador's 1937 Mercedes 170V Cabriolet B Saloon, restored in 1988/99, will not be the only scene stealer at Marshs. Titanic survivor Florence Angle's c1900 tourmaline and half pearl brooch and the sandstone heart-shaped pendant she cherished will bring international attention to the sale at Lynes and Lynes. There is much here to excite the attention of avid auction watchers.
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