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  • INDEPENDENCE SALE

    The 5th Adam’s and Mealy’s annual auction of documents and memorabilia relating to the Irish struggle for freedom will take place over two sessions, at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.,  in Dublin on Tuesday April 20.

    The sale includes almost 600 lots of newspapers, photographs, postcards, books, posters, medals, prison craftwork, letters and documents. This year’s auction features a number of documents of particular poignancy, including a letter handwritten by Kevin Barry the night before his execution in 1920.  It carries an estimate of €14,000-18,000. Barry’s interrogation statement is estimated at €5,000-7,000.

    There is a copy of Aubrey de Vere’s Inisfail, inscribed by Roger Casement the night before his execution in 1916 (€5,000-7,000), and a copy of The Manual of Catholic Piety inscribed by Thomas Whelan and Patrick Moran on the eve of their execution in 1921.

    A number of items relate to the burning of Cork City in 1920, including original artefacts used by the Cork Fire Brigade (a stand pipe and a branch pipe), the 1921 “Who Burnt Cork City?” pamphlet, a Labour Commission report on the burning, and four postcards showing the devastation following the burning.

    Archives feature strongly.  There are Fianna Fail documents and memorabilia amassed by Peter P. Moody in the 1930s and ‘40s, and an archive of material from Kathleen McKenna who was secretary to Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith, includes a cap badge reputed to have been worn by Michael Collins on the day of his death.

    A  number of significant items of broader historical value include the announcement of the discovery of The North West Passage in 1850. Written by Wexford born Robert McClure the letters sent news of his discovery of The North West Passage and how the ship The Investigator was stuck in ice for nearly two years  until the crew was rescued by HMS Resolute.

    There is a collection of  19th century photographs recently found at Rahinston, Co. Meath. They depict the Boyne Obelisk with the old and new bridge, high crosses, Slane Castle, the Houses of Parliament at College Green and other landmarks.

    Viewing is on Saturday and Sunday April 17-18 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on each day and on Monday April 19 from 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

    THIS Cap Badge, reputedly worn by Michael Collins on the day he was shot dead, features at the Adams Mealys Independence sale.

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