A set of six Arts and Crafts dining chairs given as a wedding gift by Michael Collins to his sister Mary – sold at Marshs in Cork in 2017 – are among a number of items of Collins memorabilia at Mullen’s Collector’s Cabinet sale on October 15. The estimate for the mahogany and tooled leather chairs by Schoolbred and Co. London is €1,800-€2,200.
The auction of 649 lots offers everything from Neolithic arrowheads and a giant Elk cranium to more than 40 lots relating to the Northern Ireland troubles. The steel housing for a camera used to monitor one of the H-Blocks (€500-€700) and a flak jacket worn by a member of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (€200-€300) are included. Two photographs from 1941 of a military funeral for four British airmen show coffins draped in the Union flag being carried by Irish Army pallbearers past an honour guard of Irish solders (€150-€200). Lot 90 is the Irish Citizen Army red hand badge of Brigid Brady, a first cousin in Padraig Pearse who worked at Jacobs and played an important part in the 1913 Lockout and the organisation of the Irish Citizen Army. She served at City Hall, Dublin during the 1916 Rising. The badge and her uniform belt are each estimated at €1,200-€1,500.
