PATRICK KAVANAGH – TARRY FLYNN WITH AN INSCRIPTION TO BRENDAN BEHAN MADE €18,000 AT HAMMER
An historic 1949 edition of Tarry Flynn by Patrick Kavanagh made a hammer price of €18,000 at a two day book sale by Purcell Auctioneers in Birr today. Published in New York by Devin Adair it is the actual copy used in an infamous court case involving Patrick Kavanagh and Brendan Behan. Kavanagh brought a libel case against The Leader magazine in 1952, and Behan was a key figure in his downfall. During the 1954 trial, Kavanagh, under oath, denied knowing Behan, but this was disproven when the defense produced this copy of Tarry Flynn inscribed by Kavanagh to Behan. Kavanagh lost the case. The inscription on the inside cover reads: “For Brendan, the poet and painter, on the day he decorated my flat, Sunday 12th, 1950.”
A first edition of At Swim Two Birds by Flann O’Brien published in 1939 by Longmans made a hammer price of €8,800.
GREEN RUSHES BY MAURICE WALSH. UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
A first UK edition of 1935 of Green Rushes by Maurice Walsh, the first appearance of The Quiet Man, comes up at a two day sale by Purcell Auctioneers in Birr on September 3 and 4. On offer is the library of the late Tommy Smith of Grogan’s Pub in Dublin and other clients in an auction of more than 500 lots. Lot 288 is a rare first edition in its original jacket of Green Rushes published by Chambers in London in 1935 with an estimate of €700-€800. The 1952 film The Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara is based on a 1933 short story of the same name by Maurice Walsh first published in The Saturday Evening Post and later included in the collection Green Rushes. John Ford won an Academy Award (his fourth) for Best Director for the film, an official selection at the 1952 Venice Film Festival. In 2013 the film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
George Lothian Hall (1825-1888) – Kenmare at James Adam. UPDATE: THIS MADE 260 AT HAMMER
AN early watercolour of Kenmare, a Waterford Crystal 12 branch chandelier, a diamond riviere necklace, an extremely rare antique Hardy brass face Perfect specimen reel, a white marble inlaid chimney piece and a carved limestone head are among the varied and highly collectible offerings at upcoming sales in Ireland.
Easy and convenient to view these lots are from sales to be held online respectively by Adams in Dublin, Keighery’s of Waterford, Purcell Auctioneers in Birr, Matthews of Kells, Mullens of Laurel Park in Bray and O’Donovans of Newcastle West between now and August 28.
To take the last one first there is bound to be interest from Kerry in an 1886 watercolour of Kenmare by the Liverpool born George Lothian Hall whose paintings can be found in the Yale Centre for British Art. With Kenmare faintly visible in the background it depicts a sailing boat, some other leisure vessels, cattle, cottages and a horse and trap. The estimate at the James Adam At Home sale of 394 lots on August 28 is €2,000-€3,000.
The Waterford chandelier at Keighery’s auction on August 19 is estimated at €4,000-€6,000. This sale of over 650 lots will include items from the Furlong estate of historian and journalist Nicholas and antique dealer Mairead of Wexford. There are antique books of Wexford and Irish history, some attractive furniture, various books on antiques, Imari chargers and collectibles including a sailing ship in a case among a large selection of lots.
A white marble inlaid chimney piece at Mullen’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,500 AT HAMMER
The timed online Classic and Contemporary Interiors sale at Mullen’s of Laurel Park at 6 pm on August 18 offers an inverted breakfront white marble inlaid chimney piece (€2,500-€3,500) as one of its leading pieces. There is furniture, art and lighting on offer in this sale of over 770 lots.
A rare antique Hardy reel at Purcell’s UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,800 AT HAMMER
With an estimate of €2,000-€4,000 an extremely rare Hardy specimen reel leads the sale by Purcell Auctioneers of Birr on August 21. It bears the stamp “B”, believed to be the mark of either Alfred or Frederick Broadley, two highly respected figures in the world of salmon perfect reel making whose contribution to the Hardy legacy is well documented. The leather case is marked P D Mallock, Perth, a firm renowned for producing high quality angling accessories. Purcells say the reel is in very good condition and the brass face remains structurally sound.
If you are seriously interested in the diamond 91 stone riviere necklace at Matthews in Kells on August 21 you must go and see it. There will be viewing from noon to 5 pm on August 18, 19 and 20. It is 42 cm long and the total weight is 22 carats. The estimate is €12,500-€17,500. Even if it is beyond your range the auction offers 524 other lots of jewellery, silver and collectibles including unredeemed pawnbroker pledges and executor instructions.
A carved limestone head (€300-€400) is included in the online only sale at O’Donovans in Newcastle West on August 24. The auction comprises 303 lots from the Redemptorist fathers at Esker Monastery, Athenry, Co. Galway. Among them are sets of Stations of the Cross, statues, altars and no less than five sets of five pitch pine church pews with carved ends (€100-€150 a set). All will be offered without reserve.
A 91 stone diamond riviere necklace at Matthews. UPDATE: THIS MADE 14,200 AT HAMMER
Confidential notes on IRA activities in the period from 1941-47 are included Purcell Auctioneers sale of the Library of the late Dr. Garret FitzGerald (1926-2011) and another private library in Birr on June 26. The proceeds from the auction of the library of the former Taoiseach will be donated to Focus Ireland, the homeless and housing charity. A total of 656 lots will come under the hammer and the catalogue is online.
Confidential IRA notes were prepared in the office of the Minister for Justice. This copy No. 26 was issued to Colonel Dan Bryan, the renowned Military Intelligence officer. It contains detailed information mostly unavailable elsewhere on activities of the IRA in Ireland and Britain during the Second World War, Stephen Hayes’ kidnapping, government executions, and other incidents plus biographies of those involved. According to one researcher the documentation relied on intelligence from the Special Branch. Nevertheless they are an exhaustive record of the years following the establishment of the state. Relatively few copies of these handbooks were produced and they were not given to every cabinet minister. Six copies of the ‘Notes on events 1931-1941’ were distributed, while ‘Notes on IRA activities’ had also a very limited circulation. This copy is estimated at 750-1,200. UPDATE: THIS MADE 440 AT HAMMER
Wooden Aileron Rib from the Vickers Vimy Bomber, flown by Alcock & Brown. UPDATE: THIS MADE €17,500 at hammer.
Typical. You wait nearly a century and then two come along. Ailerons from the Vickers Vimy bomber flown by Alcock and Brown in the first non-stop transatlantic flight from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara in 1919 are rare. One turned up at Whyte’s in 2018. Now a different one has surfaced and will be auctioned by Purcell Auctioneers in Birr on August 18. At Whyte’s the aileron made €8,500 at hammer. Lot 205 at Purcell’s sale of collectibles and rarities is estimated at €6,000-€8,000. This piece was retrieved by noted local photographer R W Simmons, one of the first on the scene to take photographs for the national newspapers. Purcell’s say it is thence: by descent and gift to the current owner in the early 2000’s. Three hand written descriptions thereon, one of which includes the name of R W Simons (Simmons – renowned Galway based photographer). A paper cutting on the other side reads “£50 for £1. The owner of a Treasury Pound Note carried across the Atlantic by Sir John Alcock on the 1st non-stop flight, has refused £50 for it”.
The plane landed in a bog that appeared from the air to be a suitable green field after less than 16 hours flying time and was damaged after going nose over. Neither of the airmen was hurt. An Alcock and Brown photo/scrapbook made €2,600 over a top estimate of €1,800.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 8, 2018).
This draft of the Irish Constitution signed by Eamonn de Valera and others made a hammer price of €7,200 at the Purcell Auctioneers sale of the libraries of Conor Cruise O’Brien, his wife the poet Maire mac an tSaoi and her father Sean MacEntree in Birr today. It was the top lot of the sale. Bunreacht na hEireann. Irish Constitution.(Draft) is signed by Eamonn de Valera, Taoiseach and Minister for External affairs, Sean T. O’Kelly Tanaiste and Minister for Local Government and Public Health, P. J. Ruttledge Minister for Justice, Sean F Lemass Minister for Industry and Commerce, Seamus O’Rian, Minister for Agriculture, Frank Aiken, Minister for Defence, Gearoid O’Beolain, Minister for Lands, Oscar Traynor Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, Tomas O’Deirg, Minister for Education and Sean MacEntee, Minister for Finance whose copy this was. It is inscribed To Dear Lottie and dated 1st July 1937. Included in the lot was a letter from Seán McEntee to Lottie Fairfield outlining how McEntee arranged for the signatures.
Soleil en foret (Sunlight in the forest) by Roderic O’Conor at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE 40,000 AT HAMMER
A Regency cheval mirror with satinwood crossbanding is among the lots of interest at Matthews sale of the entire contents of Rath House in Dundalk online from Kells, Co. Meath on March 20. The sale of 1,117 lots includes antique furniture, paintings, silver and collectibles. There are tables, sets of chairs, chests of drawers, bookcases, Oriental porcelain, Waterford Crystal, Victorian landscapes and portraits and all sorts of collectibles among a wide variety of lots. Viewing is now underway and the auction will be online.
The sale is a prelude to a number of auctions next week and the week after. Purcell Auctioneers in Birr will offer a 1908 limited edition Collected Works of W.B. Yeats (update – hammer 2,400) in verse and prose as a highlight of their sale of Irish and world interest books on March 23. A very rare Treatise on the Art of War by Roger, Earl of Orrery from 1677 comes up too (update – this made 1,250 at hammer). Works by Richard Brydges Beechey, Roderic O’Conor and William Orpen’s portrait of James Hugh Smith-Barry will highlight Fonsie Mealy’s sale of Irish and International Art on March 23. There are 236 lots on offer. A 48 hour timed online auction of jewellery by O’Reilly’s of Francis St. in Dublin runs from March 23-25.
