The silver dish ring by Egans of Cork given to Terence MacSwiney as a wedding present in 1917. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER
An inscribed silver dish ring given as a wedding present to Terence MacSwiney – the Republican Lord Mayor of Cork who died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison in 1920 – comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s Centenary Sale at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin on April 23. The pierced dish ring was a gift from the girls of St. Ita’s, the independent school in Cork founded by his sisters Maire and Aine MacSwiney after Maire was dismissed from her teaching post following her arrest during the Easter Rising.
Terence MacSwiney was a founder member of the Irish Volunteers in Cork. Though the planned Rising in Cork did not take place he and other Volunteers were arrested and detained in England and Wales. In June 1917 he married Muriel (Muirgheal) Murphy of the Cork brewing family. They had one daughter. In 1920 after the assassination of Lord Mayor Tomas Mac Curtain, Terence MacSwiney became Lord Mayor of Cork. On August 12 he was arrested at Cork City Hall and sentenced to two years imprisonment for possession of a military cipher. He died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison 74 days later. His funeral was enormous. His death was a turning point in public support for the Republican struggle.
The dish ring by Egans of Cork, with Dublin hallmarks for 1916, is inscribed: “M .. / Agus / T. Mac S. / La a bposta / 9 / 6 / 17”. The lower rim is inscribed “O Chailinibh Sgoil Ite Naomhta” (from the girls of St. Ita’s). It is estimated at 2,000-3,000. In 1916 Easter Sunday fell on April 23.
UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,200 IN A SALE WHICH MADE JUST UNDER 500,000
