36
WHYTES
SINCE 1783
,
229
1915. Patrick Pearse - Oration of P. H. Pearse over Rossa’s Grave
flysheet
.
Dublin Fergus O’Connor n. d. (1915) single sheet 195 x 250mm original
flysheet printed on one side only.
Jeremiah O’ Donovan Rossa was one of the founders of the Irish
Republican Brotherhood. He spent a number of terms in prison before
being exiled to America, from where he continued to direct Fenian
activities. His death in 1915 gave the IRB a propaganda opportunity by
bringing his body back to Ireland for a large public funeral in Glasnevin
cemetery. This oration delivered at the graveside by Patrick Pearse is
considered to be a “masterpiece of patriotic rhetoric”, containing as it
does the iconic ending “— but the fools, the fools, the fools! They have
left us our Fenian dead, and while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland
unfree shall never be at peace.” It has been argued that this funeral,
with its prominent involvement of the Irish Volunteers, starts the
countdown to the 1916 Rising and is a foretaste of Pearse’s
Proclamation of the Irish Republic. A very good copy of this fragile and
historically important piece of Irish Nationalist ephemera.
€
200-
€
300 (£170-£250 approx)
230
Pádraig Pearse - Three Lectures on Gaelic Topics
Dublin, M. H. Gill and Son, 1898 60pp. Illustrated with head and tail
pieces, and decorative initials. 195 x 120mm. Original wine coloured
cloth with gilt lettering to front cover. Patrick (Pádraig) Henry Pearse
was 18 years old when he published this, his first book.
This copy belonged to Michael Staines, with his signature on the title
page. Michael Joseph Staines (1888-1955). A member of the Gaelic
League, he joined the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and through membership
of this organisation, and the IRB, he became close to Patrick Pearse. In
the lead up to the 1916 Rising he was appointed national
quartermaster and fought in the GPO alongside Pearse, being one of
stretcher bearers who evacuated James Connolly from the premises.
Imprisoned in Frongoch, he became Commandant of South Camp and
developed a trusted relationship with Michael Collins. He was the first
Garda Commissioner. Very Good.
€
200-
€
300 (£170-£250 approx)
231
Pearse, P. H. An Sgoil a Direct Method Course in Irish Part I
Dublin: Maunsel, 1913. First Edition. 8vo. Soft Cover. Fair Pp. iv. 52. 6
coloured illustrations. A few faults, fair, but scarce.
€
150-
€
200 (£130-£170 approx)
232
Thomas MacDonagh signed copy of his book Through The Ivory Gate
A Book of Verse
1902, Dublin. Original green cloth gilt, pp112. MacDonagh’s first book
of poetry inscribed on page 111 “To my dear friend Father Byrne C.S.Sp.”
and signed “Thomas McDonagh”. Father Byrne taught MacDonagh at
Rockwell College, Co. Tipperary and encouraged him to write poetry.
Thomas MacDonagh (Irish: Tomás Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 –
3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright,
educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders
of the Easter Rising of 1916, a signatory of the Proclamation of the
Irish Republic and Commandant of the 2nd Battalion, Dublin Brigade of
the Irish Volunteers, which was based at Jacob’s factory. He was
executed for his part in the Rising at the age of thirty-eight.
MacDonagh became a teacher at St. Enda’s School and was later a
lecturer at University College Dublin. He was a member of the Gaelic
League, where he befriended Patrick Pearse and Eoin MacNeill. He was a
founding member of the Irish Volunteers with MacNeill and Pearse. He
was an accomplished writer of poetry and plays.
€
1,000-
€
1,500 (£830-£1,250 approx)
233
1916 (24 March) A very important letter from the commander of the
Officer Training Corps of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
On headed paper of the RCSI OTC, Lieutenant FJ Power writes to Major
GA Harris regarding information received concerning a possible raid on
the armoury of the RCSI OTC. In fact the College was taken by the
Citizen Army 4 weeks after this letter. Power refers to overheard
remarks from “one of the College porters, who is a member of Larkin’s
Union” and “anyone ...requiring information as to the position [of the
OTC weapons] could easily obtain it from the students... amongst whom
we have some rank outsiders... and men of doubtful loyalty.” Even in
the OTC Power says “we have men I would not trust in these matters”. A
draft reply by Major Harris is on reverse, approving of placing an
overnight guard on the OTC stores. Foolscap, manuscript. The
heightening of security at the OTC’s helped them secure College Green,
and surrounding streets and cut off the Citizen Army in Stephen’s
Green from other units of the Rising. It also aided the safe arrival of
the army reinforcements from Kingstown to the city centre. An
important document.
€
800-
€
1,000 (£670-£830 approx)
234
1916 Rising: British Army Martial Law Proclamation Poster
An extremely scarce proclamation poster issued on Wednesday 26 April
1916 by Major-General L. B. Friend (Commander of Troops in Ireland),
ordering a state of martial law and listing the regulations to be
observed under said law in Dublin City and County. An excellent
example. 30 x 20in. (76 x 51cm)
€
800-
€
1,200 (£670-£1,000 approx)
234A
1916 Rising: an eyewitness account by a Unionist in the leafy suburb
of Ballsbridge and his fascinating archive 1878-1920
The diaries, complete 1878-1920, and some correspondence to his
daughter and related letters of Sir Alfred Irwin, Companion of the Star
of India. The diaries relate at first to his service in India, and then to his
retirement in Dublin. Overall this is a primary source for research into
an Anglo-Irish servant of the British Empire and his attitude to the
world around him. His handwritten letter of 25 April to 4th May 1916
(pp44) starts “At 4.20 yesterday afternoon Aunt Emily telephoned that
the Sinn
Féin
ers had risen & were shooting in Dublin. They missed Uncle
Charlie by an inch & she was not sure if that particular shot was fired
by Countess Markievitch [sic], but at any rate the Countess was in the
thick of it....The rebels had got the G.P.O.... 3 policemen and 2 children
were killed... the Sinn
Féin
ers took some milk from [the milkboy]”. He
then goes on to give his account of the Rising through his own
experiences and those of “Aunt Emily”, the servants in his house, the
messenger boys, jarveys and others who visit him. A fascinating and
sometimes amusing account by a “Colonel Blimp” type of character,
well worthy of publication. A postcard dated 2 May 1916 gives a very
brief account, while later letters refer to people seeking shelter and
food “probably looted” being sold door to door. There are 30 letters,
pp2 to 6pp each, to his daughter, Dorothy, in India, also letters from his
son, Alfred, who commanded a battalion of the East Surrey regiment in
World War I and in 1919 on the abortive British support of the white
Russians in Murmansk, including a detailed letter on the latter
adventure. There are also letters from Kathleen, another daughter.
Sir Alfred Irwin (1853-1920) was the son of the Archdeacon of Elphin,
educated at Kingstown School, entered the Indian Civil Service in 1876.
in the Punjab, later transferring to Burma and rose to be Active Chief
Judge of Burma by 1908, retiring in 1909 to Dublin. He was married to
Alice Kathleen French, daughter of Christopher French. His son Alfred
was awarded the DSO with two bars. His daughters were Dorothy and
Kathleen. (30 letters and 41 Lett’s Diaries).
€
1,500-
€
1,800 (£1,250-£1,500 approx)
229
