HISTORY & LITERATUE 13 MARCH 2016

89 / 183

HISTORY & LITERATURE 13 MARCH 2016
228
1916 Rising, Royal Dublin Fusilier, wounded
on the first day of the Rising, at The Mendicity
Institute
A Great War Medal to Private Michael Byrne, 10th
Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers who was wound-
ed in the chest, abdomen and arm on April 24,
1916, in Dublin; together with facsimile records.
On April 24 1916 the 10th Battalion, Royal Dub-
lin Fusiliers was stationed at the Royal Barracks,
Dublin (now Collins Barracks).
Estimate €400-€500 £312-£390
229
1916 Lieutenant Harry Douglas, Sherwood For-
esters, rosary given by a prisoner’s mother.
A white metal and wooden rosary given to 2nd Lt.
Harry Douglas, in the weeks following the rising,
by a Roscommon woman in an attempt to gain
favourable treatment for her son, who had been
arrested in the round up of Sinn Feiners after the
Rising.
An extant diary, not included here, records the
round-up of Sinn Fein suspects. Saturday, 6th May,
1916. Harry Douglas in Longford wrote, “two
suspects were sent down under escort to Dub-
lin.” Monday, 9th May in Roscommon, - “House
searching, 8 sent down to Dublin”. Thursday, 12th
May at Ballaghadereen, “ C.O. tried 18 men, 11 of
whom were remanded for Dublin. Packed Dublin
prisoners off under escort at 3.30 p.m. big crowd at
station who behaved very well under the circum-
stances.”.
He does not record which prisoner the rosary
relates to.
Estimate €300-€500 £234-£390
230
1916 Easter Rising, Dublin Castle commemoration
The lid of a silver cigarette case engraved “J. L. Donaldson - from - Matthew Nathan - Dublin Castle - April
24th to May 5th 1916”. Hallmarked for Chester, 1915.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan GCMG, PC (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was appointed Un-
der-Secretary for Ireland in August 1914; effectively he was the head of the administration in Ireland. At the
outbreak of the Rising he was at his desk in Dublin Castle and became a virtual prisoner until troops relieved
the Castle that evening. He remained in Dublin Castle until the end of the Rising communicating events to
London. A letter in a private collection from J.L. Donaldson on Chief Secretary’s Office, Dublin Castle note-
paper, thanks Nathan for his gift of the cigarette case. A second letter in the same archive gives Donaldson’s
address as Air Park, Rathfarnham.
5 x 3¼in. (12.70 x 8.26cm)
Estimate €250-€300 £195-£234