WHYTE'S THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR SATURDAY 6 APRIL 2019 AT 11AM

1916 Rising THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR · 6 APRIL 2019 AT 11AM 137 1916-1922 Rising Medal andWar of Independence medal to Herbert Conroy, veteran GPO Garrison and ‘Squad’member. Awarded posthumously to Conroy, a 1916 Rising bronze medal on green and orange silk poplin ribbon, the reverse numbered ‘180’ and named ‘HERBERT CONROY’, in box of issue; and a 1917-1921 War of Independence Service medal, with Comhrac bar, the reverse numbered ‘590’ and named ‘HERBERT CONROY’, with tunic ribbon, in box of issue. (2) Provenance: Rescued by the current owner from a bonfire during renovations of a building in Marino c. 1988. Herbert Conroy was watching a British Army recruitment event in Fairview with a friend John ‘Sonny’ Newman, when they were approached by James Canny a local plasterer and Irish Volunteer. Canny suggested that joining the Volunteers was a better option than taking the King’s shilling. The boys agreed and Conroy was eventually inducted into E Company, 2nd Battalion, Dublin Brigade. On Easter Monday 1916 Conroy was deployed to the Hibernian Bank on Sackville Street and later the to the GPO. After the surrender he was arrested and sent to Knutsford Prison and thence to Frongoch. Conroy was extremely active in the War of Independence and gained the reputation of a useful man to have around in a fight. He was seconded to Michael Collins’‘Squad’ in 1920 and was one of the group sent to 38 Upper Mount Street to assassinate Lieutenant Peter Ashmun Ames and Captain George Bennett, important figures in the ‘Cairo Gang’. One ‘Squad’member, Frank Teeling was captured in the aftermath of the Bloody Sunday assassinations and imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol. Herbert Conroy came up with the plan for his rescue and convinced a prison guard to smuggle a bolt-cutters into the gaol. On 15 February 1921 Teeling escaped from Kilmainham along with Ernie O’Malley and Simon Donnelly. He was also involved in the attack on and burning of the RIC barracks in Raheny and, in May 1921, he assisted in the capture and burning of the Customs House. Conroy was commissioned Captain in the National Army but resigned to join An Garda Síochána in 1923. He died of tuberculosis in 1926, aged 30. Estimate €5000-€7000 (approx £4,370-£6,110) Click Here for Large Images & To Bid 137 138 1916 Rising Service Medal. To an unknown recipient, in original box of issue. Estimate €1000-€1500 (approx £870-£1,310) Click Here for Large Images & To Bid 138