WHYTE'S THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR 13 MAY 2023

127 History THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR · TIMED ON-LINE AUCTION 28 April - 30 May 2023 239 1920 (21 November) ‘Bloody Sunday’ GAA football ticket for Tipperary v Dublin Challenge Match. Card ticket, Admission 1/-, for the game at which Crown forces shot at the crowd attending and killed 14. Rare. Condition: Very good, slight edge bumps On the morning of November 21st, an elite assassination unit known as ‘The Squad’mounted an operation planned by Michael Collins, Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Their orders were clear – they were to take out the backbone of the British Intelligence network in Ireland, specifically a group of officers known as ‘The Cairo Gang’. The shootings took place in and around Dublin’s south inner city and resulted in fourteen deaths, including six intelligence agents and two members of the British Auxiliary Force. Later that afternoon, Dublin were scheduled to play Tipperary in a one-off challenge match at Croke Park, the proceeds of which were in aid of the Republican Prisoners Dependents Fund. Tensions were high in Dublin due to fears of a reprisal by Crown forces following the assassinations. Despite this a crowd of almost 10,000 gathered in Croke Park. Throw-in was scheduled for 2.45pm, but it did not start until 3.15pm as crowd congestion caused a delay. Eye-witness accounts suggest that five minutes after the throw-in an aeroplane flew over Croke Park. It circled the ground twice and shot a red flare - a signal to a mixed force of Royal Irish Constabulary (R.I.C.), Auxiliary Police and Military who then stormed into Croke Park and opened fire on the crowd. Amongst the spectators, there was a rush to all four exits, but the army stopped people from leaving the ground and this created a series of crushes around the stadium. Along the Cusack Stand side, hundreds of people braved the twenty-foot drop and jumped into the adjacent Belvedere Sports Grounds. The shooting lasted for less than two minutes. That afternoon in Croke Park, 14 people including one player (Michael Hogan from Tipperary), lost their lives. It is estimated that 60 to 100 people were injured. Estimate €8000-€12000 (approx £7,020-£10,530) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 239