WHYTE'S THE HISTORY SALE TIMED ON-LINE AUCTION 1-11 NOVEMBER 2023

55 1913 (9 December) Pádraig Pearse’s membership card for The Irish Volunteers - A unique and extremely valuable relic of Pádraig Pearse, author of The Proclamation of The Irish Republic and Commander in Chief of the Irish Volunteers during The 1916 Rising. A bluecloth covered card 2.5 inches by 4 inches opened out. Inscribed in Pearse’s own hand in indelible pencil: Pádraic Mac Piarais Sgoil Éanna. Numbered 100 in indelible pencil. Datestamped as follows with pencil initials: Date stamped as follows with pencil initials: 9 DEC 1913 6 ‘Nám óm’ DEC 30 1913 6. S. Ó ‘C. (Seamus O’Connor) JAN 6 1914 3 S. Ó ‘C. (Seamus O’Connor) JAN 13 1914 3. P Mac P (Pádraig Pearse in his hand) JAN 20 1914 3. E. M. (Eamon Martin) JAN 27 1914 3. P Mac P (Pádraig Pearse in his hand) Inscribed by former owner Micheál Mac Ruadhrí with his name. 4 by 2.50in. (10.2 by 6.4cm) Provenance: Pádraig Pearse; Margaret Pearse (Pádraig Pearse’s mother) Gifted by Margaret Pearse to Micheál Mac Ruaidri; Thence to his daughter, Bríd; By whom gifted to the family of the present owner Condition: Loss of cloth to covers (see image), otherwise very good. Estimate €150,000-€250,000 (approx £129,310-£215,520) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 55 Micheál Mac Ruaidhrí Dubbed “the greatest seanchaí (storyteller/historian) of our time” by the scholar and patriot Eoin MacNeill, and known to Professor Douglas Hyde, Ireland’s first President, as ‘The Mayo Poet’ because of the musical quality of his Irish, this mentor and confidante to the executed 1916 leader Patrick Pearse, was born in Lower Foghill, near historic Kilcummin, in County Mayo, in 1860. His parents were Seoirse (George) MacRuaidhri (Rogers) and Nancy Cooper. Mac Ruaidhri suffered all his life from poor eyesight and bad vision. As a result, he spent just two days in school, preferring instead to occupy his days with the elders of his area. In the process he amassed and retained a vast knowledge of folklore, sagas, history, song and music, all of which he dearly loved, whilst also gaining a genuine love for and understanding of the soil. As a young man Micheál went to Dublin and worked as a gardener at Stradbrook Estate, Blackrock, before striking up a relationship with the revolutionary and educationalist Patrick Pearse. From the foundation in 1908 of Pearse’s Cullenswood School in Ranelagh, Dublin, Micheaál taught practical gardening and horticulture and in 1910, he, together with his bride, the former Alice Wallace, relocated with Pearse to the Hermitage in Rathfarnham, the site of the future and much celebrated Scoil Eanna -’St. Endas.’The Hermitage was to be the site of a new school for boys based on the ancient Irish custom of fosterage, while Cullenswood became a girls school which Pearse named Scoil Íde . Mac Ruaidhri took up residence in the Gate Lodge which was afterwards referred to as ‘St Enda’s Lodge’. St. Enda’s influence on the 1916 Rising is evident by the list of those participants who taught at or attended the school. In addition to Mac Ruaidhri and his assistant Patrick Donnelly and the patriot Pearse brothers, Patrick andWillie, other revolutionaries such as Thomas MacDonagh, Eamon Ceannt, Con Colbert and Fergus de Burca also taught there, as did the writers Padraic Colum and Standish O Grady. Desmond Ryan who fought in the GPO and and Joseph Sweeney who was a sniper on the roof of the GPO were among the sixteen St. Enda’s pupils who participated in the 1916 Rising. It is known that not only was Mac Ruaidhri a great friend to Pearse, but he also had a huge influence on him and was in truth a sort of father figure to him. He is credited with being the individual who advised Pearse to spend time in Rosmuc Connemara (Mac Ruaidhri was also a great friend of Eamon De Valera and his family). Despite his near blindness, Micheál was the well-known author of five books in the Irish language all of which he wrote under the pseudonym Méarthóg Ghuill and dictated to his daughter Bríd, to Mrs. De Valera and also to Pádraig Pearse. Furthermore, Micheál was a regular contributor to Pearse’s newspaper An Claidheamh Soluis- ‘The Sword of Light”. Mac Ruaidhri was in the G.P.O. Dublin, with Pearse on Easter Monday, 24 April, 1916, and stood beside Pearse as he read aloud the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Regrettably, due to his bad eyesight and the fact that he was 56 years of age at the time, he was ordered back to St. Enda’s by Pearse with instructions to destroy or hide secret documents. Following the suppression of the 1916 Rebellion, Mac Ruaidhrí was arrested and imprisoned in Frongoch Prison, Wales: at the time he was the oldest prisoner in the gaol and spent his days teaching Irish and History to the other rebel inmates. On his release Mac Ruaidhrí returned to St. Enda’s and resumed his career as gardener. Micheál’s younger brother Pat also took part in the 1916 Rising and was also interned in Frongoch. In one of his last letters from Kilmainham Gaol before his execution, Pearse bade his great friend farewell with the following poem: ”Slán leat a Mhichal, Slán leat go deo; Slán leat a Mhícheál As Condae Mhaigheo.” After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922, a treaty he disagreed with, MacRuaidhri took no further part in politics and concentrated instead on his writing and folklore collecting. Those who sought out his wisdom and knowledge included his good friend Eamon De Valera, Dr.Douglas Hyde, and Micheál Ó Tiomaindhe (Michael Timoney 1870-1940). Micheál MacRuaidhrí died, at the age of 76, on 31 May, 1936, at his home, St Enda’s Lodge. Michea?l Mac Ruaidhri was buried in Glasnevin cemetery, Dublin, and is commemorated in his native Foghill with a monument which stands on the site of his birthplace. Note: 7 books belonging to Mac Ruaidhrí, some with stamps of Scoil Eanna, are included with the Irish Volunteers membership card. History 38