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

91 1920 (August) photographs of buildings destroyed in an anti- Catholic pogrom in Lisburn. (12) Each photograph has inscribed on reverse the name of the owner/s of the burnt out buildings, some with people in front - probably the inhabitants of destroyed homes. A unique photographic record of one of the many pogroms in Northern Ireland in the 1920s. 6 by 4in. (15.2 by 10.2cm) Condition: One with creased corner, some slightly faded or discoloured, generally very good. On Sunday 22 August 1920 RIC District Inspector Oswald Swanzy was assasinated by the IRA in Lisburn. Swanzy was targeted by the IRA who believed that he was implicated in the killing of Tomás MacCurtain in Cork. This sparked a pogrom against the local Catholic population with numerous houses and commercial premises burnt to the ground by mobs of Protestants, including members of the Royal Ulster Special Constabulary. Many of the minority Catholic inhabitants fled the town, never to return. Estimate €400-€600 (approx £340-£520) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 91 92 1921 (16 April) Cork IRA notice of destruction of a house at Rockmills as reprisal for destruction of houses of Republicans by the crown forces, and related documents. (4) 16 April 1921 typed letter headed ‘Óglaig na h-Éireann’ Headquarters Cork No. 2 Brigade to C.D. Oliver Esq., Rockmills House; 26 May 1922 a further typed letter from same IRA Brigade to Oliver demanding ‘a Levy of 3/- in the £ valuation’.; 1 June 1922 handwritten reply from Mr Oliver, pointing out that the IRA had destroyed the house a year previous and that he shouldn’t have to pay. Also with this lot architect’s floor plans of the house inscribed ‘as improved by C.D.O., and burned on the day it was finished.’ Fascinating correspondence. Provenance: Whyte’s, 10 June 2000, lot 231. Condition: Slight faults, very good. Estimate €300-€500 (approx £260-£430) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 92 History 62