THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR 6 APRIL 2025

120 194 1922 (10 May) Liam Lynch letter to Hannah Condon Cleary during the siege of The Four Courts. A very rare letter from Liam Lynch to Hannah Cleary Condon, his godmother and Cuman na mBan senior officer in East Limerick. “I assure you there is no one more upset than I am that past comrades in arms should now be shooting one another down... There can be unity if all forces will uphold the established Republic now as in the past. It is too degrading to accept a Treaty which brings them within the British Empire even if it were only for a short period.” Ends “Hope to see you all before a few weeks” Typescript on Óglaigh na hÉireann, Dublin Four Courts headed paper. A unique and important historical document. 9.75 by 8in. (24.8 by 20.3cm) Condition: Slight stains and folds, very good , attractively framed and glazed with a memoriam card for ‘General Liam Lynch’. Provenance: Hannah Cleary Condon; Thence by descent; Their sale, Whyte’s, 13 November 2010, lot 230; Private collection. Lynch was born in the townland of Barnagurraha, Co. Limerick, near Mitchelstown, Cork, to Jeremiah and Mary Kelly Lynch. During his first 12 years of schooling he attended Anglesboro School near where his godmother Hannah Cleary Condon, the daughter of Fenian Willie Condon lived. He was a very effective commander in the IRA campaign in Munster, particularly in Co. Cork, and evaded capture and death several times, while wreaking havoc on British forces in the area. He was opposed to the Treaty and joined Generals McKelvey, O’Connor Mellows, Barrett and other senior IRA officers and a large contingent of Volunteers who had occupied the Four Courts when they were attacked by the army. After McKelvey was captured Liam Lynch became Chief of Staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA forces. He was opposed to De Valera’s decision to end the war and managed to prolong the conflict until he was killed in a gun battle with the National Army on 10 April 1923. Estimate €5,000-€7,000 (approx £4,170-£5,830) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 194