Whyte's THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR TIMED ON-LINE AUCTION 18 APRIL 2026

94 157 1914-1915. An extraordinary file of secret documents fromMI5 concerning Irish Nationalists importing weapons into Ireland. From the personal archive of Colonel Frank Hall, a MI5 (British Intelligence) officer operating in Ireland1914-1922: copy letter from a Belgian diplomat about the offer by Colonel [Maurice] Moore to sell German arms to Belgium, 3 February 1914; notes on armaments from Germany, signedW.M.; copy telegram to [Joseph] Devlin in Dublin from Moore offering ‘implements’ and cartridges, 4 January 1915, and of a censored telegram from [Alice] Green Two copies annotated by Frank Hall of a report headed ‘SECRET’ relating to a movement afoot to provide arms (13 January 1915) with reference to ‘notorious pro-Germans, associates and confederates of CASEMENT’; list of those conspiring to provide arms for the Nationalist Volunteers, including associates of Casement, 12 January 1915; copies of (intercepted) telegrams and copy letters between Kettle and Moore; long letter to Hall, Dublin, 10 August 1914, describing a meeting with Colonel Moore and Captain [FitzRoy] Hamphill; list of volunteers who attended Raheen Manor training depot; copy letters annotated by FH; flimsy precis of correspondence about the purchase of arms (Moore / Kettle/ Casement), 4 pages folio; copy letter to Moore from Irish Volunteers Inspector General’s Office, Dublin, 8 November 1915, 3 pages folio; copies of telegrams and letters, 4 pages folio, December 1914 - January 1915; reports from the Irish Government on seditious publications, arms trafficking etc., 6 pages and covering notes, 14 pages folio in all, with FH’s note attached ‘DESTROY when perused’; W[ar] O[ffice] file ‘Genl No 5 / 479’ 24/12/1914, concerning the ‘wait and see’ attitude of the British government, heavily annotated in red, probably by Frank Hall. With Extracts of reports from G.O.C. Troops, Ireland to the Secretary of the War Office, 9/12/1918. Also three envelopes to Frank Hall’s relation in Newry, posted from Dublin uo to November 1922 showing he was still active during the Provisional Government of Ireland period. Truly amazing documents from a very important British spy. Condition: Mainly very good. Provenance: Lieutenant Colonel Frank Hall & MI5; By descent to the previous owner; Their sale, Chorley’s, 22 March 2016, ex lot 525; Private collection. Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Hall (1876-1964) was from an old Irish landowning family of NarrowWater, Co. Down. He had joined the army in 1895, and after only a short career retired for the first time in 1911. He soon became involved in the paramilitary politics of Northern Ireland and became Military Secretary of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). He was a member of the committee responsible for organising the landing and distribution of arms for the UVF, although perhaps not aware that they had come from Germany. When arms were run into Larne and Bangor, Hall’s contribution to the exercise was in an intelligence role, aiming to confuse the constabulary and army around Belfast and disrupting telephone communications. In 1913 he imported Maxim guns from London, and in 1914 he was offered a job there, joining MI5, becoming the first ‘Q’ of Military Intelligence. Estimate €5,000-€7,000 (approx £4,350-£6,090) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 157