BY PAULINE MURPHY
A LOCK of Michael Collins’ hair is among the historical items that will go under the hammer in Kilkenny next week.
The lock of Collins’ hair was cut as he lay in state.
The auction at Fonsie Mealy’s Auctioneers in Kilkenny takes place on Tuesday, July 30th and features many historical items on offer, with several interesting pieces connected to Collins.
Lot 635 is a lock of the Big Fella’s hair taped to a patriotic postcard inscribed Erin go Bragh. The small lock of chestnut brown hair was cut from the head of Collins as he lay in state in 1922. This intimate item belonged to Major General Felix Cronin and the card is dated 1925, the same year Cronin married Kitty Kiernan, the tragic fiancée of Michael Collins.
This very rare item previously sold at Belfast’s Bloomfield auction room in 2022 where it fetched a whopping €21,000. This time the estimate is a very modest €5,000- €7,000 but, it is expected to sell for a lot more.
Lot 634 is catalogued as ‘The Big Fella’s Buttons’ - a collection of nine brass Irish Free State army uniform buttons. Mounted and framed in a hardwood box, this unique item comes with a handwritten note dated 1933 from Mary Collins Powell (sister of Michael Collins) to General Eoin O’Duffy stating that the buttons were found in her dead brother’s tunic pocket August 22nd 1922, the day he died at Béal na Bláth.
The buttons last went under the hammer in 2012 at Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers where they sold for €4,250. The current expected selling price is between €7,000-€10,000.
Lot 636 is a set of heavy steel handcuffs and key said to have been used by Michael Collins. The cuffs are estimated to sell for between €2,000 and €3,000 and were gifted by Collins’ nephew to a priest who was a family friend.
Lot 615 is ‘The Curragh Camp Tri-Colour.’ The large machine-stitched flag is reputed to be the first one flown over the Curragh Camp following the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1921. Colonel Sean Collins Powell, a nephew of Michael Collins, served as O/C of the army’s training camp at the Curragh and gifted the flag to the family of Capt R.J Thompson. The historic flag is expected to sell for between €1,000 - €1,500.
Lot 796 is a gold 1921 Leinster Hurling Final medal won by Dublin. The Leinster final took place in Croke Park between Dublin and Kilkenny in September 1921 and was attended by 17,000 spectators, including Michael Collins. Before the match he addressed the two teams and stood for photographs before throwing in the sliotar to start the game. The medal has an estimated hammer price of between €700 - €900.
Like any items connected to Michael Collins, interest will be intense when these ones go under the hammer at the end of the month.
