WHEN THE hammer fell at the auction of IRA “Prisoner Art” by Martin McGuinness in Dublin on Saturday afternoon, a moment of stunned silence greeted the unexpectedly high price achieved.
Then, from the back of the saleroom, a man defused the tension by shouting out: “Five thousand for a pile of ‘oul matchsticks”. Auctioneer Ian Whyte jokily responded that, like items associated with Michael Collins, “in a hundred years time it’ll be going for a hundred grand”.
“In six weeks time”, rather, the man retorted – a reference to Mr McGuinness’s candidacy to be President of Ireland. Mr Whyte prompted laughter among bidders when he said: “the Office of Public Works might have to buy it and put it in the Aras”.
The successful bid was €5,200 for a wooden model of a traditional Irish round tower “complete with windows and entry ladder”, built by Mr McGuinness while he was incarcerated in Portlaoise Prison in 1974. The sculpture, made entirely of matchsticks, was one of the highlights in a sale of Irish historical collectibles by Whyte’s, the fine art auctioneers.
The piece was sold “on behalf of the family” of the late Fr Jimmy Shiels who was the parish priest on Aranmore island off the Donegal coast when he died in 2004. He was reputedly friendly with Mr McGuinness and visited the former IRA leader in prison. Mr McGuinness had been jailed for terrorism offences by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
The 12-inch high round tower sits atop a wooden base which is inscribed: “To Fr Jimmy from Martin — Portlaoise Jail 1974”, and had been assigned a pre-sale estimate of €1,000 to €1,500.
Bidding opened at €1,000 and was fast and furious until the hammer fell at €5,200. The buyer was understood to be an American collector, one of a number of anonymous telephone bidders.
Presidential candidate-in-waiting Senator David Norris, who happened to be canvassing around the corner from the auction in Dawson Street, said, after being told about the auction, that he was “delighted that the Irish art market is doing well”.
Earlier in the sale, a handkerchief, decorated with an image of a “volunteer” holding a tricolour and the inscription “Óglaigh na hÉireann, Long Kesh 1971”, with 66 signatures including that of Gerry Adams, now a TD for Louth, sold for €540, also to a telephone bidder.
Auction-goers seemed startled by a tense bidding battle which later ensued for a collection of press photographs relating to Dominic “Mad Dog” McGlinchey, the leader of the INLA who was shot dead in Drogheda in 1994. An Irish collector based in London, who was in the saleroom, beat off competition from a telephone bidder and paid €4,000. The grisly photographs included images of “bombing scenes”, “the scene of his death” and “his funeral” and had been estimated to sell for between €500 and €700.
The high prices achieved for “Republican” mementoes somewhat overshadowed the sale of an archive of documents relating to the late 19th-century collapse of the Munster Bank which made €1,700, double the estimate. It is understood the archive was acquired by the Cork City and County Archives, an institution funded by the local authorities and UCC.
