Adam's Important Irish Art & Irish Historical Documents December 2016 : Click Lot Title for More Info

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A poster headed ‘STOP PRESS’ and communicating General Rory O’
Connor’s message from the Four Courts, effectively announcing the
beginning of the Civil War. 28 June 1922. 49 x 33cm, (19.5 x 13”)
‘At 3.40am this morning we received a note signed by Tom Ennis
demanding on behalf of “the Government” our surrender at 4am. He
opened attack at 4.07am in the name of his Government, with Rifle,
Machine and field pieces. The boys are glorious, and will fight for the
Republic to the end..Three casualties so far, all slight. Father Albert and
Father Dominic with us here..’
Republican forces garrisoned the Four Courts in April 1922, as tensions
mounted over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. They were not disturbed for some
time, while various mediators tried to reconcile the pro- and anti-Treaty
groups. Matters came to a head in late June, when Republicans from
the Four Courts led by Ernie O’Malley detained Free State Army’s deputy
Chief of Staff, ‘Ginger’ O’Connell. In London Churchill warned the Free
State Government that it must impose its authority, or the British would
do it for them. The Minister for Defence, Michael Collins, backed into
a corner, was forced to borrow heavy artillery from British forces still
stationed near Dublin. They opened fire at 4am on 28 June
The present poster was distributed during the course of that morning
while the shells were falling across the Liffey. It was evidently composed
and printed in great haste and under strain. Very few copies have sur-
vived, and it is one of the rarest significant documents of the period and
also one of the saddest.
Provenance: Purchased in these rooms, Lot 32, Important Irish Art, 25th
May 2005
€500-1,000
A rare full sheet of ‘’Celtic Cross’’ Sinn Fein Propaganda Labels, c.
1916, the sheet having 72 stamps in 8 columns and 9 rows, with blank
edging and loosely mounted on a larger sheet bearing the inscription
“Taken from the Rebels after the retaking of the Post Office. Dublin
May 1916. Brought to me by an officer in my regiment - 4th Bat. Royal
Irish Fusiliers”. Each label depicts a Celtic Cross with ringed centre,
inscribed ‘’Eire’’ & ‘’Sinn Fein’’ & decorated with shamrocks. These
labels were first printed in 1908 with the intention of attaching them
to all Sinn Fein Correspondence on the opposite side to the British
postage stamp, as a visible sign of Irish Nationalism and to raise funds
for the Sinn Fein cause.
Together with an attached “Manchester Martyrs” propaganda label
and a Lafayette black and white half length portrait of James Connolly,
printed on card, 14.5 x 10cm, with printed inscription “Yours, fighting
and hoping, James Connolly”.
Provenance: Collection of Lt. Col. J.C.W. Madden, who commanded a
battalion of the Irish Fusiliers in Dublin during 1916.
Provenance: Sold in these rooms, Lot 34, Important Irish Art, 25th
May 2005; Previously from the collection of Lt. Col. J.C.W. Madden,
who commanded a battalion of the Irish Fusiliers in Dublin during
1916.
€1,000-2,000