Big Fella’s bible up for auction with a guide price of €5k

BY PAULINE MURPHY 

THE bible Michael Collins had in his pocket when he was killed at Béal na Bláth in 1922 is up for auction next week. 

Whyte’s auction room in Dublin will hold its annual ‘Eclectic Collector Auction’ on May 13th. Over 600 artefacts and collectibles spanning Irish social, political and sporting history will go under the hammer. 

Among them is Lot 269,  Michael Collins’ bible, which has an estimated hammer price of €3,000-€5,000. The small bible, now in a specially made case, was published by the Scripture Gift Mission and Naval and Military Bible Society London in 1910. It is stamped with the king’s crown and was one of many bibles supplied to those working in the British Civil Service during the 1900s, where Michael Collins was employed as a young post office clerk in London.

It is interesting that Collins, a Catholic, held onto this bible which would be considered a Protestant one.

The pocket size of the bible suggests it was an easy one to carry around, especially for someone like Collins who was constantly on the move.

The medal awarded to a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary.

Inserted into the bible was a mass card for Catherine Collins, wife of Johhny Collins, Michael’s eldest brother. Catherine, better known as Katty, came from Drinagh. She died from TB in 1921 at the age of 38. 

Collins was very fond of Katty, her brother Sean Hurley worked with him in London and came back to Ireland with him in 1916 to take part in the Easter Rising. Sean would become the only Corkman to die fighting in Dublin during the Easter Rising.

A medal awarded to a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary in West Cork will also go under the hammer at Whyte’s auction.

Lot 122 is titled as ‘1903 (12 July) Royal Humane Society bronze medal for lifesaving to a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary Co Cork.’ The medal has an estimated hammer price of €300-€500.

 The medal is inscribed ‘Denis O’Sullivan July 12 1903.’’ It was awarded to him for the risk he took when saving a boy from drowning in Ballydehob. The boy, named only as Duggan, was found in an unconscious state in 12 feet of water when Constable O’Sullivan swam 300 yards and brought him safely to shore. Apart from being awarded a medal for bravery, O’Sullivan was also promoted. He ended his career in the RIC as a district inspector in 1921.