Paper signed by Collins is up for auction

BY PAULINE MURPHY 

A MILITARY dispatch from Michael Collins will go under the hammer this weekend. 

What makes this small piece of paper interesting is the fact that it was written just days before the Big Fella met his death at Beal na Bláth. 

Matthews Auctions, based in Kells, Co Meath, will hold an online auction over two days, November 28th and 30th. Among the many items that will attract much interest is lot 838, a small scrap of paper dated August 18th 1922 and signed ‘M O’Coilean C in C.’

The Civil War dispatch is mounted in a frame and is from the library of the late Donal Morain, former chief executive of Gael Linn. 

The historic item was given to Mr Morain by his uncle Finian Lynch, a 1916 veteran and Minister for Education in the 1922 Dáil. 

The dispatch has an estimated price of €7,000-€12,000 but, with high interest in Michael Collins memorabilia, it is expected to exceed that. Recently, a walking stick reputedly owned by Collins sold at auction for £52,000, five times its estimate price.