Questions over the provenance of an Irish tricolour claimed to have been taken from the GPO during the Easter Rising.
An Irish flag with a guide price of between five and seven hundred thousand dollars has failed to sell at auction in New York. A previous attempt to sell the same flag in Dublin four years ago was also unsuccessful.
The flag is claimed to have been captured at the General Post Office during the Easter Rising in 1916, but some historians have raised doubts about its provenance.
The tricolour was billed by Whyte and Sons Auctioneers as,
A flag of enormous historical importance.
It is claimed to be the only known full size tricolour remaining from the Easter Rising.
Ian Whyte, managing director of Whyte and Sons Auctioneers says it is an important relic of a very important event in Irish history. Some historians have concerns over the provenance of the flag. Lorcan Collis, author and founder of the 1916 Walking Tour, said that given the good condition of the flag, he would be very cautious about saying it was definitely the flag from the GPO.
Whyte and Sons Auctioneers say the flag was captured at the GPO by an Irish man who was serving in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. The story goes that he subsequently passed it on to a Belfast doctor. The auctioneers say they have the written evidence to prove the flag is authentic. A handwritten note from the Belfast doctor says that he received the flag from Sgt Davis of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who got it from the GPO.
Whyte and Sons Auctioneers say they are 99 per cent certain they can place the flag in the GPO and would not guarantee the provenance if they were not.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 23 March 2010. The reporter is Kathleen MacMahon.
