History’s jumble sale
A ticket from the Dublin v Tipperary match of Bloody Sunday 1920 sold for €30,000 last night. Only a month ago, one (apparently in better condition) sold for €7,500.
I was at last night’s auction, in a room so packed that it flowed out into the corridor. These events take on a momentum, generated by publicity, volume and the frenzy that can take hold in a salesroom, and almost everything went for in excess of its estimate. It was fascinating to watch, with real tension at times if two bidders drove each other higher and gasps from the crowd at certain prices reached.
With the 1916 centenary nine years away, the interest, and market, for items relating to the time will only increase. Some see a certain vulgarity in it, and hold a distaste for those willing to “sell our history”, but given that the State bought a lot of items last night (including this Blueshirt uniform) it could be argued that these auctions flush out material that mightn’t otherwise emerge.
It's a fine soft-roader from Volvo, but its success will be a matter of timing