Some 400 items from the personal archive of Tom Clarke, the first signatory of the 1916 Proclamation, were acquired by the National Library at this week's auction of material linked to Irish independence.
The collection, for which the library paid €200,000, includes some 300 letters between Clarke, one of the first leaders to be executed after the Rising, and his wife, as well as letters he wrote while imprisoned for Fenian activities.
"When catalogued, it will be an invaluable source for scholars, researchers and others interested in Irish social and political history in the early years of the 20th century in particular," said library director Aongus Ó hAonghusa. "We're very happy. We got virtually everything we were looking for."
Other items acquired by the library include material concerning Clarke's residency in New York and involvement in Irish-American politics. There is also a collection of material relating to Clarke's father, James Clarke, a sergeant in the British army, a cache of documents relating to the organisation of O'Donovan Rossa's funeral in 1915.
There are accounts in Clarke's handwriting of payments for arms purchased in 1914 and an illuminated address to Clarke, with a list of subscribers including the Fenian leader James Stephens and Maud Gonne.
One item of particular interest in the collection is a letter from the Irish-American leader, John Devoy, to Clarke's widow, Kathleen, in 1921, claiming that Éamon de Valera "is not a sincere republican and wants to keep Ireland in the British empire". Devoy, who quarrelled during de Valera's US mission, added that he was "really a half-breed Jew and his mother was a 'Palatine', that is of German descent".
A Tricolour believed to have flown above the GPO during the 1916 Rising was sold yesterday for €600,000.
The linen flag, initially offered for sale on Wednesday at the James Adam and Mealy auction, was withdrawn at €560,000. But an anonymous bidder, believed to be Irish, contacted the auctioneers and offered €600,000.
The auction realised €3.4 million.