Pearse surrender letter sells for €700,000

A surrender letter handwritten by Pádraig Pearse at the time of the 1916 Rising has sold for €700,000 at auction - 10 times its guide price.

The letter, dated April 30th, 1916, the day after the surrender, was bought by a telephone bidder from outside Ireland despite strong competition from the floor at James Adam's auctioneers in Dublin last night.

A guide price of €50,000 to €80,000 had been set, however the letter exceeded this within the first minute of bidding.

The National Heritage Conservation Group, which had unsuccessfully lobbied the State to purchase the letter on behalf of the National Museum, made several bids for the document but was forced to retire at €95,000.

The founder of the group, heritage campaigner and chairman of Kilmainham Gaol Museum Damien Cassidy, who attended the auction, said he was disappointed the Government had made no attempt to secure the letter.

"We tried everything possible to interest the State, but as with Lissadel House (the former home of Countess Markievicz, Co Sligo) they wouldn't listen."

Keeper of arts and industrial division of the National Museum, Michael Kenny had said they were unlikely to be interested in making a bid as they had two surrender documents already.

There were thought to be four or five of these handwritten documents by Pádraig Pearse which he sent out to garrisons at Bolands Mills, Jacobs Factory and Church Street.

The National Museum has a copy of one dated April 29th, 1916 and the other dated April 30th. The National Library has an early draft document written on cardboard. The official type-written surrender document is in the Imperial War Museum in London. That was unique as it was typed by the British and signed by Pearse and James Connolly.

Mr Cassidy said the letter sold last night had a unique historical significance as it was believed to be the final surrender note.

"This is believed to be the last official letter Pearse wrote. I can't understand why museum curators and university academics didn't lobby the State to buy it, but maybe they did and got the same response as us," he said.

"If this letter goes abroad, we won't see it again, it will double in value instantly. I only hope it has gone into Irish hands and that the bidder will be willing to put it on display in an Irish museum."

He added, that the letter might have been secured by a museum, if the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, had established a National Trust.

"It has taken a telephone bid of €700,000 to put a value on our heritage. The sooner Minister Roche sets up the National Trust the better."