Remarkable Collection of History & Craftsmanship in Online Auction 9/15

A ticket relating to the historic Dublin v Tipperary football match played at Croke Park on 21 November 1920, a day that became forever known as Bloody Sunday. During the match, Crown forces entered Croke Park and opened fire on players and spectators. Fourteen people lost their lives, including Tipperary footballer Michael Hogan.

The ticket is a striking piece of memorabilia commemorating one of the most significant and tragic events in both GAA and Irish revolutionary history.

A beautifully crafted wooden model of the traditional Irish harp, believed to have been made by a prisoner at Long Kesh. Prison handicrafts became an important and highly distinctive form of material culture during the Troubles, with prisoners producing accomplished pieces of woodwork including harps and Celtic crosses.

While the precise maker and provenance of this example have not been established, its form is closely associated with the tradition of prisoner-made craft from Long Kesh/Maze.

An intriguing painting depicting the interior of Dublin's General Post Office during the Easter Rising, attributed to Micheál Mac Ruaidhrí (Michael Rogers), a close associate of Patrick Pearse and a participant in the 1916 Rising. The painting bears a very faint apparent signature or inscription scratched into the painted surface, which is currently being researched.

Rogers was a teacher of practical gardening at Pearse's St Enda's School in Rathfarnham and a highly regarded Irish-language storyteller and writer. Despite severe visual impairment and being in his mid-fifties, he joined the Volunteers and participated in the Rising as a member of E Company, 4th Battalion. Contemporary accounts place him at the GPO during Easter Week before Pearse sent him back to St Enda's. He was subsequently arrested and imprisoned in Stafford and Frongoch.

Painted on plywood and inscribed “Post Office – Easter Week 1916,” the work is particularly fascinating because its composition closely corresponds with Walter Paget's celebrated image of the interior of the GPO, Scene in the General Post Office, Dublin, just before its evacuation. Easter Week, 1916.

The precise relationship between the two works remains the subject of ongoing research. Rogers was present in the GPO during the Rising, whereas Paget was an English illustrator who was not present. Whether this painting preceded Paget's composition, was influenced by it, or whether both derived from another source has not yet been established.

Victor Mee Auctions is continuing to research the work and its attribution.

A wonderfully decorative collection of three hand-carved Irish bog oak harps, richly worked with traditional Irish motifs including shamrocks and Celtic-style ornament.

Bog oak occupies a special place in Irish decorative arts. Preserved for centuries — and sometimes millennia — beneath Ireland's peat bogs, the ancient timber was particularly fashionable during the 19th century, when Irish craftsmen transformed it into jewellery, ornaments and intricately carved objects celebrating Ireland's history and national identity.

The harp is one of Ireland's oldest and most enduring national symbols, making these miniature examples particularly evocative pieces of Irish craftsmanship.

A rare and wonderfully characterful piece of 19th-century Irish pottery from Coalisland, County Tyrone, modelled with a bird amongst applied flowers and foliage on a naturalistic textured ground. Its whimsical modelling and distinctly Irish provenance make it a particularly charming example of the country's lesser-known pottery tradition.

The piece bears the red printed mark “The Ulster Pottery of Coalisland Ireland” to the underside.

Coalisland pottery represents a fascinating chapter in Ireland's ceramic history, and surviving examples are keenly collected today. This vase forms part of a private collection of eight Coalisland pieces being offered individually in the Irish Heritage Collection Sale.

An exceptionally rare Irish painted pine hedge chair, traditionally attributed to a Lough Neagh boat builder. Its wonderfully sculptural form, with sweeping interlaced arms and back, reflects the ingenuity of Ireland's vernacular furniture-making tradition, where chairs were often individually constructed by local craftsmen rather than commercial furniture makers.

Retaining layers of wonderfully worn red paint and the marks of generations of use, the chair has enormous character and is a striking survivor of traditional Irish domestic life.

At just 88 cm high, it is also a wonderfully collectable example of Irish vernacular furniture.

But much of the collection tells a quieter story of Ireland.

Irish vernacular furniture forms one of the cornerstones of the auction, with regional pieces from around the country including hedge chairs and traditional kitchen dressers. Among them is an extremely rare early 20th-century painted pine hedge chair made by a Lough Neagh boat builder, together with examples from Counties Fermanagh, Meath, Galway and Monaghan.

A substantial collection of 19th-century Killarney work includes intricately decorated pieces made from native Irish woods and featuring some of Ireland’s most recognisable symbols and landmarks.

Leading the group is an Irish Killarney wood arbutus and marquetry davenport, decorated with a crowned harp, eagle and deer, shamrocks, thistles and roses, as well as views of the Swiss Cottage, Muckross House and other historic buildings. It is estimated at €10,000–€15,000.

An expansive collection of Irish bog oak ranges from carved harps, boxes and desk pieces to objects decorated with wolfhounds, round towers, shamrocks and other distinctly Irish imagery.
Traditional Irish pottery provides another link to the country's domestic past.

Scarce examples of 19th-century Coalisland Ulster Pottery will be offered alongside traditional Irish spongeware, including a 19th-century potato bowl decorated with roses and hearts and a pair of flower-decorated mugs.


The tradition represented by these pieces would later provide inspiration for one of Ireland’s best-known contemporary pottery makers, Nicholas Mosse Pottery, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
Potter Nicholas Mosse, who is himself a collector of traditional Irish spongeware, said: “Traditional Irish spongeware has always been an important influence on our work. I have collected it myself and have always loved the simple, honest shapes and the way the decoration works with the form of each piece. When we started Nicholas Mosse Pottery 50 years ago, we wanted to take that wonderful old Irish tradition and give it a new life. It is lovely to see these early pieces still being appreciated and collected today.”

Speaking ahead of the auction, Victor Mee said:

“This is a sale we've been working towards for well over a year, setting aside pieces as we found them and waiting until we had a collection that really warranted an auction of its own. What makes it particularly special is the breadth of Irish history represented. There are pieces connected with some of the defining moments in our history, but equally there are objects that tell us about everyday life in Irish homes and the craftsmen who made them.”
He added that good examples of Irish vernacular furniture and traditional craftsmanship are becoming increasingly difficult to find, describing the bog oak represented in the auction as the most expansive and impressive collection the auction house has encountered.

For Irish people overseas and descendants of those who left Ireland generations ago, the collection offers an opportunity to explore - and potentially own - objects intimately connected with Ireland’s history and material culture.
From humble spongeware once intended for everyday use to intricately carved bog oak and Killarney work, the collection reflects traditions that travelled far beyond Ireland itself and remain instantly evocative of home for generations of the Irish diaspora.

The Irish Heritage Collection Sale takes place live online from Victor Mee Auctions in County Cavan, Ireland, at 2pm Irish time on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.

The complete 508-lot catalogue is available through the Victor Mee Auctions website, with international online bidding available in advance and throughout the sale.