1916 PROCLAMATION RETRIEVED BY WEXFORD MAN TO BE AUCTIONED
A surviving copy of the 1916 Proclamation that was taken from a wall in the GPO as the rebels surrendered, is to be auctioned.
The poster was retrieved by a young Wexford medical student – one of the last men to leave the burning building.
James Ryan was attending the wounded James Connolly when he grabbed the proclamation and ran from the GPO as the building went up in flames.
A native of Tomcoole in Taghmon – James Ryan was a final year medical student at the time and went on to become a long standing TD and government minister representing Wexford.
Following the rising he was arrested and sent to prison in England and Wales.
The proclamation remained in his family until his death in 1970 after which it was subsequently sold to a private collector.
That collector is now putting it up for auction on the 23rd of April – the eve of the centenary of the Rising.
The auction is taking place at Fonsie Mealy’s auction rooms in Castlecomer and is expected to fetch in the region of 150,000 euro.
