DUBLIN.- On Easter Monday 1916 the Burridge family set out from 86 South Circular Road on an excursion to the Hill of Howth. They went to Amiens Street and bought six third-class excursion tickets to Howth. The party comprised William Burridge (85), his wife Elizabeth, their daughter Justina and her husband Robert Clarke; and their two daughters Muriel (14) and Kathleen (12).

News of the Rising filtered through to Howth during the course of the day. Learning that all trains were cancelled, the family walked home to South Circular Road, eighteen miles away. Tired and footsore they got home safely and decided to keep the partially used tickets as momentoes. Lot 50 is the six partially used Great Northern Railway tickets. Estimate €250-€300.

Elvis’ Irish roots
Hacketstown in County Carlow is an unlikely place for an event to have occurred, which would lead to the birth of Rock n’ Roll. But happen it did. It seems that in August 1775, William Presley, a farmer, got all shook up after being attacked by a group of men in the village. Presley pursued his assailants through the courts. The result of the case is unclear but the court transcript of his statement before the Magistrate is offered as lot 125 in Whytes Eclectic Collector auction on 14 May, estimate €500-€700.

Later in 1775 William Presley left Ireland and travelled with his son Andrew to New Orleans. In 1780, William and his family were living in Carolina and a son called Dunnan was born to him. A year later, they moved to Tennessee where William died in 1802. Dunnan married twice. His third son, also called Dunnan, was born in 1827. In 1863, Dunnan junior’s daughter Rosella was born. Rosella never married but had several children and one of these was a son called Jessie Presley. In 1913, Jesse married Minnie Mae and they gave birth to one Vernon Elvis Presley in 1916. Vernon married Gladys Love Smith in 1933 and their son Elvis Aaron Presley was born in January 1935. 18 years later he recorded ‘That’s All Right Mama’ and Rock n Roll was born.

Mick Jagger by Ron Wood
While best known as the Rolling Stones’ chain-smoking guitarist, Ron Wood’s paralell career is in the visual arts, as a painter. He sticks to what he knows, though and produces images influenced by his life in the music industry. Lots 130 and 131 are limited edition prints by him of Keith Richards and Mick Jagger on stage and are striking portraits of his band mates. Estimate €1,000-€2,000

1893 Wexford All-Ireland medal
Early GAA All-Ireland medals are extremely rare, especially those from the 19th century. Much has changed about the championship, for instance the development of county teams, instead of the top club team representing the county.

Despite being the first county to achieve four All-Ireland senior football championships in a row, All-Ireland football medals awarded to Wexford are also very rare, mainly because all five of the county’s successes in the football championship occurred before 1920. This makes lot 153 in Whytes Eclectic Collector auction doubly rare as it is a medal awarded for Wexford’s first All-Ireland success in either football or hurling. It is a gold medal awarded to Frank Boggan of Young Irelands of Enniscorthy who met Dromtariffe of Cork in the 1893 final. Controversially, the match was stopped following injuries to several players during a pitch invasion. The referee tried to restart the match using substitute players but the Cork team refused to continue. The match was awarded to Wexford who led 1-1 to 0-2.
Lot 153, estimate €5,000-€7,000.

1948 Rugby Grand Slam
Also among the sporting memorabilia in the auction are a porogramme and ticket from the 1948 Ireland vs. Wales Grand Slam decider held in Ravenhill. Ireland, featuring Jack Kyle and Dr Karl Mullen, beat Wales 6 - 3 to win the Grand Slam, a feat not to be repeated until 2009. Lot 156 is a momento of one of the great sporting occaisions, when Ireland won the holy grail of Northern Hemisphere rugby. Estimate €250-€350.

Bing Crosby golfing near Bray
On September 1961 Woodbrook Golf Club near Bray, Co. Wicklow hosted a celebrity charity golf event and the star of the day was Bing Crosby. Crosby’s round was going well until he hit the ball into deep rough, leaving him with a very bad lie. A series of six photographs of Crosby playing the ball were taken by David Shanks, showing him playing to the crowd and succesfully playing the ball. They are attractively framed together. Lot 163, estimate €200-€300.

Now, that’s a 99!
Askey’s have been manufacturing wafer cones for ice cream for over a century. From the outset they used an image of a man in top hat and tails, holding a giant ice cream cone as point of sale advertising. Lot 430 in the Eclectic Collector auction is a rare early 20th century example of the model, estimate €1,500-€2,000.

Cigarettes and Whiskey, advertising for forgotten brands
Corbett’s Whisky of Belfast used character jug with a characture image of an Irish peasant with an ape-like face to promote their spirit. Goodbody’s of Clara used a cigarette smoking huntsman having a series of mishaps to sell their Furze Blossom cigarettes. One can’t help wonder “What are they trying to say?”. The jug is lot 423, estimate €200-€300 and the framed cigarette poster is lot 428, estimate €300-€400.

Tuppeny stamp for €10,000
An unused two penny stamp [lot 397] issued in 1935 is on offer at Whyte’s for between €8,000 and €10,000. Looking very similar to the regular two penny stamp sold at Irish post offices from 1922 to 1968, it only differs in that it is not perforated all around – two vertical sides are imperforate (straight edged). This experimental version was specially created for use in stamp affixing machines – mainly used by small charities and schools - in the 1930s. The ordinary “tuppeny” stamp, issued in the tens of millions, sells for a few cents.

Twenty pence for €7,000
A twenty pence coin dated 1985 [lot 197] is expected to fetch as much as €7,000. These coins were issued in advance of production to various companies and organisations to facilitate calibration of vending machines and other coin operated devices such as telephones, meters etc. According to sources in the Central Bank less than 50 pieces of the 500 or so issued were not returned. To date about ten examples in private hands have been recorded, making it one of the rarest Irish modern coins. Just remember the date – 1985 – no other twenty piece is worth more than its face value.

Twenty quid for €4,000!
A twenty pounds note, [lot 325] issued by the Central Bank of Ireland in 1944, is expected to make in the region of €3,000 to €4,000. The note bears a ‘War Code’, a special random overprint designed to thwart forgers – particularly the Germans who were actively forging British and American notes. Whyte’s previously got a record price of €6,000 for a similar example. By the way £20 in 1944 would have bought you the equivalent of €700 worth of goods today.