Republican: Militaria, A rare 1919-21 War of Independence Ma...

Hammer

€1,700

Republican: Militaria, A rare 1919-21 War of Independence Mauser 'Peter the Painter' Pistol, with wooden holster (converting to stock) marked 'Waffenfabrik Mauser Oberndorf A. Neckar', serial number: 172760. (1)

Provenance: Joe Kelly (O'Kelly) Ballaghaderren, Adjutant of 4th Battalion East Mayo Brigade (which incorporated several companies in West Roscommon), a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
O'Kelly and Alec McCabe stole a car out of a garage in Ballaghaderreen Easter Monday night and headed toward Tubbercurry in Sligo in order to muster men and gather them together for show of force. The attempt proved futile as they had gotten only a few miles out of town when the car broke down. Seeing headlights on the road and assuming it was British transport, the two parted company, each making his way to his own home turf. O'Kelly was arrested after the Rising for his Sinn Féin sympathies and sent to Her Majesty's Prison at Lewes on the 20th of May. He was later sent to "The Irish University", Frongoch. As part of Lloyd George's appeal to American sympathies (he needed their support in World War I), Kelly was released seven months after arrest.

It was a decision the Crown was soon to regret. In 1917 O'Kelly was again arrested after his return from County Longford, where he had helped with the Joe McGuinness election. While walking down the street in Ballaghaderreen, two Constables grabbed him and announced they were taking him to the barracks. He drew his pistol and in the ensuing scuffle, the two policemen were shot---although not seriously. Joe was sent to Dublin for trial and from thence to Dundalk where, at the time, hunger strikes were taking place. After three weeks on hunger strike, Joe was released and returned "back to his old post as secretary of the Sinn Féin Club and Volunteer organiser."
 
Joe sailed across the Irish Sea and became active as a gun-runner in Liverpool: purchasing, storing and shipping arms to Ireland. He also participated in the burning of the Liverpool docks on 28 November 1920. Kelly took the Anti-Treaty side during the Civil War and was arrested near Ballaghaderreen by troops under Alec McCabe on 25 August 1922. He was taken to Sligo gaol from which he escaped in mid-October. In late October he was named O/C of the Flying Column because Seamus Mulrennan had been killed. His leadership was short-lived. He was recaptured at Markree Castle on 14 November 1922. Four decades later he was elected chairman of the Commemorative Committee that erected the monumental Elphin IRA statue. Kelly died in 1966

*The Western People, "Service in Ballaghaderreen" by John McPhillips, 19 September 1964.