Irish publican Louis Fitzgerald has been revealed as the new owner of a walking stick once owned by republican leader Michael Collins.
The item, which sold for £52,000 last week, was among a number of historical pieces up for sale at Bloomfield Auctions in Belfast.
Other items included Royal Irish Constabulary files tracking Collins' activities during the War of Independence, which sold for £8,600.
Also up for sale was a gate from inside one of the Maze prison H-Blocks that went to a buyer for £340, and a service medal from the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin inside its original box.
The walking stick, made of rosewood with a silver tip and described in the sale as "unremarkable", was only expected to sell for around £10,000.
However, in the end, it sold for £52,000 to well-known publican, Louis Fitzgerald, who owns a string of Irish bars, having purchased his first pub at the age of 23.
The item was delivered to the Tipperary man on Thursday night amid plans to hang it up in his favourite pub, An Poitín Stil on the outskirts of Dublin.
It will stand surrounded by other historic relics Mt Fitzgerald has collected during his 50 years in business including a football from Bloody Sunday, records relating to the Titanic and one of Michael Flatley’s Riverdance shoes.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, he said: "The stick is going to be there for everybody to see, rather than having it locked up".
