A WALKING stick owned by Michael Collins has sold for £52,000 at an auction in Belfast.
The item was among a number of historical pieces sold at Bloomfield Auctions yesterday, which also included Royal Irish Constabulary files tracking Irish republican icon Collins' activities during the War of Independence.
The stick, made of rosewood with a silver tip and described in the sale as "unremarkable", was only expected to sell for around £10,000, with bidding standing at £8,200 the night before the sale.
It has been in the hands of a private collector for over 40 years, and was accompanied with a letter of provenance to outline its link to Collins, who was assassinated in 1922.
Meanwhile, the police intelligence files on Collins sold for £6,800.
Also up for sale at the auction yesterday 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 lot featured art and crafts created by loyalist and republican Troubles prisoners, alongside items such as drinks glasses from the former RUC Training Centre in Enniskillen, batches of newspapers from the height of the conflict, and baton rounds.
Meanwhile, private collectors from the north claimed two historical items not associated with Ireland - a cream jug and spoon from a train carriage used by Nazis Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels. They sold for £1,700 and the spoon for £1,100 respectively.
Auctioneer Karl Bennett said yesterday ahead of the sale that a politician from Collins' home county of Cork had expressed interest and even asked the Irish government to buy the walking stick. Others interested in acquiring the item included museums and private collectors.
"Today saw an auction house record," he said.
"We are delighted to see it go to someone in the south. At this stage we don’t know who that is but we’re sure it will go to a good home."
