‘A real treasure added to our collection’: Cork museum acquires ‘Treaty autograph book’ at recent auction

The Michael Collins Centre has announced the acquisition of a fascinating artefact bought at auction in Dublin recently.

The museum, based at Castleview just outside of Clonakilty, has purchased what it has described as “the Treaty autograph book” containing signatures of the Irish negotiating team involved in the Treaty negotiations in London.

“Following the naming of our museum as ‘Irelands Next Top Visitor Attraction’ for 2023 on the TG4 series, Beidh Mé Ar Ais!, we decided to invest the grant of €5,000 that came with the award in an artefact which came up for sale at Whytes’ auction in Dublin recently.

“You could call the item the ‘the Treaty autograph book’,” the museum explained in a post on social media.

The signatures, the centre said, were collected by Alice Lyons - one of the secretaries with the Irish negotiating team in London during the Treaty talks from October to December of 1921.

“The signatures of the five Irish signatories who signed the Treaty, Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, George Gavan Duffy, Robert Barton and Eamon Duggan, are on the new autograph book.

“The autograph of Erskine Childers is also there and within a year of signing, Griffith, Collins and Childers would all be dead, Childers being executed during the Civil War after being found in possession of a pistol, which had been given to him by Michael Collins,” the museum explained.

It added that some of Michael Collins’ “toughest men” were brought over to London as his security team, including Tom Cullen, Liam Tobin and Frank Thornton and their signatures are also in the book in addition to the signature of Emmet Dalton - in who’s arms Collins died at Béal na Blá.

Other signatures in the book include the signature of Joe O’Reilly, Michael Collins’ great friend and personal assistant from 1917 to 1922 and the signature of artist John Lavery, who painted Michael Collins in London in October 1921 and afterwards laid out in his coffin.

In addition is the signature of another artist, Sean Milroy along with an original cartoon by Milroy.

The Treaty autograph book and the rest of the museum’s collection will be on display from Monday, June 19 when the museum opens for off road casual visitors for the 2023 season.

For more information or to book see michaelcollinscentre.com.