243

1916 Rising: British Infantry Officers sword presented to Lt. Col. W. E. C. McCammond Royal Irish R

Currency:EUR Category:Collectibles / Historical Memorabilia Start Price:540.00 EUR Estimated At:600.00 - 800.00 EUR
1916 Rising:  British Infantry Officers sword presented to Lt. Col. W. E. C. McCammond Royal Irish R

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2011 Apr 16 @ 13:00 (UTC+1)
Location:The Freemasons Hall - 17 Molesworth Street, Dublin, Dublin, ., Ireland
1916 Rising: British Infantry Officers sword presented to Lt. Col. W. E. C. McCammond Royal Irish Rifles
brass hilt with VR cypher, fishskin and wire grip and brass scabbard

Provenance:
From the property of Lt. Col. W. McCammond, Ross's Auctions, Belfast November 2010.
1845/1854 Pattern British Infantry Officers Sword presented to Lieutenant Colonel W. E. C. McCammond Royal Irish Rifles, commander of Portobello Barracks during the 1916 Rising and when the illegal shootings occurred of Francis Sheehy Skeffington along with two other men. Scabbard inscribed "Lt. Col. W. E. C. McCammond From Maj. Gen. Sir F. S. F. Stokes, August 1909". Sword made by Edward Thurkle and Sons, Soho, London. This company existed between 1876 and 1896 dating the sword sometime between those years. It was presented by Major General F. S. F. Stokes, commander of the 17th Infantry Brigade at Belfast, in August 1909 prior to his departure for a new posting in command of an infantry brigade at Malta and possibly belonged to him prior to presenting it to McCammond. Lieutenant Colonel Walter Edwin Carson McCammond was born in Belfast in 1874, in 1892 he received a commission into the 4th Royal Irish Rifles and by 1909 had reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. After being transferred to the special reserve, prior to the outbreak of war, his battalion became known as the 3rd and he brought them to Dublin where he was in command while they were stationed in Portobello Barracks during the rebellion. The battalion became involved in the earliest fighting and had a number of men killed on the first day of the rising. McCammond however was on sick leave but returned to the barracks as quickly as he could and on doing so learned of the shootings of three civilian prisoners, Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Thomas Dickson and Patrick McIntyre. All three had been taken into custody and shot by a firing squad under the command of Captain J. C. Bowen Colthurst an officer in the 3rd Royal Irish Rifles. Finding that Colthurst would not be arrested, another officer Major F. F. Vane, made a complaint, but was removed by McCammond from his position in charge of the defence of the barracks and replaced with Colthurst. One of the last orders made by McCammond in relation to the shootings was to have the bloodied and bullet damaged bricks in the walls of the barracks removed and replaced. The efforts of Major Vane resulted in a public enquiry at which McCammond gave evidence as a witness. After the rising he spent short periods of time on the Western Front before returning home to Donegall Park, Belfast where he died in August 1923.