Thousands of items at free fair

Among the thousands of items on display and for sale at the Irish Antique Dealers' Association fair in the RDS this weekend is the silver Freedom Box awarded to the Irish Parliamentary Party leader, John Redmond who secured the Home Rule Bill for Ireland 100 years ago.

The box is inscribed: "Presented by the Municipal Council of Wexford to John Edward Redmond Esquire MP on the occasion of the conferring on him of the honorary freedom of the Borough of Wexford, on the twenty-first day of October 1907.''

Implementation of the Home Rule Bill was suspended in 1914 until the cessation of the first World War by which time, of course, history had intervened and an armed struggle had been launched to secure Irish independence from Britain.

Weldon’s of Clarendon Street is asking €45,000 for the box made by Edwardian Dublin jewellers E Johnson Ltd. The fair at the RDS in Ballsbridge is open today from 11am-9pm and tomorrow, Sunday, from 11am to 6pm. Admission is free.