A roundup of today's other home news in brief
Kevin Barry letters with recipients’ heirs
One of three letters written by Kevin Barry in Mountjoy on the night before his execution is to remain in the hands of the descendents of those who received it, writes Pamela Duncan.
The seller is a direct descendent of the family of the one of the recipients of the letter, while the new owner is also the son of one of the original recipients of the letter.
The letter, which was written by the 18-year-old Kevin Barry to his “pals” the night before he was hanged for his part in an IRA attack in which three British soldiers were killed, sold at auction yesterday for €105,000, almost six times the highest pre-sale estimate on the item.
The sale of the letter was the highlight of the annual “Independence Auction”, which is run jointly by Mealy’s auctioneers in Co Kilkenny and Adam’s in Dublin.
The archive of Kathleen Napoli McKenna, a personal adviser and secretary to Michael Collins, also received great interest. A bronze cap badge which Collins was wearing when he was shot at Béal na mBláth in 1922 fetched €28,000 against a pre-sale estimate of €2,000 to €3,000.
Cannabis worth €1.8m seized
A seizure of herbal cannabis with an estimated street value of €1.8 million was made in Waterford yesterday morning.
In the joint Customs and Garda operation, the 150kg of herbal cannabis was found after a van was stopped in the Waterford city area. The drugs had earlier been imported as part of a cargo from continental Europe.
An Irish man in his 50s was arrested at the scene and is being detained at Waterford Garda station under section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996. He can be held for up to seven days.
DIT graduate wins Roux Scholarship
The winner of this year’s Roux Scholarship, now in its 27th year, is Kenneth Culhane (28), of Lisselton, Co Kerry and a DIT culinary arts graduate.
“It’s the pinnacle of my career. It’s the competition every chef wants to win”, Culhane said yesterday after a cook-off in London.
One of the six finalists, he was given the task of cooking a classic Escoffier dish in two hours in front of judges who included the Roux brothers and leading chefs like Gary Rhodes and James Martin.
He is the fourth Irish winner of the competition, a career changing opportunity which is one of the most respected in the world.
Man dies in Limerick house fire
A man in his early 80s died in a house fire in Limerick last night. The incident occurred at a house on St Brendan’s Street in St Mary’s Park at around 7.30pm.
The alarm was raised by members of the Emergency Response Unit, who were patrolling the area at the time.