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Saor Eire Wallet

  • 09-03-2015 9:43pm
    #1
    noneed4aname
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭


    When my father passed I was handed down a wallet he previously owned, it is a wallet that says "Saor Eire" with an Irish and European flag above and on the other side is his name, an M-16 and "Armabite" or "Armalite" it's quite hard to read the writing. I'd like to know if this is some sort of significant wallet or if it was just custom made. Thanks in adv.


Comments

  • #2
    DarkyHughes
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭DarkyHughes


    Did the European flag look something like this by any chance?

    http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/i/ie%7Dlkesh.gif


  • #3
    whisky_galore
    Registered Users Posts: 15,727 ✭✭✭✭whisky_galore


    Probably something crafted in a prison. I doubt Saor Eire had an offical merchandise store.


  • #4
    noneed4aname
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭noneed4aname


    DarkyHughes wrote: »
    Did the European flag look something like this by any chance?

    Imgur.com/eUz3XPa


  • #5
    DarkyHughes
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭DarkyHughes


    noneed4aname wrote: »
    Imgur.com/eUz3XPa

    Yeah that's definitely the Starry Plough flag not the European Flag. Might be worth some money if was owned by someone famous like Dom McGlinchey or The Border Fox.


  • #6
    DarkyHughes
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,393 ✭✭✭DarkyHughes


    whisky_galore wrote: »
    Probably something crafted in a prison. I doubt Saor Eire had an offical merchandise store.

    Yeah but maybe the INLA or IPLO did.


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  • #7
    Qualitymark
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,824 ✭✭✭Qualitymark


    Depending on what age it is, this might be the original Saor Éire from the 1930s, a socialist and republican group whose members included Peadar O'Donnell, Sean MacBride et al (some of whom remained on the left; others drifted to the right):

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saor_Éire

    If it's a later artefact it could be from the new version of Saor Éire, a 1960s/70s group:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saor_Éire_(1967–75)

    First thing you need to work out, if possible, is if this was your parent's or your grandparent's.


  • #8
    Full Marx
    Registered Users Posts: 666 ✭✭✭Full Marx


    More than likely prison craft either made while imprisoned or afterwards with skills learned while jailed. Have a number of similar ones myself. Given it has an assault rifle and Armalite written on it it is most certainly from the seventies or later. Was your father ever interned, or did he have any friends or relatives who were political prisoners or even connected with the republican movement? You can still buy handmade wallets and such (bodhráns are popular too) made by former prisoners.

    As for what organization it is connected to, it could have been made later than the seventies, and "Saor Éire" could be meant literally rather than a reference to a particular group.


    Prison craft were also sold to raise money for prisoners dependents but seen as it has his name on it I suspect it's something more personal. A nice piece of history OP!


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