Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said that he will explore ways that the Irish State can purchase an iconic Fender Stratocaster guitar belonging to Irish guitar legend Rory Gallagher.
Billed as the "World's Most Recognisable Fender Stratocaster", the guitar is expected to fetch between £700,000 and £1 million ($900,000-$1.3 million) when it goes up for auction at London auctioneers Bonhams in October.
The guitar has been put up for auction by the Gallagher estate.
Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Dan Boyle, who saw Rory Gallagher several times when the guitarist performed at Cork City Hall in the 1980s, has called on the Irish Government to purchase the guitar because of its cultural value.
"Rory was one of the first to put Irish rock on the international stage so it’s an important item culturally, and I think it’s important that it should be kept in the State so that’s why I’ve made contact with Government departments and State agencies," Boyle told the Irish Times.
Meanwhile, Martin said he held great memories of meeting Gallagher at a civic reception at Cork City Hall when the Tánaiste served as Lord Mayor of Cork in 1992/93.
He told the Irish Times that he would be delighted if he could find a way for the Irish State to purchase the guitar.
Martin recalled meeting Gallagher's brother Donal when the legendary guitarist was performing at Cork's Everyman Theatre. He added that he asked Donal whether his brother would like to be honored at Cork City Hall.
"Donal said he was extremely shy and that he shied away from all these kind of public events, but he did come in and we had a small group of about 40 people and I have very fond memories of that day in Cork City Hall," Martin told the Irish Times.
Martin said he would speak to Minister for Arts and Culture Catherine Martin about acquiring the guitar at the upcoming auction.
"It would be lovely if we could get that guitar back on Leeside," Martin said.
Separately, Cork music shop owner Sheena Crowley has launched a GoFundMe in a bid to raise funds to buy the guitar.
Crowley wrote that her father Michael sold Gallagher the Fender Stratocaster as a second-hand guitar in 1963, adding that the famous musician paid just under £100 for the instrument.
"It was my father who sold Rory the guitar in August 1963 – it had been ordered by Jim Conlon, who was playing with The Royal Showband. Jim Conlon had wanted a cherry red Stratocaster, but Fender sent a sunburst one, so he decided against taking it," Crowley wrote on GoFundMe.
"And so my father had to sell it as a second-hand guitar – and Rory bought it for just under £100 – and the rest is history.
"Once the news of the auction was released I would say everyone in Cork and Ireland gasped with shock and surprise but really Rory's brother Donal has presented us with a fantastic opportunity by making the strat and Rory's instrument collection available to us."
The GoFundMe has raised almost €25,000 of its €1 million goal so far.
Comments