Walking stick owned by first Northern Ireland Prime Minister James Craig sells for £10,000 at auction

A walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland’s first prime minister has sold for £10,000 at an auction in Belfast.
A member of the Bloomfield Auctions team in east Belfast, holds a walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.A member of the Bloomfield Auctions team in east Belfast, holds a walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.
A member of the Bloomfield Auctions team in east Belfast, holds a walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.

It comes in the year that Northern Ireland marks its centenary.

Karl Bennett at Bloomfield Auctions described the aid once used by Sir James Craig as the “star lot” of Tuesday’s sale.

The walking stick is made from blackthorn wood with a silver collar to commemorate Craig’s first public visit to Lurgan in 1925.

A walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder at Bloomfield Auctions in east Belfast. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.A walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder at Bloomfield Auctions in east Belfast. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.
A walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder at Bloomfield Auctions in east Belfast. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.

While it had been expected to sell for between £4,000 and £5,000, significant interest in the item saw bidding in the room, online and by phone reach £10,000.

The successful buyer was an online bidder.

The auction house said the walking stick was bought by a private collector in England a few years ago for approximately £30.

Earlier this month a walking stick which once belonged to Irish republican leader Michael Collins sold for more than £50,000.

A walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder at Bloomfield Auctions in east Belfast. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.A walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder at Bloomfield Auctions in east Belfast. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.
A walking stick once owned by Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, which sold for £10,000 to an online bidder at Bloomfield Auctions in east Belfast. It was estimated that the blackthorn cane would sell for between £4,000 and £6,000.

Sir James was a leading unionist figure and opposed to home rule. He became the first prime minister of Northern Ireland in 1921 and served for nearly 20 years until his death in November 1940.

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