Michael Collins' Knife

"My dad was from a townland called Marlinstown, just outside Mullingar. He grew up on a farm but trained as a carpenter. He came up to Dublin in the 50's and took several jobs on building sites. He eventually forged out on his own and started making kitchen units for the likes of Roches Stores and Monson and Mitchell.. he rented the basement of a house at 23 Synott Place, off Dorset Street. The lady who owned the house was a Mrs Traynor, a widow who took a shine to Dad because she too was from Mullingar. One day she approached dad and gave him a knife saying he could make use of it in the workshop. she told Dad that the knife belonged to Michael Collins and that he had left it behind one night as he went out the back window as the "boys" were coming through the front door. Dad took the knife and took the story with a pinch of salt. He would have been of the DeVelera Clan. Mrs.Traynor had no close relatives and asked Dad would he look after her funeral arrangements when she died. She left few personal possessions behind, but cards and photos were among them along with a few other documents. When I saw the photos I thought they lent credence to the story of the knifes origin, Countess Markievicz signature being on one of the photos. My sister, Maire and myself said we would always have the photos and the signature checked out. It wasn't until recently that we got on to our cousin Seamus Lynam who works in the National Museum and arranged a meeting with a curator. That lady was 90% sure that the signature is correct and that the photo of Sean Connolly is very rare. We intend on leaving the photos with the National Museum but I am holding on to Michael's knife a while longer!!"