Sale of The Library of the Late Mr Tommy Smith
Posted On: 27 Aug 2025 by Conor PurcellTwo Day Sale of the Library of the Late Tommy Smith (Grogan's Pub, Dublin) and other select clients. To include some exceptional items Of Irish Literary, Poetic & Historical Interest. c.970 Lot Auction to include some exceptional items Of Irish Literary, Poetic & Historical Interest incl. the infamous Tarry Flynn which was the book at the centre of the Patrick Kavanagh and Brendan Behan libel case, a true 1st edition copy of At Swim Two Birds by Flann O’Brien with dust jacket and a signed Four Plays for Dancers by W.B. Yeats. Also Antiquarian Books, Limited & Signed First Editions, Maps, Local Histories, Republican Interest, Broadsheets, Irish Language etc.
On September 3rd we will be offering for sale one of the most unique and significant pieces of Irish literary folklore. The infamous and once thought lost copy of Patrick Kavanagh's "Tarry Flynn" with an inscription from Kavanagh to Brendan Behan. This actual book was the un-doing of a Libel court case brough by Kavanagh against The Leader publication, in the belief that Behan was the author behind an article which Kavanagh didn't believe to be correct or fair. Kavanagh denied under oath in court that he knew Brendan Behan upon which legal counsel for The Leader produced this very same "Tarry Flynn" with the following inscription "For Brendan, poet and painter, on the day he decorated my flat, Sunday 12th, 1950” and signed by Kavanagh. The case collapsed and Kavanagh's reputation was severly discredited. This inevitably caused a deep rift between Kavanagh and Behan, although Behan did to go to tremendous effort to convince Kavanagh that he hadn't given the book in evidence, but it was indeed a cousin of Behans' who had done so.
Two of Ireland's heavy weights brought together in one incredible story.