At the same UK auction, the chairman of the board of trustees of Kilmainham Gaol museum, Damien Cassidy, also acquired a 'proclamation' document distributed by anti-treaty leaders in 1922. It calls on Irish citizens to fight those willing to accept the divisive Anglo-Irish agreement made in late 1921 between Irish delegates, including Michael Collins, and David Lloyd George, the then British prime minister.

The items were purchased in recent weeks following their advertisement for auction at a Shropshire salesroom. The route that the fingerprinting press took from 1916 to the present day is in some doubt, but it is likely to have involved a trip to the US. Inscribed on an ornate embossed brass plate is a list of 14 of the Irish martyrs, including Padraig Pearse, Sean MacDiarmada, Eamonn Ceannt and Joseph Plunkett, who met their fate after being interred in Kilmainham Gaol.

Inscribed in the middle of the plate are the words 'John Bull's finger press, which inked the condemned souls, 30 April & 12 May 1916.' The dedication also includes the words 'The Very Reverend Father Augustine OFM CAP, An Inspiration of Selfless Devotion, 21 May 1922.'

The organisation which appears to have had the embossed plate affixed to the finger press to mark its significance was a group called the National Aid Association. According to Richard WestwoodBrookes, head of historical documents at Shropshire auctioneers Mullock-Madeley, the group was likely to be a US-based organisation comprised of post-1916 supporters who were expatriated, for whatever reason, to the US.

The private benefactor who facilitated the purchase of the finger press in conjunction with Kilmainham Gaol museum is eager to remain anonymous. It is understood that he is originally from Northern Ireland and was motivated by the desire that an important item of national historical significance should not leave the state, as it would if purchased by a foreign collector.

Cassidy told the Sunday Tribune he was "absolutely delighted" that the finger press had been acquired. "Quite frankly, the government took no interest whatsoever. We identified it as a significant artefact that was within a very reasonable price, " Cassidy said.

Westwood-Brookes said that private collectors had a major advantage over government-funded bodies when bidding at auction, given the comparatively small budgets that government purchasers were allocated. "It is about time that governments ensured that important items of their country's heritage went to the right placef Museums, archives and depositories are given ridiculous aquisition budgets. There is one national museum over here [the UK] for example that has an annual acquisition budget of £3,000 . . . you can't even buy a decent second-hand car for that."

Cassidy received a letter in recent weeks from an individual offering the beads used by Kevin Barry to the museum, free of charge. After making contact with the correspondent, Cassidy learned that the beads were given by Barry to a prison guard, who later passed them to family members. Barry was captured after a raid on a military bread lorry at Monks Bakery . . . on the junction of Church Street and North King Street, Dublin on 20 September, 1920 . . . in which three British Soldiers were killed. He was tried for murder and sentenced to death. His youth provoked a huge national outcry. He was a first-year student in UCD, studying medicine.

The inscription on the anti-treaty 'proclamation' document makes a call to arms in opposition to the agreement.

In rather colourful language, it states:

"The fateful hour has come. At the dictation of our heriditary enemy, our rightful cause is being treacherously assailed by recreant Irishmen. The crash of arms and the boom of artillery reverberate in this supreme test of the nation's destiny."

Other documents and items of significant interest to collectors of 1916 memorabilia are also due to come under the hammer at an auction at Easter, when Mealy and John Adam auctioneers put up several items for sale.

These items include a telegram from the Duke of Devonshire, then secretary of state for the colonies, informing the Irish secretary of state that the king had agreed to give Ireland independence. Also for sale at the auction will be Michael Collins' typewriter and collections of writings by Padraig Pearse.