Strat's how it's done!

A wave of relief has swept across Cork following confirmation that Rory Gallagher’s famous guitar is to be donated to the state after going under the hammer in London yesterday.

The iconic 1961 Fender Stratocaster, bought second-hand in Cork in 1963, sold for £700,000 (€841,000) at yesterday’s auction at Bonhams in London.

It was bought by Live Nation Gaiety Ltd who have confirmed they will be donating it to the National Museum of Ireland for public display.

Before the auction there were growing fears that the famous Cork Strat might become part of a private collection outside of Ireland.

In the lead-up to the auction, Sheena Crowley, daughter of Mick Crowley who sold Rory his Strat, spearheaded a powerful campaign to help make sure the guitar stayed in Ireland.

Speaking after the auction, she told Cork’s 96FM Opinion Line with PJ Coogan: “It was really nail-biting stuff, down to the wire. It was unreal.

“My buddy sitting next to me said, ‘Maybe the Government bought it’, and we jumped up and down with excitement,” she added.

According to Ms Crowley, the guitar will likely now be shipped back to Dublin to the National Museum but may be brought back to Cork to eventually be put on display in the long-awaited events centre, if and when it comes to fruition.

Asked how she thought her dad would feel about the good news, Ms Crowley said: “I just know he’s puncing the air up there.”

As part of her campaign, Ms Crowley started a GoFundMe page which raised €75,000, some of which she used to purchase a number of other items in Rory’s collection which also went under the hammer in London. During what was a very tense and highly contested auction, she managed to come away with a 1963 Epiphone Coronet for £14,080 (€16,900) and a 1983 Tokai Talbo for £6,400 (€7,700).

She said she is still bidding online for certain other articles in the collection.

Also speaking on Cork’s 96FM Opinion Line with PJ Coogan was an Tanáiste Micheál Martin who confirmed that there was a lot of work done behind the scenes to secure the guitar.

“There was good work done by Minister Catherine Martin and her department at the National Museum,” said Mr Martin.

“Clearly the move by Live Nation particularly was key to this.

“It’s very good news that a white knight like that entered the scene. It’s in the public interest,” he added.

Mr Martin said he believed there is a “very strong” possibility that the guitar will end up staying in Cork permanently sometime in the future.