The final home for Rory Gallagher’s €1m signature Fender Stratocaster guitar will be Cork.
That is according to managing director of MCD, Denis Desmond, who was one of the people instrumental in purchasing the guitar at auction on Thursday in London and donating the guitar to the National Museum of Ireland (NMI).
The purchase was made by Mr Desmond’s joint venture with live music giants, Live Nation, Live Nation Gaiety Ltd.
In an interview on Friday, Mr Desmond said that the guitar “is going to stay in Ireland, and it will end up in Cork - that is important. We haven't figured out where yet, but we will.”
Gallagher has been long time synonymous with Cork and Mr Desmond said: ”It will end up in Cork on public display. Down the road, it has to end up in Cork and its final home will be in Cork.”
The guitar sold for £700,000 and a premium placed on the item brought the total to £889,400 (€1.069m).
A native of Cork, Mr Desmond said that the €1.06m “is a good price. It is a fair price.”
H said: “We are happy with the price paid, let's put it that way.
“We are very happy that we got it and very happy that it is staying in Ireland.”
Mr Desmond said that the Live Nation Gaiety joint venture also purchased the guitar's amp for £60,000.
On the guitar purchase, Mr Desmond said: “It is hard to put into words, but I know to a lot of people this means a lot. There are tens of thousands of Rory fans out there who are very happy. There is a lot of love out there for Rory Gallagher and it is great to see. He is an icon.”
Asked how the purchase came about, Mr Desmond said that himself, his wife and Caroline and Mike Adamson (managing director of Live Nation Ireland) “got talking about the upcoming auction and agreed it would be great to keep the guitar in Ireland”.
He said that chief executive of the global Live Nation business, Michael Rapino, also got behind the planned purchase. Mr Desmond said: “Michael gets it and said ‘let’s do this’."
He said that calls were made and the Minister for Arts, Catherine Martin and the National Museum came on board.
He said: "There were a lot of calls, to-ing and fro-ing, but we got there in the end."
The donation is being made to the NMI under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 and Mr Desmond said: “Everything helps.”
Mr Desmond said that the first band that he ever worked with was Sleepy Hollow, when they were a support act for Rory Gallagher in 1974.
Mr Desmond said that he promoted a Rory Gallagher nationwide tour in December 1983/January 1984.
Mr Desmond said that Rory’s brother, Donal, “has done an incredible job in managing Rory’s estate and keeping the legacy alive”.
Gallagher bought the guitar second-hand for IR£100 on credit from Crowley’s Music Store in Cork in 1963.
The Gallagher family have said that proceeds from Thursday’s auction at Bonhams in London will go towards projects to further Rory's legacy and other good causes.
Rory Gallagher was born in Ballyshannon in Co Donegal. His family moved to Derry before settling in Cork when he was eight years old. He died in London in 1995 at the age of 47.
