A fundraising campaign has been launched to buy Rory Gallagher’s prized Fender Stratocaster and keep it on Irish shores.
The GoFundMe campaign was created in response to news earlier this week that Gallagher’s famed Strat is to be sold at auction in October.
Its sale means it will leave his family’s care for the first time since Gallagher bought the guitar in 1963. It stands as part of Bonhams’ “The Rory Gallagher Collection,” with Gallagher’s family saying it was time for someone else to “cherish” the instrument.
Gallagher’s instantly recognizable six-string is said to be the first Fender Stratocaster to arrive in Ireland, having been ordered by Jim Conlon of The Royal Showband. However, he sold it six months later after a mix-up saw a sunburst model, not the red finish he’d ordered, shipped.
A then-15-year-old Gallagher subsequently bought the instrument for £100 from Crowley’s Music Store in Cork, and it remained by his side throughout his storied career.
It is Sheena Crowley, the daughter of the man who sold Gallagher the now-iconic guitar, who has set up the fundraiser.
“This guitar means so much to us in Cork, and we need to become the custodians of that magical guitar,” she writes on the GoFundMe page. “We feel tied to him and the guitar is a symbol of what he represents for us.”
That fundraising goal is set at €1,000,000, reflecting the £700,000 - £1,000,000 estimation set for the instrument by Bonhams, which would make it potentially one of the most expensive guitars to be sold at auction.
“Rory was someone who pushed the boundaries even at a time when 'Rock n Roll' was considered to be the devil's music!” Crowley’s statement continues. “He gigged in places that were being bombed. He dedicated his entire life to it.
“We must do this for him because we got so much from him, but we must also do it for our heritage.”
Since launching today (July 11), over €10,000 has been raised by over 100 backers. If successful, Crowley says she will approach the City Council, the Department of Heritage, and “wealthy benefactors” to match the million Euro figure. All backers will be fully refunded if the required funds are not raised.
Crowley is eager to establish what she is calling a “music museum” that honors her hometown’s heritage. The heavily-worn instrument – which was famously stolen from Gallagher in 1966 and found rotting in a ditch – will no doubt represent the jewel in the museum’s crown.
“The main attraction would be a dedicated Rory Gallagher section with an interactive theme to it,” Crowley envisions. “Fans from as far as Japan, Iceland, Germany, and so on would want the guitar to remain in Cork! We will have to move mountains.”
Since Gallagher’s passing in 1995, the guitar has remained in the care of Rory’s brother and former manager, Dónal.
His nephew, Daniel, once allowed Guitarist to get up close and personal with the cherished guitar, saying that his uncle “played it to death” and that “truthfully, it was his wife.”
Because of Gallagher’s ever-burning love for the instrument, news of its sale has come as a surprise.
However, with Dónal saying he hoped the sale of several pieces of gear from Gallagher’s collection would see “emblems of his legacy enjoyed by others,” it will be interesting to see in whose hands – or museum – the legendary instrument ends up.
Head to GoFundMe to learn more about the fundraiser, and to Bonhams for more details on the upcoming auction.
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