THE FINAL HOME for Rory Gallagher’s €1 million signature Fender Stratocaster guitar will be Cork.

That is according MD 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.

The guitar, a 1961 Fender Stratocaster, was originally bought by Gallagher in Cork in 1963 for £100 on credit from the owner of Crowley’s Music Store .

A number of other guitars, amps and musical accessories from his collection sold for £2.3 million combined.

Gallagher was born in Donegal but raised in Cork and was a multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter who inspired countless musicians in Ireland and across the world.

During a career spanning 30 years, he played both as a solo artist and with his band Taste, and sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.

Gallagher died unexpectedly in 1995 following complications from a liver transplant.

In an interview today, 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 is 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.”

He said: “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, Caroline and Mike Adamson (MD 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 the CEO 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. Toing and froing 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 to 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”.

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.

With reporting by Diarmuid Pepper.