A Victoria Cross awarded to Pte John Barry of the Royal Irish Regiment for outstanding gallantry during the Boer War was bought anonymously for £97,750 at auction in London yesterday.
The price was well above the £50,000 to £60,000 estimate in a sale at Dix, Noonan and Webb, and is believed to be a record for a Boer War VC.
Pte Barry, from St Mary's, Kilkenny, was among soldiers on a hilltop strongpoint near the town of Belfast in the northern Transvaal who were surprised by a night attack in fog in January 1901. There was intense fighting at close quarters, and the Boers tried to capture a Maxim gun.
Barry seized a pickaxe and smashed the gun, making it useless to the enemy. The Boers shot him dead.
The medal was one of the first group of posthumous VCs ever issued and was sold with an extensive archive of supporting material. Barry's mother later sold the decoration to a Cork jeweller.
The broken Maxim gun was recaptured and is now an exhibit at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London.