Possibly Irish letter opener with heraldic crest

[orange4boy]

Hello,

I have a letter opener which I am trying to identify. I think it may be a Dublin maker but the maker's marks are not on the list. The date letter is also not on the list. I'm interested in the mark on the far right which reads 1873. Any ideas about the heraldry would be fun to know too.










Thanks for your help.
Marcus.

[silvermakersmarks]

O'C is the mark of Thomas O'Connor & Sons Ltd. The hallmark date is 1973 and the date in the additional mark (which was struck to commemorate Eire's entry into the European Union) is also 1973. The crest is that of the Dublin Company of Goldsmiths and was also later used as an additional mark in 1987 to celebrate the Company's 350th anniversary.

Phil

[dognose]

Hi Marcus,

Welcome to the Forum.

See also: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=18350&p=92340&hilit=o%27conner#p92340

Trev.

[orange4boy]

Thank you!

[scorpio]

Sadly, Thomas O'Connor & Son Ltd was eventually forced out of business due to losses incurred following a serious armed robbery in July 1983 which netted the criminals €2.5 million in gold and jewels. 100 employees lost their jobs which gives you some idea of the scale of the O'Connor operation at the time although the manufacture of silver items was likely only a small part of the overall business. As Trev mentions in his Firms Working in Ireland thread, a smaller operation James O'Connor & Son (Jewellers) Ltd was subsequently set up which went into liquidation in 2010 but another O'Connor jewellery business seems to be still there.