Owen Felix O'Neil with an address in Cahir had copied the entire collection of letters written by the late wife of assassinated US president John F Kennedy to an Irish Priest over a 14 year period.
Sheppard's Irish Auction House based in Durrow – claim the letters which are due to be auctioned in June – are owned by All Hallows College in Drumcondra, Dublin sought injunctions against Owen Felix O Neill last week after saying it believed alleged actions by Mr O'Neill could have an adverse impact on the value of the collection which, it suggested, could attract bids of between €800,000 and €3m.
Among various concerns expressed by the firm was that what appeared to be photos of some of the letters had been published in the Boston Globe which had described Mr O'Neill has purchaser of the letters, a description which was “wholly untrue”, Sheppard’s stated.
They were granted a temporary injunction preventing the Cahir man from representing himself as the owner of the letters or passing on any copies or extracts to third parties.
The count was also told Mr O'Neill, described as a consultant to Sheppard's concerning rare books, was present when the letters were disclosed to representatives of the auctioneers at All Hallows
Today Mr O’Neill handed in copies of the entire collection to the Commercial Court and these will remain in a locked safe in the Four Courts pending the outcome of legal proceedings taken against him.
However Mr O’Neill strongly disputes many of the assertions made to the court last week
Mr Justice Peter Kelly also kept the previous court orders in place, pending the hearing on May 29 adding his decision to do so was not a reflection on the integrity of the Tipperary rare book expert but said the orders would bind all third parties.
