AUCTION RESULTS
Tuesday (May 30th): Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers, Chatsworth Street, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny. Rare books, manuscripts & sporting memorabilia sale at the Tara Towers Hotel, Dublin 4.
Some 75 per cent of items sold, realising a total of €380,000. Top price paid was €27,000 for a manuscript page of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake (estimate €7,600-€10,000). Flann O'Brien's archive sold for €10,000 (€6,000-€8,000) while the writer's desk was bought by a family member for €3,400 (€700-€1,000). A copy of O'Brien's novel At Swim Two Birds, which survived a German bombing of a London bookshop in 1940, made €6,200 (€1,750-€2,500). A 1958 edition of Patrick Kavanagh's Recent Poems, one of just 27 copies, made €6,500 (€4,000-€6,000). An original manuscript of Seamus Heaney's The Schoolbag sold for €3,200 (€1,000-€1,500); four signed copies of Gorgon magazine containing Heaney's first appearance in print made €5,600 (€3,500-€5,000). Lady Gregory's copy of Yeats's Poems Written in Discouragement made €3,400 (€2,500-€4,000). Kevin Barry's death mask sold for €2,200 (€600-€800). A nine-carat gold hurling medal celebrating Laois's first All-Ireland title in 1915 made €11,000 (€7,000-€10,000) and the "Ned" Ryan GAA medal collection made €6,500 (€4,000-€6,000). See fonsiemealy.ie
Tuesday (May 30th): Sheppard's, The Square, Durrow, Co Laois. Sale of garden sculpture and architectural ornaments. Sold, 90 per cent by lot. The top five lots were: large bronze sculpture of Douglas Hyde seated on park bench, €9,000 (Lot 80, estimate €10,000-€15,000); large bronze sculpture of a deer with antlers, €5,400 ( Lot 194, €3,000-€5,500); pair of Italianate stone urns on stands, €4,600 (Lot 88, €3,000-€5,000); 18th-century carved limestone lion from Crofton estate, Co Roscommon, €3,800 (Lot 44, €4,000-€6,000); four life-size Italianate stone figures representing the four seasons, €3,600 (Lot 201, €5,000-€8,000). See sheppards.ie
FORTHCOMING AUCTIONS AND FAIRS
Today and tomorrow (June 3rd and 4th): Lismore Opera Festival Antiques Fair, Community Centre, Lismore, Co Waterford, 11am to 6pm.
Saturday (June 10th): Woodwards City Centre Auction Rooms, 26 Cook Street, Cork. Antiques, fine art and collectables, 11 am.
Saturday (June 10th): International Militaria Collectors' Club, Militaria Fair at The Old Schoolhouse, Charlotte Row, Gorey, Co Wexford, 10am to 3pm.
Sunday (June 11th): Matthews Auction Rooms, The Square, Oldcastle, Co Meath. Annual "aboslutely no reserve" clearance auction at the Old Transport Museum, The Millhouse, Slane, Co Meath, 2pm. See matthewsauctionrooms.com
Monday (June 12th): Mullens Laurel Park, Old Bray Road, Woodbrook, Co Dublin. Interiors and Garden auction, 11 am. A thousand lots including contents of Dublin 4 residence as well as pianos, bookcases, mirrors, dining room suites, and chairs, silver and over 200 lots of traditional and contemporary garden furniture. Viewing Thursday June 8th to Sunday 11th, 10am to 5pm and morning of sale 9am to 11 am. See mullenslaurelpark.com
