IN KINSALE, Co Cork, Skibbereen auctioneer Morgan O Driscoll will hold a house contents sale at Dromderrig House next Saturday. When the Georgian house on Compass Hill was for sale last year the media decided that the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, was going to buy it, which led to lots of excitable headlines. Fergie looked but didn't buy and eventually the property was sold to a businessman from overseas.
Now the contents are for sale - 250-odd lots of furniture and furnishings including a pair of William IV rosewood fold-over card tables (£3,000-£3,500); an early Victorian walnut games table (£1,500-£2,000); a set of 12 William IV bar back dining chairs (£3,200-£4,000); and a pair of 19th century French walnut single beds (£1,600-£2,000). These are the top lots but the sale has plenty for those with just £100 or £200 to spend.
Lot 34, a portrait of a lady, is estimated at £40 to £70. There are brass ships lamps for £100-£200 each, velvet curtains for £20 a pair, unspecified fire brigade fittings in brass and copper for £100-£150, three pairs of galvanised garden lanterns at £100-£200 each, several Edwardian lamps estimated at £100-£150, as well as paintings, prints and tables, chairs and chests of all descriptions.