Fine Art & Antiques

‘The best shop window in the business’: Irish antique fairs to visit this summer

Lismore Opera Festival Antique Fair and the National Antique Fair at Limerick Racecourse are highlights in the calendar

Dance of Time II (1984), which Oliver Gormley bought from the Dalí Universe in Switzerland, is the most expensive piece for sale at Castlemartyr Resort, at €1.125 million. Photograph: Patrick Browne

Sylvia Thompson's face
Sylvia Thompson
Sat Jun 1 2024 - 05:00

Summer is a great time to go on mini-adventures around Ireland, and heading off to an antiques fair can be a great family-bonding exercise. Such trips allow the younger generation to forage for vintage items, while parents and grandparents get nostalgic about pieces that remind them of items they own, used to own or saw in friends’ homes.

Robin O’Donnell has been running antique fairs for the past 35 years through his business, Hibernian Antique Fairs. “Our fairs cater for many of Ireland’s former antique shops and antique dealers, and several of our regular dealers are members of the Irish Antique Dealers Association,” he says.

O’Donnell says many antique shops have closed in recent years, and his countrywide fairs allow dealers to gather together in one spot to meet their buyers. He describes these events as “the best shop window one can find that represents all aspects of the Irish antique business”.

The Lismore Opera Festival Antique Fair, which takes places this Saturday and Sunday in the GAA Hall on Tallow Road, Lismore, Co Waterford, is one of the smaller antiques fairs run by O’Donnell. It is held to coincide with the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, whose festival hub is in Lismore Castle, and provides a pleasant distraction for opera goers before they head off to recitals in historic homes and concerts in Dromore Yard in Lismore. It also brings more visitors to this beautiful historic town.

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Among the dealers who will be selling their wares are Marie Curran, a jewellery and silverware specialist; Wicklow-based Annamoe Antiques, a specialist in Persian rugs; Brian Hurley from Kinsale, who specialises in china and porcelain; and Eily Henry Vintage from Co Waterford, with her range of vintage clothing accessories and costume jewellery. It will be open 11am-6pm both days. Admission is €3.50 for adults and children go free.

O’Donnell also runs the National Antique Fair five times a year at Limerick Racecourse, which he says, is the biggest of all the antiques fairs around Ireland. The next one in Limerick goes ahead on June 15th and 16th.

Expensive Dalí

The five-star Castlemartyr Resort, Cork’s most luxurious hotel, is the sumptuous setting for Art and Soul, one of Ireland’s largest art and sculpture exhibitions this year. It is run by fine art dealers Gormleys – also to coincide with Blackwater Opera Festival – and the presence of this fine range of international art and sculpture, in such a stylish setting, will no doubt draw its own crowds.

This is the tenth big art and sculpture sale that Gormleys have organised, and the second time to host it at Castlemartyr. “Adults and children will equally enjoy the event, and our previous exhibitions in Russborough House and Gardens in Co Wicklow and in the Culloden Hotel [in the village of Hollywood just outside Belfast] attracted over 10,000 visitors,” says Oliver Gormley, who expects about 15,000 visitors to this show.

With more than 300 works on display – including artworks in the hotel itself and 90 large sculptures and installations set through the 90 hectare grounds – visitors will be spoiled for choice by the wide range of artistic styles.

For You Who Have Left the Meadow by Irish sculptor Ian Pollock

As well as art works by the artists and sculptors that Gormleys represents – including Irish sculptors Ian Pollock, Bob Quinn and Patrick O’Reilly – there will also be a selection of work by younger artists starting out in their career. “There will be works from €600 upwards, a number of pieces for €1,000 and more priced €2,000-€4,000,” says Oliver Gormley.

Dance of Time II by Salvador Dalí. Photograph: Patrick Browne

Internationally acclaimed artists whose work is for sale include Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Damien Hirst. The 1984 Dance of Time II – which Oliver Gormley bought from the Dalí Universe in Switzerland – is the most expensive piece for sale, at €1.125 million. Striking sculptures include Pear, by Swiss sculptor, Christian Schneiter (€75,000); Altalena Grande by Italian sculptor, Giacinto Bosco (€110,000); and For You Who Have Left the Meadow, by Irish sculptor, Ian Pollock (€6,900).

Pear by Swiss sculptor Christian Schneiter

Altalena Grande by Italian sculptor Giacinto Bosco

There will also be daily guided tours of the art and sculpture, as well as a series of talks by artists, Peter Monaghan, Vivienne Roche, Eamonn Ceannt and others whose work is on exhibition. The exhibition continues until June 23rd, and Castlemartyr is offering special rates for Art and Soul overnight stays, afternoon tea and dinner at their two-star Michelin star restaurant, Terre.

antiquesandartireland.com, gormleys.ie

What did it sell for?

Senator lounge chairs by Danish designer Ole Wanscher

A pair of Senator lounge chairs by Ole Wanscher

Auction price €3,000-€5,000

Hammer price €3,800

Auction house Adam’s

Evening Light by Daniel O’Neill

Evening Light by Daniel O’Neill

Auction price €3,000-€5,000

Hammer price Unsold

Auction house Morgan O’Driscoll

The Remains of Love by Jack Vettriano

The Remains of Love by Jack Vettriano

Auction price €30,000-€50,000

Hammer price €30,000

Auction house Morgan O’Driscoll

Roderic O’Conor’s painting of a Breton sailor in Pont Aven

Auction price €80,000-€120,000

Hammer price €60,000

Auction house deVeres