A major collection of antique furniture, paintings and works of art from Lissadell House, Co Sligo, is to be auctioned at the house on November 25th.
Joint agents Christie's and Hamilton Osborne King are expecting the sale to fetch in the region of €800,000 to €1.2 million.
Lissadell House was recently bought by barristers, Mr Edward Walsh, and his wife, Ms Constance Cassidy for about €3.5 million.
Former owner of Lissadell, Sir Josslyn Gore-Booth said "selling the surplus contents of Lissadell is a sad but pragmatic decision that we had to make. As we are no longer owners of the property we are not in a position to retain and store all the contents beyond December," he said.
Among the 500 lots on sale are a Yeats' first edition book of poetry signed and dedicated to Eva Gore-Booth, an Arctic collection formed by the explorer Sir Henry Gore-Booth, and a pair of William IV ormolu nine-light gasoliers.
Artifacts from the Arctic collection include whaling equipment and natural history trophies, mounted walrus tusks, whale skulls and even a stuffed brown bear.
Sporting memorabilia is particularly notable, in the form of the head of the first Roe Deer Hibernica ever recorded in Ireland (which Sir Henry introduced to Ireland in the 1870s), early fishing tackle and stuffed birds of prey.
It is hoped however, that not all the artifacts will leave Lissadell House. Sir Josslyn has been approached by the new owners about some of the core furniture of the house: "We naturally hope that these discussions will be fruitful and that some items will remain at Lissadell," he said.
"A meeting is also planned with the Mayor of Sligo to discuss this issue. If any of these discussions are concluded in the near future then such items would be withdrawn from the sale," he added.
Lissadell was the childhood home of the celebrated Irish nationalist Constance Gore-Booth (Countess Markievicz) and her poet sister Eva and was a haunt of W. B. Yeats.