Tiara with Dromoland connection sells for €20,000 at auction

A diamond tiara owned by the late Doreen O'Brien, formerly of Dromoland Castle, Co Clare, sold for €20,000 at auction yesterday.

The 1930s gold headpiece had a top estimate of €9,000 at Sheppard’s auction in Durrow, Co Laois. The first bid was €3,000, but the price quickly jumped as three telephone bidders chased the item. The auctioneer said afterwards that the winning bid had been made in London but did not name the buyer.

The tiara, in its original leather case, from Hancocks and Co, a well-known London jeweller, is believed to date from the 1930s.

Ms O'Brien, who died in 1960, was a member of the aristocratic Irish family that had its seat at Dromoland Castle, near Newmarket-on-Fergus. Her father was Edward Donough O'Brien, lord lieutenant of Co Clare and 14th Baron Inchiquin. She moved to England in the early 20th century and married the son of an earl.

Sheppard’s said the tiara had been consigned by one of her descendants. Before the bidding began, the auctioneer announced that Conor O’Brien, a Co Clare farmer and the 18th Baron Inchiquin, wished it to be known he was not the vendor. Mr O’Brien lives on the Dromoland estate but the castle was sold by the family in the 1960s and today is a luxury hotel.

A diamond brooch, also owned by the late Ms O’Brien, sold for €5,600.