House content auctions are rarer now than in the past, when viewing the interior of a discreet deceased neighbour’s lavish home was a weekend hobby for many people.
Nowadays, most houses are emptied of their furniture, precious paintings and various collectibles, and these items are put up for sale in auction rooms with a mélange of pieces from other homes.
Not so in the case of 6 Royal Terrace West, Dún Laoghaire. The contents of the property will be on view in the house, July 12th-14th, 10am-5pm each day, in advance of the auction in Sheppard’s auction rooms in Durrow, Co Laois on July 15th and 16th.
Royal Terrace, one of the architectural gems of south Dublin, was built as two facing terraces on opposite sides of a four-acre park in 1860. The two-storey over basement homes were part of the expansion of Dún Laoghaire following the opening of the Dublin-Kingstown railway line in 1834 and the completion of the harbour in the 1840s.
Until recently, number 6 was owned by Philip and Constance Murphy. Originally from west Cork, Philip was the youngest of six children of TJ Murphy, Labour Party TD and minister for local government in 1948-1949. Philip Murphy, who died in September 2024, was a solicitor and an avid collector of antiques. The house, which was put on the market by Savills with a guide price of €1,400,000 earlier this year, is currently sale agreed.
Both Philip and Constance, who predeceased him, were active member of the Royal Terrace West Residents’ Association.
“The terrace wouldn’t be intact today if it wasn’t for the work of Philip Murphy,” says a neighbour, Breasal O’Caollai.
As well as campaigning against any development that would destroy the integrity of these Victorian homes, Murphy also led the campaign to bring the park back into public ownership.
“He was the custodian of the square since they moved there in the 1960s. He was concerned about maintaining the architectural heritage of the area and he persuaded the county council to buy back the land in the 1980s from Monkstown Hockey Club,” says his niece, Hilary Walsh.
The Royal Terrace park, which has been planted with trees and laid out with paths and green spaces, is now popular among locals and visitors alike.
The Murphy’s Victorian terraced house has many original features, which are complemented with antique furniture, clocks, art and carefully chosen ornamental pieces. “I can remember visiting the house, seeing all the clocks wound up, smelling the furniture polish and everything just so pristine,” says Walsh.
And so, this house content auction offers members of the public a rare opportunity to see a lifetime’s collection of antique furniture, oriental art and ornaments (including Chinese snuff bottles), several antique clocks and mirrors, silver and wooden boxes, in an almost museum like setting.
“Each item offers insight into a life lived with genuine engagement and appreciation for the decorative and historic arts,” says Michael Sheppard, who has been cataloguing the items over the past few weeks.
One of the more unusual items for sale is a rare 19th-century French automaton bird clock under a glass dome (€5,000-€8,000). It features a rotating tree with multiple taxidermy hummingbirds and other exotic birds perched among naturalistic silk flowers. The mechanism causes the birds to rotate in synchrony with the passage of time. Also of note is a mid-20th century hand-knotted Donegal wool carpet (€5,000-€8,000).
This piece was inspired by the designs of Charles Francis Annesley Voysey, the English architect and designer renowned for his Arts and Crafts style wallpapers, fabrics and furniture – some of which can be seen in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
Antique furniture enthusiasts may also be drawn to a Victorian Wellington mahogany chest (€400-€600). Named after the 1st Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley – who led the British armies to victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 against Napoleon – the chest is tall and narrow with a single key locking all seven small drawers. This offers a perfectly secure, compact and portable storage for someone frequently on the move.
Meanwhile, Whyte’s Summer Online auction, which ends on Monday from 6pm, offers collectors a snapshot of 20th-century Irish artists, as well as affordable prints of works by Paul Henry and Jack Butler Yeats, among others.
Take, for example, the painting of Frescati House in Blackrock, Co Dublin, by artist and architectural historian, Peter Pearson. Painted in 1982, a year before the Georgian house was demolished, the painting is a reminder of its loss. Originally built in 1739 for the family of John Hely Hutchinson, then provost of Trinity College Dublin, Frescati House was later owned by the Fitzgeralds, who also owned Leinster House in Dublin and Carton House in Co Kildare. The Fitzgeralds named the house Frescati, a deliberate derivative of the Italian city of Frascati – a name which was revived for the Blackrock shopping centre, built on the land of the demolished mansion.
Among the lots at Whyte’s auction are some interesting watercolours. These include a watercolour and pencil drawing of St Peter’s Church in Drogheda, Co Louth by Thomas Ryan (€300-€500); a watercolour of the Museum Building in Trinity College Dublin by Eve Lyn Hope (€500-€700); and September Morning, Castle Archdale, Co Fermanagh by Colin Middleton (€1,200-€1,500). The Self-Portrait by Paul Hewson (Bono), entitled, Baked Beans Boy (€300-€500), is also sure to draw some interest.
What did it sell for?
Crossing the City by Jack B Yeats
Estimate £100,000-£150,000
Hammer price Unsold
Auction house Bonham’s
Christian Dior flower brooch
Estimate €80-€100
Hammer price €200
Auction house Adam’s
18-carat gold small mesh bag
Estimate €2,000-€3,000
Hammer price €2,400
Auction house Adam’s
Wicklow Early Morning by Sean McSweeney
Estimate €500-€700
Hammer price €500
Auction house Morgan O’Driscoll
