Guinness heir Garech Browne is to open the doors to his famous estate today as hundreds of fine antiques and paintings are auctioned off.
In a sale expected to draw celebrities and collectors, almost 400 lots from the Luggala Estate in Co Wicklow are up for grabs, including fine 18th-century furniture, rare silver, and an array of pictures by Irish, English and European artists.
The centrepieces of the auction are a monumental early Georgian longcase clock and important paintings by two of Ireland's most highly regarded painters, Louis le Brocquy and Jack B. Yeats.
The clock was originally made for the Speaker of the House of Commons in the old Irish parliament and was later owned by the Irish architect Francis Johnston. Experts suggested it could fetch anything up to €500,000.
Another highlight of the sale is le Brocquy's study of his friend Francis Bacon - Heads and Hands Study from Velazquez, Baconhas a guide price of between €100,000 and €150,000.
Mr Browne has spent his life saving Irish artefacts from going abroad and played an important role in securing the studio of his friend, Francis Bacon, for the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery.
Many of the items being auctioned off belonged to his mother Oonagh, Lady Oranmore and Browne, and were recovered in 1996 from the old family home in Co Dublin, Woodtown.