The new owners of Lissadell House in Co Sligo have appealed directly to the Minister of the Environment, Mr Cullen, for State support to save its contents for the nation.
With a week to go before the Christie's auction on November 25th, they have warned the collection of furniture and artefacts valued at €1 million would otherwise be "scattered to the four corners" of the Earth. 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.
Mr Edward Walsh SC, and his wife, Ms Constance Cassidy SC, who bought Lissadell in September for a reported €3.5 million, said their offer of €750,000 for its contents had been rejected by Sir Josslyn Gore-Booth.
They were also told by Christie's that if they wished to purchase any of the 636 lots in advance of the auction, they would have to pay a premium of 250 per cent on the higher catalogue estimate, plus 19 per cent commission.
The catalogue notes Lissadell is the only house in Ireland to retain original furniture specially made by the Dublin firm, Williams and Gibton, and says the sale would be an opportunity "to see... this furniture possibly for the last time in situ".
The two barristers have already met Mr Cullen to discuss what role the State might play in securing all the items of historical interest, as "even with the best will in the world" they would only be able to buy a relatively small proportion. "Our concern, however, is that this collection is now likely to be literally scattered to the four corners. Should this occur, we believe the nation will be deprived of an essential piece of history," they told the Minister in a letter.
Lissadell's value as a tourism attraction in the north-west would be undermined unless both the house and its contents were preserved, along the lines of the "living museum" which had been created at Strokestown Park in Co Roscommon.
Their plans envisage that the house and its 400-acre estate would be open to the public for a significantly increased period of time each year. But if it was "denuded of its contents", visitor demand would be correspondingly reduced.
"We have been advised that it will be possible to furnish this house with alternative furniture at a significantly less sum than is now being guided by way of an estimate.
"To do so, however, detracts from the provenance and integrity of the house."
