DEALERS locked horns in Limerick yesterday as they tussled for rare giant Irish elk antlers complete with skull, which sold at auction for a remarkable £5,700.
The ancient Irish elk antlers measured 11 feet in width, with a palm spread of 18 1/2 inches.
Bids came from international buyers as the entire contents of Pella House in Kilrush, Co Clare, owned by the west Clare Glynn family, went under the hammer.
The antlers were bought by phone by an unnamed Irish buyer. They came from the Carrigaholt area on the Loop Head peninsula.
They are believed to be the oldest item sold at auction in Ireland in recent years.
The giant Irish deer was plentiful 20,000 years ago and its lifespan was about 15 years.
The deer lived in open country as their antler size prohibited them from entering forest areas.
Only males had antlers which they shed annually and grew again before mating. The average width of antlers was nine feet and the longest recorded was 13 ft 4 ins.
Ms Marion McNamara, of antique and fine art auctioneers John Dunphy, Henry Street, said they were pleased with the sale of this rare item, which they had expected to fetch between £2,000 and £3,000.
Notable collections of giant deer are held in the Natural History Museum, London, and in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, but the National Museum of Ireland has the largest collection. This is a legacy of 150 years of earlier collecting by institutions such as the Royal Dublin Society and the Royal Irish Academy.
The antlers were one of 400 lots sold from Pella House. Also sold were a Victorian diningroom table for £2,000, an Italian painting of a lady in a Florentine frame for £1,300 and a set of eight carved oak chairs for £1,000.