Thousands turn out for Titanic auction

Date Published: 08-May-2013

 ABOUT 10,000 people passed through the gates of Costello Lodge in Connemara at the weekend to view the contents which

fetched a six figure sum at auction on Monday.

Niall Dolan of Dolan’s Art Auction put hundreds of items under the hammer in what he described as “a marathon event”.

There was phenomenal interest in the auction because of the history of the 10,000 sq ft house where the disgraced Joseph Bruce Ismay lived in semi-recluse fashion after the sinking of the Titanic.

Mr Ismay was a director of the White Star Line which owned the Titanic and is believed to have dressed as a woman to get off the sinking ship on that ill-fated night.

After he died in 1937, his wife continued to live there until her death and the house was then bought by a Dublin couple, Jack and Agnes Toohey, who made their money in clothing and who were great art collectors.

On Monday more than 3,000 people attended the auction and in fact the side flaps of the marquee had to be pulled up so that the overflow of people could hear the auction.

Mr Dolan kept the momentum going from 12 noon until after 9pm that night never once taking a break. Yesterday, he admitted that it had been his longest lasting auction to date beating a six hour one a few years ago.

“We expected great interest in the house and its contents but it far exceeded our expectations. There were people here all weekend from all counties in Ireland.

“Of course the Edward Luteyns designed house did bring a lot of people through the house over the weekend but it also raised a lot of interest in the auction,” he said.

Though there were some Titanic memorabilia from the Ismay family days (a White Star linen embossed table cloth fetched €800), most of the contents were furniture, art and cars belonging to the Tooheys and were being sold by their executors.

The auction kicked off with the sale of three cars, including a 1985 Mercedes Benz 500 which fetched €5,000 and a BMW 321 convertible got €2,300.

Everything that moved was sold and people were still collecting their purchases on Tuesday, which now leaves the house empty for sale at the end of the month.

Other items sold on the day were two fur coats. The full length one fetched €1,900, two wheelbarrows for €230, a ride-on mower for €1,200 and art work (particularly Kenneth Webb paintings) for €7,000 a piece.

There was garden furniture which included lime troughs for €1,000, a courtyard fountain for €1,400, a sundial for €1,800 and bird houses for €90.

There were full dinner services with 250 pieces including coffee pots and china tea sets. It is not often the full contents of a house go on sale, and especially in this case in a house that had such a notorious history in its early years.

It was built as a fishing lodge as the fishing rights were privately owned and barred to locals. It was burned to the ground by the IRA before the Ismay family came to live there after extending it into the existing building.

There was much local curiosity about the house down through the years. That curiosity was sated from last Friday when the house was opened for viewing.