Next Tuesday's fine-art auction at Upper Court Manor in Co Kilkenny is to go ahead, even though certain key lots have had to be withdrawn. The property had been run as an antiques business by Paddy Fitzgerald, but he recently decided to convert the building into a series of luxury apartments. All current stock was to have been disposed of, together with a number of fittings, specifically four marble fireplaces, a set of Georgian carved limestone figures representing the four seasons and an 18th-century fitted pine library.

However, just over a week ago, the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht declared Upper Court Manor a national monument and now none of the fittings may be sold. Obviously this will seriously affect the auction's eventual total, since the items in question carried by far the highest estimates - £50,000-£70,000 for the statuary, £83,000£120,000 for the four fireplaces and £60,000-£80,000 for the library - but the other lots are sufficiently numerous (well over 700) to ensure plenty of interest from buyers.

Although relatively scarce, items of Irish furniture deserve to be noticed first. These include a Georgian-period mahogany sideboard, probably from Cork, its tapering feet ending in lion-paw feet (£4,000-£6,000) and a Georgian mahogany longcase clock by John Sanderson of Dublin (£5,000-£8,000).

Also Irish are a large Victorian carved mirror-backed sideboard, or serving table, carrying the label of Strahan's of Dublin (£7,000-£9,000) and two sets of William IV mahogany dining chairs, one numbering a dozen (£8,000-£10,000), the other four (£800-£1,100), both sets by Williams & Gibton. Of the rest of the furniture, there are plenty of free-standing bookcases on offer, such as a Georgian mahogany example with three Gothic glazed doors (£3,500-£5,500) and two William IV mahogany bookcases, both sharing the same estimate of £3,000-£5,000. The auction contains more than one dining table or set of chairs. Among the former is a large William IV mahogany table and another boardroom or dining table on three Victorian tripods. These are both valued at £4,000£6,000 and either could be teamed with a set of eight 19th-century mahogany dining chairs (£3,000-£4,000). The auction also abounds with mirrors, whether as overmantels - one Victorian gilt example is expected to go for £1,500-£2,500 but others have much lower estimates - or wall pieces, where typically a large early 19th-century carved giltwood mirror carries a figure of £3,500-£5,000.