Fixtures and fittings from Residence, a private member’s club on Dublin’s St Stephen’s Green are among the items to be sold in what as “Ireland’s largest-ever interiors auction next month”.
Antiques dealer Niall Mullen has assembled thousands of items – many from well-known Dublin venues that have either closed permanently or undergone refurbishment for the auction which will take place in The Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Co Laois on March 5th and 6th.
Entire contents
Among the 3,000 lots in the auction are the entire contents including bars, mirrors, glassware and furniture from Residence and Restaurant 41 – a former private members' club on St Stephen's Green which is currently closed for refurbishment. The venue closed down earlier this year and has been acquired by the businessmen Paddy McKillen Jnr and Matt Ryan of the Press Up Entertainment Group and is expected to re-open this spring.
Residence described itself as "a luxurious members club located in the heart of Georgian Dublin" offering services including corporate events, private room hire and dining. Residence was opened by twins, Simon and Christian Stokes in 2008 – just as the economic crash was about to unfold – and charged an annual membership fee of €1,600.
The business went into receivership in 2010 and was acquired by a new owner, the Monaco-based Irish businesswoman Olivia Gaynor-Long who has now sold it to Press Up.
Residence operated at a loss every year since it first opened. It is understood that when the venue re-opens – probably in April – it will do so under a new name and will no longer be a private members venue.
Mr Mullen said the auction would include “everything” from the venue including three bar counters; thousands of wine, cocktail and beer glasses; curtains, decanters and champagne buckets; coffee-machines and fridges; artworks; chandeliers and all the furniture. He said the furniture included “a mix of leather- and velvet-upholstered armchairs and sofas”.
Nightclub
The auction will also include the entire contents of former nightclub Howl at the Moon in Dublin's Mount Street including "stunning giant chandeliers and Game of Thrones-style bronze doors"; furniture and chandeliers from the city's landmark Shelbourne Hotel following a refurbishment; and, chandeliers from the ballroom of the former Berkeley Court Hotel in Ballsbridge.
Public viewing for the auction will take place in the Golf Club of the Heritage Hotel, Killenard, for three days starting on Friday, March 2nd. Mr Mullen said the items would be offered without reserve prices and while absentee and online bidding will be available, he said that buyer who turn up and purchase in person "get a 3 per cent discount on the normal 19 per cent auction buyers fee". The auction itself will be conducted by the Co Cavan-based auctioneers, Victor Mee.
Last year Mr Mullen organised a similar auction of the contents of the landmark Central Bank building on Dublin’s Dame Street following the bank’s relocation to the Docklands area.
