A library suite of five bookcases originally installed in a Co Donegal house will be offered for sale in Dublin next week for £250,000. The bookcases, the earliest parts of which date from 1763, came from Ards House, an early 19th century property built for Alexander Stewart to the designs of a Cork architect, James Hargrave.
In the last century, the house was occupied by the Franciscan order before being demolished in 1965. The bookcases were saved and have been restored over the past three years.
In its entirety, the library consists of three two-door bookcases, each 7 ft wide and 9 ft high and two breakfront pedimented bookcases 11 and 12 ft wide respectively and both 10 ft high.
In many of their details, these units conform to a design included in the third edition of furniture designer Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Directory published in 1763. This was probably the year in which at least parts of the library were first made, most likely in Dublin.
It was only in the 1820s, after the construction of Ards House north of Letterkenny, that the bookcases were moved to Co Donegal, where they were modernised by the addition of pilasters and a new hinge design on the doors.
The work dating from this later period was signed and dated in pencil, by a craftsman called John Fitzpatrick who left his name on April 6th, 1829.
The specialist responsible for restoring the library to its present pristine condition is David Marshall. He bought the bookcases from the family of antiques dealer Sean Thomas of Killymard House, Donegal, who in turn had acquired the units in the mid-1960s when the contents of Ards House were sold.
Some of the wood he used for new cornices and pediments came from the old library of the King's Inns in Dublin, but other sections such as the sides of the units were reconstructed in new Cuban mahogany. A surprising amount of the glass is original; Mr Marshall says he had to buy only about three square metres of glazing.
Now the task is finished, he is hoping to find a buyer with a large enough house and budget to afford the full suite, priced at £250,000. The bookcases will be on view from next Wednesday evening in the RDS on the stand of Upper Court Manor Antiques at the Irish Antique Dealers' Fair.