Watch worn by 'Ulysses' character clocks up €60,000 at auction

A GOLD pocket watch worn by a character in James Joyce's Ulyssessold at an Adam's auction in Dublin last night for €60,000 – five times its highest estimate of €12,000.

The bidding opened at €5,000 but rose quickly. There was applause in the St Stephen's Green saleroom when the hammer came down. The buyer was a private collector in Co Kildare who told The Irish Timesafterwards he had bought it for his son who was "born on Bloomsday" (June 16th). The man said his son "won't be getting it as a gift but he will inherit it – which I hope won't be for a long time".

James O’Halloran, managing director of Adam’s, said the watch was one of those very unique items that are “very difficult to value”. He was “surprised and delighted by the price achieved and very pleased for the vendor”.

Adam’s auctioneers said the watch had been consigned for sale by a descendant of John O’Connell, a Dubliner who featured in the novel and was described wearing the watch. He was the caretaker of Glasnevin Cemetery and appears in chapter six under his own name.

Joyce described him as “a portly man” and “a real good sort” and wrote: “The caretaker hung his thumbs in the loops of his gold watch chain and spoke in a discreet tone to their vacant smiles” during the funeral of Paddy Dignam.

In "real life" John O'Connell lived with his wife Mary Ann and their 17 children at the entrance to Glasnevin Cemetery. He died in 1925 and his watch became a family heirloom. Made of 18ct gold, it hangs on a 12-inch chain decorated with an amber stone to the T-bar and was known as "the Ulysseswatch" by the family.

It had a pre-sale estimate of €8,000-€12,000. Large crowds attended the auction. During the evening a Jack B Yeats painting sold for €480,000. Jazz Babies,painted in 1929, had an estimate of €500,000-€800,000. It was last sold at auction by Sotheby's 30 years ago for £14,000.