Ireland's first large-scale clock auction has been taking place in Waterford city today.
More than 380 clocks and watches, some of them rarely seen on the Irish market, are part of a single collection from a three-bedroom bungalow in the mid-west; one collector's life-long passion, which he had asked would be sold in Waterford, which is also home to the Irish Museum of Time.
The timepieces have attracted interest from Irish and international bidders.
Rody Keighery, Auctioneer with RJ Keighery Antiques, sold one of the most sought-after pieces this lunchtime.
Lot 100, a Georgian Irish grandfather clock, made in Waterford by Thomas Cahill in around 1770. The mahogany cross-banded case on bracket feet had an opening bid price of €2000 to €3000 but went under the hammer for a final price of €5200.
It sold to a woman from Ireland who wished to remain anonymous.
Mr Keighery said he was glad the clock was remaining in Ireland. He said it was amazing that all of the pieces on sale today came from a single collector who made clocks his life-long passion.
"It’s amazing. He was a gentleman I knew... He had come to some of our auctions years ago, and he was just a collector like people collecting whatever they have a fascination for.
"The house was completely full to the brim and was a three-bedroom bungalow, which is hard to believe, but they were all over the house."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Narrowly missing out on the bidding on that clock and on another grandfather or 'longcase' clock from Kilkenny was the owner of Waterford Castle, developer Seamus Walsh.
"I was looking at a Waterford and the Kilkenny clock. They went a little bit pricey, but good products, beautiful to see," he said.
He says he will continue his search for a grandfather clock for the castle, adding that there had been huge interest in today’s auction leading to some big mark-ups.
"It was amazing, really, but it's one thing we can't get enough of, is time, and we're all running out of it by the time you realise that time is very scarce.
"If I had my way, I'd have a whole wall of clocks in front of me every morning wake up to remind me how much little time is left," he said.
Cliona Purcell is head curator with Waterford Treasures and with the Irish Museum of Time, just a short walk from where today’s auction took place.
She said: "Obviously, being from Waterford, the Thomas Cahill Waterford clock is a really exciting piece, but every single one of them is a sort of treasure in its own right."
The clocks at The Irish Museum of Time, which opened in 2021, are primarily the combination of two private collections from David Boles and Colman Curran and she said it is now clear that many people in Ireland have a fascination with clocks.
"Obviously, we like to keep the really key pieces here in Ireland if we can. But it's lovely to see these pieces in a home, in context.
"Today, I think time and timekeeping is something that we really take for granted because we've all got a smartphone in our pockets 24/7 that tells us what time it is, but these sort of luxury clocks are just an incredible example of Irish craftwork that's maybe not seen as much in homes today."
As well as bidders from Ireland, there was interest in this auction from the UK, USA, Austria, Germany, France and Sweden, with a Dublin-made clock going to a bidder from Switzerland.
Among the other items on offer today was an 18 carat gold-cased ladies pocket watch from Switzerland. Dating from 1882 it came with its original receipt from Patek Philippe which had been kept with the item in a case for all of these years.
Bids for it began at €2,000 and it sold late this afternoon for €6,000 with the watch remaining in Ireland.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Other items included a Georgian Irish Francis Sperils Grandfather clock in the Chippendale style dated from around 1770.
A matching pair of a French Inlaid Walnut clock, a barometer and a wall clock from a Cork-based maker, James Mangan.
Lot 240, an antique brass-mounted Triple Fusee Bracket clock which would have once been in a large period house in Ireland, also attracted interest with bids starting at €1000.
