Best Auction Houses & Dealers in Ireland

Ireland's Auction Market

Ireland's auction trade is centred on Dublin, where long-established salerooms hold regular sales of Irish art, furniture, jewellery and collectibles. Adam's has traded in the city since 1887 and has sold from 26 St. Stephen's Green since 1968, while Whyte's runs eight to ten sales a year from its galleries on Molesworth Street. Irish art is the strongest part of the market. In 2011 Adam's sold Jack B. Yeats's A Fair Day, Mayo for €1 million, reported as a record for an artwork sold in Ireland, and in 2019 Yeats's Reverie made a hammer price of €1.4 million at Whyte's.

Some of the country's best-known houses work outside the capital. Sheppard's has sold from Durrow, Co. Laois since 1948 and built its name on period Irish furniture. Fonsie Mealy, a family firm in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny since 1934, holds sales of rare books, manuscripts, fine art, furniture and silver, and also runs auctions at Dublin venues and at country houses around Ireland. Adam's holds separate Country House Collections sales, and Morgan O'Driscoll runs its art auctions from Skibbereen in West Cork and from an office in Dublin.

Online bidding is now standard. Morgan O'Driscoll says it was the first Irish auction house to hold online auctions. Adam's runs its own Adam's Live platform alongside timed online sales, Whyte's takes live bids through its own bidding site, and Sheppard's sells through The Saleroom, Invaluable, EasyLive Auction and LiveAuctioneers. Some houses charge extra when you bid through a third-party platform. Fonsie Mealy's terms list surcharges of up to 5% on online bids, and Adam's adds a web premium for third-party platforms but not for Adam's Live.

Buyer's premiums at Irish houses fall roughly between 20% and 30% of the hammer price, so always check how VAT is handled. Whyte's charges 20% on art sales and 24% on collectibles sales, plus VAT, and Morgan O'Driscoll charges 20% plus VAT. Sheppard's and Fonsie Mealy each quote 25% including VAT, and Dolan's in Galway quotes 27.5% including VAT. Adam's charges 25% including VAT for Irish art, jewellery and watches, and 30% including VAT for its other sales. Sellers pay a commission as well. Adam's publishes a range of 10% to 17.5% plus VAT, with a minimum of €25 per lot.