Contents of Waterford’s historic Munster Bar sold at auction

The contents of the historic Munster Bar were recently sold at auction by renowned Waterford auction room RJ Keighery Antiques.

Hundreds of items went under the hammer from the iconic site, with most of the items sold on the same day.

The Munster Bar was a long-serving Waterford institution, operating for over 70 years as the family-owned Munster Bar passed down over three generations.

The Bailey’s New Street building that the Munster Bar operated from has even more historical significance, as one of Waterford’s oldest commercial buildings, with records of taverns operating out of the building going back as far as 1853.

The contents from the renowned site were largely mid-century furniture and decorative pub pieces from the 1930s–1950s, ranging from an old style ‘smoker’s room’ door, to stools, tables, benches and cabinets, to mirrors, wall art and signage and even some stone cherub statues.

Heavy hitters in the auction

Some of the highlights from the lot, according to Thomas Keighery, of RJ Keighery’s, included an original Guinness mirror, which Thomas says attracted interest from around the world ahead of the bidding, with an estimated sale price between €800 and €1,200, and which sold for €2,900.

A large Goodbody’s Tobacco mirror was another piece Thomas expected to be of great interest to people locally and further afield; with the Goodbody family starting the Jute Factory here in Waterford many moons ago the local significance of the piece was not to be understated.

The mirror sold for €2,500, well above the expected sale price.

The Munster Bar’s old ‘smoker’s door’ was another item Thomas expected to attract a lot of interest to many pub and bar owners, selling for just under €1,000 at €950, despite smoking indoors no longer being allowed.

Thomas’ final highlight from the Munster Bar contents was the old chemist cabinet, originally from a chemist on the Waterford quays in the early 1900s, with an estimated selling price of €500 to €800 pre-bidding and which sold for €2,400.

The highest selling item from the Munster Bar pieces on auction was an Old Irish Whiskey mirror from the pub, which sold for €4,400.

With interest expressed on many of the pieces well before bidding began, both Thomas and Rody Keighery expected all of the Munster Bar antiques to sell quickly.

Particularly, as Thomas told this reporter, because not many of the traditional and long-standing bars like the Munster Bar close, meaning items of such high quality, age and significance don’t come up very often.