Hundreds of items from Waterford's historic Munster Bar to be sold at auction

The contents of the historic Munster Bar will be sold at auction this coming Monday, October 5, by renowned Waterford auction room RJ Keighery Antiques.

Hundreds of items will be available for bidding, online or at auction, from 10am Monday morning, with auctioneer Rody Keighery expecting all items to be sold by the end of the 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 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 are 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, include an original Guinness mirror, which Thomas says has attracted interest from around the world ahead of the bidding this Monday, with an estimated sale price between €800 and €1,200.

The large Goodbody’s Tobacco mirror is another piece Thomas expects 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 is not to be understated.

The Munster Bar’s old ‘smoker's door’ is another item Thomas expects to attract a lot of interest to many pub and bar owners, 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 North Quay in the early 1900s, with an estimated selling price of €500 to €800 pre-bidding.

With interest expressed on many of the pieces well before bidding began, both Thomas and Rody expect 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.

The Keighery’s sold other items from the Munster Bar about five years ago, Thomas told the Waterford News & Star, as the place began to close up shop.

Managed by Rody Keighery and his wife Anne, RJ Keighery Antiques has built a solid reputation, both locally and nationally, over the last 70 odd years, holding regular auctions in their purpose-built auction rooms in Waterford City and online.

The full catalogue, of Munster Bar items and other antiques is available online, with bidding beginning on Monday, October 5 at 10am.