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21 Jan 2026
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21 Jan 2026
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Kells' Rockfield Estate contents up for auction
Well known antique auctioneers, Matthews of Kells, are to conduct a country house clearance auction next Tuesday 10 May, at 12 Noon by order the executors of Trevor Fitzherbert Esq. (d.2017).
Rockfield, situated on the Athboy Road, Kells (Eircode A82 V9D5) has been recently sold. A total of 928 lots, the entire contents, require a new home before the new owners can move in. The personal property & collection of Mr. Fitzherbert, the sale comprises antique furniture, old paintings & prints, rugs, a large library of books, fine silk curtains, antique silver, porcelain, collectables, etc.
Some additional lots from various other part clearances have been added to the sale by the auctioneers. "It's a good honest country house clearance auction, for sure" is how the auctioneer describes it. "Trevor, a lovely man, spent a lifetime collecting but he also inherited quite a few things, these too will be cleared".
Mr Fitzherbert, originally of the Blackwater Estate, Navan, has as ancestor Maria Anne Fitzherbert (1756 -1837), a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later King George). In 1785 they secretly contracted a marriage that was held invalid under English civil law at the time, because his father, King George III, had not consented to it.
Mrs Fitzherbert was a Roman Catholic and the law at the time forbade Catholics, or spouses of Catholics, from becoming monarch, so had the marriage been approved and valid, the Prince of Wales would have lost his place in the line of succession. Before marrying George, Mrs. Fitzherbert had been twice widowed. Her nephew from her first marriage, Cardinal Weld, persuaded Pope PIus VII to declare the marriage sacramentally valid.
Public viewing of the auction is this weekend, at the house. 11am to 5pm on Saturday & Sunday, Monday 11am to 5pm. On the day of the auction, Tuesday, there will be a short public viewing, 10am to 12, before the auction commences live online at Noon sharp. The catalogue can be viewed online at www.matthewsauctionrooms.com
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