'Bananas’ prices as Ashford antiques go under the hammer

A PILE of bed throws and cushions lay scattered on an nondescript bed that bore no hallmarks of the fact it was once the resting place of a former US President.
The late Ronald Reagan may even have taken some convincing that the bed, which was included in an auction of the contents of Ashford Castle last week, was that which he and his wife Nancy slept on during their visit to Ireland 30 years ago.
But then anyone who wasn’t at the auction in Cong last week would find it hard to believe the spectacle that transformed a remote warehouse into a treasure trove of antique furniture and a myriad of other items from babies’ high chairs to garden tables, all of which were once intrinsic to the famous hotel.
The sums of money being commanded by trinkets whose actual value would have been much lower had their associations not been so grandiose, was also hard to believe.

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