You can grab your very own vintage Dublin street sign at a "retirement auction" next week.
Motor enthusiast Hugh Nolan led a double life and has secretly collected thousands of items from car boot sales over the decades. The 65-year-old's impressive 1,200-lot collection includes a stash of street signs from the capital and across the country, as well as cars and other memorabilia.
Mr Nolan worked as a contract manager in the construction trade in Belfast for 30 years and built up his collection in his spare time through car boot sales. Later in life, he opened McNean Antique and Salvage Shop in Blacklion, Cavan.
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Everything in the shop, collected in Ireland and internationally, must go during Mr Nolan's "retirement sale", taking place online on March 27 and 28.
His collection of 200 street signs are "highly sought after by ex-pats, especially those running restaurants or pubs overseas" and some have the potential to fetch thousands of euro.
The Dublin collection includes signs for Herbert Road, North Circular Road, Dermot O’Hurley Avenue and Hammond Lane. Also pointing the way are Park Avenue, Dawson Street, Washington Street, Buckingham Street, Highfield Grove, Frederick Court and Brookvale Road.
Mr Nolan explained that the signage would have come in to private ownership as they were being replaced and were worthless to whoever is swapping them out for a newer sign, so in many cases they would have been marked to be destroyed.
He said he "never told anyone" about his second life while he was working in the building trade. "I would get up at 5am on a Sunday to do the car boot sale circuit," he said.
“I sold nothing and bought everything; I had things stored in every nook and cranny of the house, from the attic to the garage, before opening the store."
Also up for auction is a 3.5L 1970 Rover V8, guided at €15,000 and owned by Nolan since 2006. It has been professionally resprayed and is in full working order.
However, Mr Nolan won't be auctioning off all of his car parts. “Loving cars is a bug, and I’ve got it," he said.
"I have the parts for a Triumph Spitfire, a Jaguar, and another Rover, and I’m looking forward to working on them in the coming months and years when I have more time on my hands."
The Hugh Nolan retirement auction takes place live at easyliveauction.com/auctions on March 27 and 28, with viewing at the antique shop in Blacklion on March 24, 25 and 26 from 10am – 5pm.
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