Eddie’s online vintage auctions

A NEW vintage auction site has been launched to help people find unique pieces for their home.

The business, set up by Schull native Eddie Pyburn, organises regular live online auctions focused on collectibles, antiques, one-off statement pieces, and rare items suitable for renovators, interior lovers, and collectors.

The next auction takes place at westcorkauctions.com at 2pm on Sunday, November 7th and will feature everything from a military aircraft compass from a Lancaster Bomber to the actual steel window from an 1800 jail.

Eddie says his mission is to help people find something unique, that tells a story, for their homes.  ‘I’ve always been fascinated by the stories behind the things we have in our homes. The aim of the auction site is to bring an eclectic mix of rare and curious items to a much wider audience.’

Since the early 1990s, Eddie has been foraging and hunting for the treasure that he sells and regularly buys from large UK and European auctions, liquidation sales, and directly from film sets.  He says people often come to him only knowing that they want something different. ‘The one thing that people want is to make a statement. They want something for the corner of their kitchen or the wall in their den that stands out and gets people to ask “Where did you get that?” he says.

Eddie and his wife Miriam are well known in the West Cork business community having purchased Barnetts drapery shop, a Schull institution, in 2017. Since then they have developed and grown the business into a thriving all-year-round shop serving the needs of locals, as well as the many tourists and sailing visitors to the town.

West Cork Auctions originally started as a shop called the vintage room over Barnetts and they moved into its own premises on the Main Street in Schull.

With the online auction business, Eddie wants to grow his stock and stretch his wings beyond one physical location.

‘Online means we can carry many more weird and wonderful items. Thankfully, we get many visitors to Schull and there is as much demand for vintage antiques and collectible business from visitors as there is from locals and we want to grow that business.’