A painting by Paul Henry fetched €400,000, an auction record for the artist, at an Adam’s sale in Dublin yesterday. It beat the previous record of €300,000 achieved in December 2007.

The Potato Diggers, was painted in Achill in 1910-11 and had been in the same Irish family since it was bought 80 years ago from the artist for a price believed to be about £300.

It was bought last night by an Irish family living abroad.

The two figures in it have been identified as Michael and Margaret Toolis whom Paul Henry got to know on his first trip to Achill in 1910. It had a pre-sale estimate of €250,000-€350,000.

Auctioneer James O’Halloran of Adam’s said: “ The quality and level of both international and Irish interest in this iconic painting left us in no doubt that it was going to do well.”