The last big Irish art auction of 2015 provided further confirmation of renewed confidence and increased market demand. Morgan O’ Driscoll Auctioneers said 79 per cent of lots sold in Monday night’s auction at the RDS.

As expected, the top price was achieved for a 1949 painting titled Business by Jack B Yeats, once part of the Jefferson Smurfit Group corporate collection, that made €210,000, within the estimate of €200,000-€300,000. It was bought by an Irish buyer who lives overseas and who had returned to Dublin for the auction.

Killary Bay, Connemara, a mid-1920s painting by Paul Henry, sold for €97,000 (€80,000-€120,000) to an Irish buyer "living in Dublin" who was also in the saleroom.

Reflections of Positano 1 by Michael Flatley sold for €34,000, also within estimate, (€30,000-€50,000) to an English collector who had seen the painting during a preview of the auction in London.

Speaking afterwards, auctioneer Morgan O’Driscoll said “quite a few lots” had sold to London-based buyers.

He is the only one of the leading Irish art auctioneers who holds viewings in London.

For full results see morganodriscoll.com