THE DISTRESSED PROPERTY auction business doesn’t seem to be losing momentum. There will be 127 lots up for sale on 3 October next at the Allsop Space auction in Dublin.

The auction – the latest of several run by Allsop Space since April 2011 – has a total of 122 properties going under the hammer. Robert Hoban, director of auctions at the company, said that the large number of lots reflects the popularity of previous auctions.

One of the more high-profile lots on offer is the former Sacred Heart convent in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. It’s set on over 5 acres and the buildings – including the former school, a retreat house and accommodation – date back to 1845. It has a reserve not to exceed €100,000 for the lot.

The Sacred Heart Order sisters who had resided in the convent closed their doors in 2009. The Nenagh Guardian noted at the time that just two of the order had remained there by the time of the closure, 167 years after they first came to Roscrea. There had been calls from clergy to turn the nuns’ cemetery at nearby Air Hill into a memorial park. This happened two years later, according to the society of the Sacred Heart which helped fundraise for the project.

The convent complex itself is listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and is described as having a “number of interesting buildings”.

The auction will be held at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin from 11am on 3 October. The catalogue will be online later this morning here.