Eimear Flanagan
The contents of a former Catholic bishop's home in Newry have been auctioned by the Diocese of Dromore, which will use some of the proceeds to compensate clerical abuse victims.
In recent years the diocese was sued by a number of people who were sexually abused as children by Dromore clergymen, including the late Fr Malachy Finegan.
The Bishop's House, set in grounds off Newry's Armagh Road, was earmarked in 2023 as being among the diocesan assets that could be sold to meet its liabilities.
In a statement, the diocese said it was also selling the contents of the house to fund "various safeguarding matters, including redress for victims and survivors of abuse".
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Finegan, who died in 2002, was headmaster of the neighbouring St Colman's College boys' school and also served as parish priest in Clonduff, County Down.
Some of his victims received six-figure sums in compensation after initiating legal action against the Diocese of Dromore, including one man who secured £400,000.
A few months after that 2023 settlement, the diocese identified assets it could sell "in order to meet our existing and ongoing safeguarding responsibilities".
These included the Bishop's House and adjacent lands close to St Colman's College.
This week hundreds of items from inside the listed building, including ornate furniture, paintings and ornaments, went under the hammer.