Latest news with #Dublin2
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Ready to move in: restored Georgian home with basement apartment on Mount Street Upper for €1.5m
Address : 3 Mount Street Upper, Dublin 2 Price : €1,500,000 Agent : Sherry FitzGerald View this property on In his writings, noted Irish author and Booker Prize -winner John Banville notes his aunt's old flat on Upper Mount Street as the inspiration for the setting for his protagonist, Dr Quirke, the fictional pathologist in the crime novels he wrote under the pen name Benjamin Black. He later wrote in the Guardian of the 'dilapidated grandeur' of her flat where 'Yeats's daughter Anne' was a neighbour and Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh was 'a frequenter of the front steps, a vantage from which he could scowl across at the offices of the Dolmen Press, Dublin's leading publishers of poets, though not Kavanagh'. Commenced around 1790, the street was constructed to link the Grand Canal to Merrion Square and Leinster House, and it is noted on the National Built Heritage Service's website that it is 'indicative of [the] piecemeal nature of its construction, that the north side [is] notably less grand than the south'. It also notes that St Stephen's Church provides 'an interesting centrepiece' at the end of the street. Sherry FitzGerald has just launched number 3 Mount Street Upper to the market, which began life back in 1810, having been constructed in a series of four (numbers 1 to 4) residences that sat behind fine cobweb fanlights. Number 3 operated as commercial offices for the past few decades where the likes of accountants, medical services and a language school operated from its 216sq m (2,325sq ft) space. With four floors over a basement, the house has recently been transformed back to a residential unit under the guidance of architect Michael Cullinan of MV Cullinan Architects. READ MORE The property has an impressive cobweb fanlight A kitchen/diningroom on the ground floor The house is well lit thanks to its south-facing aspect Livingroom on the first floor Principal bedroom Its size is important. In comparison to its peers around the corner on Merrion Square, it's a far more manageable space where staff were originally required to run a multitude of rooms in days gone by. Number 3 is three bays wide with a south-facing aspect. 'You [would usually] have to go to the palatial sized homes around the corner to have this feature, so it has all these qualities, but in a much more compact form,' says Cullinan. He describes the staircase that runs over five floors as an 'essential ingredient' to its charm. 'Very few houses in Dublin have a staircase design such as number 3. At the top you have a square stairs, then descending it becomes a helical [curved] stairs ending up as a dog-legged stairs below,' says Cullinan. Kitchen at basement level Now in turnkey condition, all the headaches associated with renovating a protected structure are over, and new technology, such as Gutex insulation, has been fitted, along with lime plaster, to make the house run more efficiently. The house design has incorporated a self-contained apartment at basement level, which could potentially be rented out or used as separate accommodation for a family member. The property now has four bedrooms in total: two on the third floor, the principal on the second and a fourth at basement level. A kitchen and diningroom lie just inside the front hallway with a wonderful well-lit livingroom on the first floor. Thanks to the layout of the returns, the first floor now has a study, while a WC services the kitchen/dining area return. [ Sandymount four-bed with striking sunroom for €2.15m Opens in new window ] Further interest is the fact that the house has three cellars, and these take 'the form of deep arched basements that extend to the middle of the road,' Cullinan says. With vaulted ceilings, one is used as a plant room and one of the others serves as storage for the apartment at basement level. What is on offer here is a medium-sized Georgian residence a stone's throw from Merrion Square that Cullinan describes as 'packing a punch way above its weight' due to its location, three-bay width and, most importantly, its south-facing aspect. Ber-exempt as it is a protected structure, the turnkey house is likely to appeal to those with a love of Georgian architecture in search of a manageable home. Sherry FitzGerald is seeking €1.5 million for the house which has a parking space to the rear and a self-contained basement-level apartment.
Irish Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Leading solicitor's Dublin headquarters seeking €10m
The landmark headquarters of leading Dublin law firm, Ivor Fitzpatrick & Co, are being put up for sale following a decision by the company to relocate. The firm's move from its long-standing office at 44/45 St Stephen's Green comes just over one year after the death of Mr Fitzpatrick, the firm's founder and managing partner. The property, which occupies a pivotal position at the junction of St Stephen's Green and Hume Street, is being offered to the market with the benefit of full vacant possession by agent Knight Frank at a guide price of €10 million. Built in the early 1970s, 44/45 St Stephen's Green briefly comprises a modern concrete structure behind a mock-Georgian facade. The building, which extends to a net internal area of 1,564sq m (16,830sq ft), has a mix of open-plan and cellular offices over six floors, with typical floor plates of about 293sq m (3,150sq ft). That floor plate is in line with a large proportion of current occupier trends. Some 45 per cent of leasing activity in Dublin 2 over the past five years has been for office units under 465sq m (5,000 sq ft). The property has 15 car-parking spaces. A feasibility study prepared in advance of the sale by Reddy Architecture + Urbanism identifies the potential for a new owner to increase the property's value through either a light-touch refurbishment or a full-scale retrofit. Proposed enhancements include the provision of a new internal core, a reimagined internal layout, and the addition of an extended penthouse level. These upgrades could bring the building's footprint up to a net internal area of 1,640sq m (17,653 sq ft) while improving the property's sustainability. 44/45 St Stephen's Green served for many years as the office of Ivor Fitzpatrick & Co. During his lifetime, Mr Fitzpatrick forged a hugely successful career in both law and in business. While the law firm he founded and managed didn't operate at the same scale as the big five legal companies (Arthur Cox, A&L Goodbody, Matheson, William Fry and McCann FitzGerald), it was highly successful in its own right. It specialised in banking, corporate advice, medical negligence and personal injury, real estate and planning, and in litigation, including defamation. READ MORE Ivor Fitzpatrick made much of his undoubted wealth – he was reputed to be worth up to €100 million at the time of his death – from property, in which he was associated with some of the country's biggest real estate developers and investors, among them Paddy McKillen, Johnny Ronan and Pat Doherty. Other business partners and law clients included Robert 'Pino' Harris and Dermot Desmond. Given its location in one of Dublin city centre's most tightly held and sought-after locations, the property is expected to see interest from a range of prospective owner-occupiers, investors and developers. The property overlooks St Stephen's Green and is within a short walk of Grafton Street and numerous of the city's foremost hotels, including the Shelbourne Hotel, the Merrion Hotel and the Conrad Dublin.
Irish Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Fireaway Pizza takeaway review: Forgettable pizzas with little hint of fire
Fireaway Pizza Address : 2 Wexford Street, Dublin 2, D02 XA59 Telephone : 086-3692256 Cuisine : Pizza Website : Cost : € What's on offer? Fireaway Pizza opened its first Dublin outlet on Wexford Street in January 2025. It is currently the only Dublin location, though there are plans for more across the city and greater Dublin area. Five other outlets are already operating elsewhere in Ireland. The company was founded by Mario Aleppo, who opened the first Fireaway Pizza in Sutton, south London, in 2016. The brand is based on recipes brought from Italy's Amalfi Coast by Aleppo's grandmother in 1949. Fireaway now has more than 160 locations, offering a mix of traditional Italian methods and newer flavour combinations, including a buffalo chicken range. Dough is made fresh daily in each outlet using Italian flour. Pizzas are cooked in custom-built stone ovens that reach 400 degrees, firing the pizzas in about three minutes. The Dublin outlet follows the same preparation, with no premade bases or frozen dough. What did we order? Fireaway Pizza Special, Veggie Supreme, Mexicano Pizza, all 12 inches. READ MORE How was the service? Delivery was on time, but there were problems. The dips were duplicated instead of being different as requested, and there were issues with the bases: what was meant to be thick crust turned out thin, and the thin crust looked thicker than expected. Was the food nice? None of the pizzas showed any real signs of being wood-fired – no leoparding underneath, no char – despite the name suggesting otherwise. The Fireaway Special had meatballs, barbecue sauce, red onions, mushrooms and crispy fried onions. The barbecue sauce dominated. Reheated, it was the best of the three, but still firmly in chain pizza territory: standard cheese, no standout flavour. The Mexicano had jalapeños, mini pepperoni, and a bit of heat, but little else. The base was rigid. The Veggie Supreme was worse. Some blistering and air pockets on the dough, but it was bland. Undercooked vegetables and a thin, weak sauce. None of the pizzas were awful, but all were forgettable – the kind you could get anywhere from Apache to Domino's. The garlic dip was standard, tangy with a hint of lime. The peri-peri dip had some heat but barely scraped the bar for expectations. What about the packaging? The pizzas arrived in cardboard boxes. What did it cost? €49.46 for dinner for three people: Fireaway Pizza Special, €15.49; Veggie Supreme, €15.49; Mexicano Pizza, €15.49; and service fee, €2.99. Where does it deliver? Open daily, noon-4am. Order through Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats. Delivery radius of 3.5km if ordered directly from website. Would I order it again? No. Fireaway delivered a generic chain pizza experience, no better and no worse.
Irish Times
06-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Leading Dublin café bar the Odeon for sale at €6.5m
Having secured the highest price paid for a pub in the Dublin market in 2022 with the €5 million sale of 4 Dame Lane, publican Paul Keaveny has instructed agent Lisney to find a buyer for another of his landmark city centre venues. The Odeon, which is being offered to the market as a going concern at a guide price of €6.5 million, is expected to see strong interest from both publicans and investors. The Odeon occupies the former Harcourt Street Railway Station building in the heart of Dublin 2. Developed originally in 1857, the building served as the terminus for the Harcourt Street railway line between Dublin and Bray until its closure at the direction of the then executive chairman of CIE, Todd Andrews, in January 1959. While Andrews closed the line along with over a dozen other routes that were seen as unviable against the growing use of the private motor car, his decision was viewed with some unease by Éamon de Valera. Andrews explained, according to the Dictionary of Irish Biography, that he had grown tired of watching a few privileged Freemasons from Foxrock using it to go into their meetings in Trinity College 'at the taxpayer's expense'. 1982 - 08/12/1982 page 12 - The old Harcourt Street railway station. Photograph: Dermot O'Shea / THE IRISH TIMES . . . neg no 82/11/259 Following its closure, the Harcourt Street Railway Station building was sold and used as offices up until 1998 when Paul Keaveny acquired it and set about transforming the property into one of Dublin's foremost hospitality venues. READ MORE The Odeon comprises a distinctive café bar-style premises arranged across a two-storey over-basement building. The property, which fronts on to Harcourt Street and its Luas green line stop, retains many of its original period features alongside its contemporary fitout. The Odeon The venue itself is laid out over two principal levels, and comprises a main bar alongside three additional bars at ground-floor level (capacity 650), together with the Bourbon Bar at first-floor level (capacity 200). The two floors can accommodate multiple events simultaneously and have an overall capacity of 850 guests. The Odeon The Odeon The Odeon The Odeon The Odeon, which is being sold as a going concern, has established a reputation over its 27 years in operation, as a popular venue for private parties, corporate events and other social occasions. It has a dedicated DJ and AV setup. The building's outdoor areas include an enclosed beer garden and a heated outdoor terrace arranged between its original arches and columns fronting on to Harcourt Street. The Odeon The Odeon Rory Browne, who is handling the sale on behalf of Lisney, says: 'The Odeon represents an opportunity to acquire one of Dublin's most iconic and instantly recognisable licensed premises. This is an established high-volume and profitable business within a premium trading district that continues to strengthen year on year.' Further details and viewing arrangements are available from Rory Browne and Tony Morrissey of Lisney.
