Latest news with #JohnBanville
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.
RTÉ News
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
10 other arts and music festivals to check out this summer
Whisper it - lest you provoke the weather gods - but with this prolonged period of glorious sunshine we've been having, it's the perfect time to start planning your summer festival schedule. Amidst the big players - the Longitudes and the All Together Nows, the Electric Picnics and the Galway International Arts Festivals - there are plenty of other lesser-known music and arts gems to be appreciated across the coming months. So whether you're not into milling around with tens of thousands of punters or you're simply looking for something a little off the beaten track, here are ten other music and arts festivals to check out. 1. Festival of Writing and Ideas | June 6th - 8th | Borris, Co. Carlow This brilliant festival does exactly what it says on the tin: it gathers together an array of brilliant minds, thinkers, speakers, writers and idea-generators at the picturesque Borris House in County Carlow for an annual shindig. This year's programme includes authors John Banville, Paul Murray, Maggie Armstrong and Sinéad Gleeson, musicians Colin Greenwood and Conor O'Brien, actors Fiona Shaw, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rupert Everett and Eileen Walsh, and many more. 2. Open Ear Festival | May 29th - June 1st | Cork Keep both your ears and your minds open for this gem. Not only is the line-up a stellar showing of some of the most interesting irish acts around - from the Choice-nominated Róis to renowned violinist Caoimhín Ó Ragallaigh and experimental psych-rock artist Elaine Malone - but the novelty of travelling to it by ferry adds to its unique nature. It takes place on Sherkin Island off the coast of Cork, with camping and glamping available on site. 3. In the Meadows | June 7th | Dublin Any opportunity to see the Godfather of Punk, Iggy Pop, is always worth taking. When you add in an array of superb bands - both Irish and international - across a day-long event, it's doubly so. The punk legend will headline and has also curated the bill for the second In the Meadows festival at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, which includes Gilla Band, Slowdive, Sprints, Lambrini Girls, Muireann Bradley and more. 4. Carlow Arts Festival | June 4th - 8th The organisers of this long-running event have pulled together an impressive programme for 2025, with a nicely-balanced mix of music, theatre, visual arts, spoken word, comedy, workshops and more. Highlights include multi-hyphenate artist SexyTadhg, Emman Idama's comedy show No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish, music by Ye Vagabonds and the community-led Carnival of Collective Joy; who wouldn't want to see such a spectacle? 5. When Next We Meet | June 7th - 8th | Clonmel, Co. Tipperary If a celebration of some of the finest independent acts on the Irish music scene sounds like your kind of thing, this intimate festival is well worth checking out. Now in its fourth year, the 2025 programme takes place at the Raheen House Hotel in Clonmel and will see Villagers, Pillow Queens, Paddy Hanna, Morgana and more entertain the masses. With a capacity for only 800 people max per night, there'll be no shoving required to get to the front at this comparatively cosy gathering. 6. Forest Fest Music & Arts Festival | July 25th - 27th | Emo, Co. Laois For one weekend a year, the village of Emo, Co. Laois plays host to some of the big-hitters from the music world over the last twenty years. With a bias towards indie and rock, this year's excellent line-up includes Manic Street Preachers, Franz Ferdinand, Teenage Fanclub, Travis, The Dandy Warhols and more. If you're an old school raver, however, Orbital will provide the goods, while there's also an Ibiza Rewind stage, a Forest Fleadh area, a family area and much more. 7. Body & Soul: A Wake | August 16th - 18th | Exact location TBC, but Co. Meath After 14 editions, the Body & Soul festival sadly came to an end in 2023 - but that's not quite where the story ends. Although details are scant, it's worth keeping an eye on what this 'wake' might entail. Described as a 'final send-off' for the beloved festival, organisers have stressed that it's "not a festival" - but there is a (loose) dress code and there will no doubt be entertainment at this "intimate gathering rooted in the energy of an Irish Wake". More info will be revealed to those attending closer to the time. 8. West Cork Literary Festival | July 11th - 18th | Bantry, Co. Cork What an outstanding programme awaits in Banty, West Cork this summer - as if you need an excuse to visit such a stunning corner of Ireland. Big hitters like Richard E. Grant, Sarah Moss, Alan Hollinghurst, Neil Jordan and local boy Graham Norton will rub shoulders with various luminaries (Eimear McBride, Claire Kilroy) and newcomers of the Irish literary scene, including Ferdia Lennon, Seán Ronayne, Louise Hegarty and more - with plenty of free events, talks, workshops and even a festival swim in the mix, too. Undoubtedly one of the best literary line-ups of the year. 9. Another Love Story | August 23rd - 24th | Killyon, Co. Meath This festival, which launched in 2014, has established itself as one of the smallest-but-most-perfectly-formed festivals on the Irish circuit, always curating a beautifully well-rounded programme that will appeal to music lovers of all tastes. This year's event includes sets by Spanish DJ/producer John Talabot, singer-songwriter Fionn Regan, Dublin rapper Curtisy, folk duo Dug and more. 10. Night and Day | June 27th - 29th | Boyle, Co. Roscommon It's not just music that's the draw for this festival in Lough Key Forest Park in Co. Roscommon, although there's plenty of interest on that front (from KT Tunstall to Paul Brady, and The Wailers to José González). There's also a family zone and accompanying programme to keep the tiddlers happy, with workshops, dancing, circus skills, lego and more, alongside a wellness area to provide some tranquility away from the hustle and bustle.
