Former fencing association hall in Sandymount sells for €2.4m

There was plenty of interest in Sandymount last week when one of the pretty village's most intriguing and unusual old properties went under the hammer. The Salle d'Armes on St John's Road was an executor's sale comprising a quaint former church hall, dating from around 1860, attached to an old Victorian home extending to about 1,500sq ft.

What sets this property apart somewhat from every other former church site was its interesting change of use from about 1964 on, when it was acquired from the trustees of St John's Church. The hall became home to the Irish Fencing Association and for almost 50 years operated as the Irish Academy of Arms (Academie d'Armes d'Irlande), the professional body in Ireland for the registration, regulation and training of fencing masters.

The property’s position on an unusually large and secluded – for this densely populated suburb – south-facing site of over a third of an acre will certainly have piqued the interest of the developer set who comprised about 50 per cent of the interest in the room on the day, according to selling agent Nigel Bennett of Sandymount-based Bennetts Auctioneers.

With a packed attendance in the room, bidding opened at €1.4 million, and six bidders made 75 individual bids until the property was finally knocked down at €2.52 million. At an 80 per cent premium on the opening advised minimum value of €1.4 million, not a bad return.

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There goes another another chunk of the neighbourhood to developers you might say, but it’s understood the buyer plans to convert the hall into a unique residence for his own private use.