Fitzwilliam Hotel owner seeks €3.8m for Georgian gem with historic links to titans of US and Irish industry

Agent McNally Handy is guiding a price of €3,8 million for No 66 Fitzwilliam Square, a well-maintained Georgian office building and mews in the heart of Dublin’s traditional central business district. The property is being offered for sale on behalf of the owner of the Fitzwilliam Hotel, Michael Holland, with full vacant possession along with access to the private Fitzwilliam Square Park.

Built as one of a pair with the neighbouring No 65 in 1822, which incidentally is currently on the market through agent Savills as part of an unrelated sale process, No 66 comprises a four-storey over garden-level building of 672.32sq m (7,236.85sq ft) made up of a main building of 568.17sq m (6,115.78sq ft) positioned on the northern side of Fitzwilliam Square between its intersection with Pembroke Street Lower and Fitzwilliam Street Upper and a mews to the rear of 104.15sq m (1,121.07sq ft) with own-door access from Pembroke Lane.

The property has been maintained to a high standard according to the selling agent and has retained many of its original features, including feature fan lights, ornate cornicing, sash windows and ceiling roses. The property also has a lift serving all floors, which has recently been upgraded and replaced. The mews has dual access via an interconnecting corridor from No 66.

While the building has been in office use for a number of years, it offers potential for a conversion back to residential use, subject to planning permission. Before being used as an office, No 66 was occupied by Major James and Mrs Josephine Egan from 1984 until their respective deaths in 1984 and 1994. Major Egan served in the Irish Guards and was an Irish rugby international who played in the position of fullback in three test matches in 1931. Mrs Egan was a member of America’s famed Merck dynasty, a family which derived its fortune from the development and sale of pharmaceuticals under the name of Merck, Sharp & Dohme.

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No 66 was subsequently owned for a number of years from 1994 by the businessman and former media mogul Sir Anthony O’Reilly. Sir Anthony acquired the property two years before his purchase of No 2 Fitzwilliam Square, which he maintained as his Dublin residence and private office until 2014.