Around the block: Ailesbury Road €6m surprise

Ailesbury road: Dublin’s most desireable street. Photograph: Fran Veale

Always interesting to note a strong house sale when it turns up on the residential property price register, but a €6 million transaction is a real jaw-dropper. Imagine our surprise then when number 73 Ailesbury Road popped up as having sold on June 10th last for €6 million. Not only is number 73 widely hailed as one of the finest properties on Dublin's most desirable residential street, but the house appears to have been sold privately. In fact so privately that it's not clear it has even changed hands. Certainly its sale has come as a bolt from the blue to Ailesbury-watchers who were unaware it was on the market. Owned by Paddy McGuckian, who with his brother Alastair founded multimillion euro agri- business company Masstock, it's possible the transaction may be a transfer of ownership within the family. It's easily among the highest price paid for a property in Dublin so far this year, and it greatly exceeds the €5.3 million paid for 45 Ailesbury Road, a fully renovated property, in November.