Mount Pleasant Square in Ranelagh is a bit of an anomaly; it is the only curved “square” in the city of Dublin, and has just three sides, two of which form crescents. It is, however, one of the finest late-Georgian developments in the city, and was built by the Dolan family in the early 1800s.
Number 38 was home until 2014 , to the now-deceased couple Edward Murphy and Patricia Casey. Murphy was awarded a gold medal by the Royal Hibernian Academy for his contribution to the arts and the Edward Murphy Library in the National College of Art and Design bears his name, as testament to his 35 years as chief librarian.
His wife, Patricia Casey, a solicitor and County Registrar for Carlow, was raised at 26 Fishamble Street, the oldest known house in Dublin, which was occupied by her family for 190 years. The couple purchased the house in Mount Pleasant almost 40 years ago and spent years transforming what was a rundown dwelling in flats, into the place they called home.
The double-fronted two storey over basement property comprises 197sq m (2,120sq ft) and sits on the south crescent – the part that’s furthest from the hustle and bustle of the main road in Ranelagh. The house has two reception rooms at hall level – a drawingroom which Murphy and Casey used as a library to store their vast book collection, and a cobalt blue diningroom which features a mammoth fireplace. Both rooms have dual-aspect original sash windows with shutters.
A conservatory sits on the return with a further bedroom/living space and kitchen at garden level. The house has two further bedrooms upstairs and a large family bathroom. While the period features are all intact, new owners will need to update the kitchen and conservatory, which are outdated. There is huge scope to extend, subject to planning, into the south-facing garden which stretches to 28m (91ft). A few doors down, Number 44, a 235sq m (2,530sq ft) refurbished property was sold in January of this year for €1.045m. Number 38 is available through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of €825,000.
