The former Supreme Court judge, Hugh O'Flaherty, and his wife, Kay, are putting their Ballsbridge home on the market, having bought a smaller house in Dublin 4. Their seven-bedroom house at 24 Herbert Park is expected to fetch over £2.5 million when it is auctioned by joint agents Lisney and Billy O'Sullivan & Associates on July 18th.
The sale comes during a period of intense controversy over the Government's decision to nominate Mr O'Flaherty to a prestigious position with the European Investment Bank.
However, the O'Flahertys had decided earlier this year to sell their family home now that most of their children have grown up and moved out.
Although the sale has come relatively late in the auction season, there is still strong demand for large period houses in Dublin 4. Increasingly, very wealthy buyers are concentrating their search close to the city centre rather than in far flung neighbourhoods such as Foxrock, Killiney and Howth.
Herbert Park is now rated only slightly behind Shrewsbury and Ailesbury Roads, where few houses have been sold in recent years.
The last house to sell on Herbert Park, number 32, a large detached house, made almost double its pre-auction guide price when it sold for £5.3 million. The O'Flahertys bought their listed redbrick house 22 years ago when they moved from Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. The 3,500 sq ft house is ideal for a large family and has three reception rooms and bedrooms on two floors. The reception rooms open off an attractive hallway with crimson walls and a period fireplace.
The best of these rooms is a large sunny drawingroom overlooking the back garden. Sliding doors lead through to the diningroom at the front of the house and both rooms have original fireplaces. Also off the hall is a study lined with bookshelves, and a guest lavatory.
Towards the back of the house is a family sittingroom, leading directly into the kitchen. The sittingroom is warmed by an Aga cooker while the working kitchen is long and narrow with patio doors opening into a conservatory. There is also a fully shelved utility room at this level.
A fine carved timber staircase rises to the first floor, past a landing lit by tall windows with stained glass insets. The first floor has three bedrooms and a large library that would once have been a fourth bedroom.
The main bedroom has a bay window overlooking the front garden, and a wall of built-in wardrobes. There is a fine white marble fireplace.
All the bedrooms at this level share a marble tiled bathroom and a separate lavatory.
The top floor has three further good-sized bedrooms and a large bathroom.
A garage and several outbuildings at the side of the house provide useful storage space, although new owners may decide to extend the house to the side. The back garden is very well-maintained and includes a large area of lawn with shrub-filled borders.
There is parking for several cars in front of the house.
