Latest news with #Ranelagh
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Smart two-bed townhouse on Ranelagh's Mountpleasant Place for €695,000
Address : 6 Mountpleasant Place, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 Price : €695,000 Agent : Sherry FitzGerald View this property on Veering off Ranelagh Road , parallel to the entrance to Mountpleasant Square , is Mountpleasant Place. On the right-hand side – before the stretch becomes Oxford Road – lies 6 Mountpleasant Place: a fully refurbished two-bedroom house. It appears on the Property Price Register as having sold in January this year for the sum of €525,000, when the 67sq m (720sq ft) redbrick house had an F Ber and needed upgrading. Now fully renovated with a B3 Ber, all new owners will have to do is unpack. A sittingroom just inside the front door, warmed by an open fireplace, has new panelling and Crittall-style doors that now flood the room with light. New wide-plank wooden flooring – which runs throughout downstairs – leads down the hallway to a now streamlined kitchen/dining space. Behind a stable door, a cleverly concealed bathroom with a shower lies at the end of this space adjacent to black framed sliding doors that open out to a small city courtyard. Hall Sittingroom New streamlined kitchen Kitchen/dining area Off the landing upstairs are two double bedrooms now in turnkey condition. New additions here include an exposed brick wall in the second bedroom adding interest and a bit of heritage and a new clever en suite in the main bedroom. Here the bathroom is located behind a set of mirrored sliding doors so it can be closed off. The fact that the door slides open means that it takes up less space than a hinged opening, in keeping with the smart, space-saving bathroom downstairs. READ MORE The property also has new double-glazed sash windows in a nod to its heritage, while also contributing to its B3 Ber. The location will be ideal for some. A short stroll to the villages of Ranelagh and Rathmines , it is convenient to the city centre, as Grafton Street is under 2km away. It's a two-minute walk to the Luas in Ranelagh, and the area is served by numerous schools. It is also just a few steps from The Hill public house, which is now one of the most popular places for locals to have a midweek pint after work. For those with a penchant for tennis, Mount Pleasant Tennis Club is practically on the doorstep with 11 all-weather courts, professional coaching and year-round competitions. There's also a squash club. Door to small courtyard adjacent to the downstairs loo Small outside space En suite in the principal bedroom is cleverly hidden behind sliding doors Bedroom 2 The sale is a flip, as all works have been completed over the past few months, so the headaches of renovation will not be on the new owners' shoulders. Number 6 Mountpleasant Place, a now restored classic Ranelagh terraced townhouse, just around the corner from Dublin's only curved Georgian square, is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald seeking €695,000.
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Elegant Ranelagh villa a short hop from the Luas for €1.595m
Address : 12 Beechwood Avenue Upper, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 Price : €1,595,000 Agent : DNG Donnybrook View this property on The owners of 12 Beechwood Avenue in Ranelagh bought the three-bedroom two-storey villa in 2013, but only began serious renovations in 2019. As soon as they walked into the house number 12, they knew it was right. 'It was the feel of it, from the big open hallway to the basement, we adored the quirkiness of it,' says one of the owners. Extensive renovations and redecorating saw them put their own stamp firmly on their 165sq m (1,776 sq ft) home, while keeping some features installed by the previous owners in the bedrooms and bathrooms. The Ber is C3. On the left of the roomy entrance hall, floored in tiles by Fired Earth, is the sittingroom. It is painted in dark lead grey shade of Farrow & Ball's Downpipe and the moodiness of the colour is offset with a pale grey carpet and a bright stone mantlepiece over the gas inset fireplace. Built-in shelves flank the fireplace and one is low and wide enough to serve as a desk. There's a bench under the window with storage beneath it. READ MORE Entrance Hallway Sittingroom Kitchen Kitchen Living area Back in the hall, steps lead down to the kitchen with a living area behind it. A Crittall-style doorframe creates a divide between the hall and the kitchen and there's a guest WC to the left. The kitchen and living area is a truly impressive space, with a dark-blue painted kitchen with a concealed pantry. A large island has more storage underneath and a Silestone top that waterfalls to the floor. The attention to detail and evident thought that has gone into the functioning of the space is obvious, from the direction spots lights to the specially commissioned narrow brass rectangular handles on all the unit doors. Past the kitchen there's a superb large, panelled living area with long storage benches on either side painted in blue-black shade Railings by Farrow & Ball and overlooking the garden. The garden faces southwest, getting the best of the sun throughout the day. A mature olive tree and thriving beds of lavender sit well with an abundant jasmine plant on the back wall. There's a plumbed shed in the back garden that previous owners used for washing appliances, and still could be used for this purpose. A long side passage leads back to the front of the house and could be covered over to provide more garden storage. Basement home office/media room Main bedroom En-suite bathroom Bedroom Bedroom Garden All laundry business has now been moved to the basement, which was renovated by the owners and now has a utility and a multipurpose home office/media room, with more of the panelling and understated lighting that works so well in the living area. On the first floor there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms, one of which is a large family bathroom. Behind it is a pretty bedroom with animal wallpaper and dual-aspect windows in the corner. Across the hall another child's bedroom and at the end of this floor, a lovely main bedroom with lots of wardrobes and a great en suite. A three-minute walk away, at the end of the avenue, is Beechwood Luas stop – the line is directly behind the back garden so the swoosh of the tram is often there. Sporting facilities nearby include Mount Pleasant Lawn Tennis Club, the David Lloyd gym and Milltown Golf Club. Gonzaga and Alexandra schools are within walking distance and Sandford Park and Ranelagh Multi-Denominational primary school are also a short walk away. This is a beautiful family home in great condition, ready to move into. Number 12 Beechwood Avenue is on the market with DNG Donnybrook seeking €1.595 million.
Irish Times
09-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, June 9th: On relatives in Gaza, minding your manners and Elvis
Sir, – Each morning after digesting updates of the relentless escalation of massacres in Gaza I go to work to continue my job as a junior doctor. I paint a smile on my face and feign optimism to help those in our hospitals with their own illnesses. I tell myself that I am doing all I can to help those around me, both here and abroad. I push the thoughts of the inhumane killing of thousands of babies out of my mind, while I focus on what, and who, is in front of me. I reassure myself that this is the right thing to do; the patients here also require my care and attention. As I greet my colleagues throughout the morning I cannot but be ashamed when looking in the eyes of one particular friend and colleague. This young doctor is from Palestine and moved to Ireland a number of years ago while his family remain trapped in Gaza. READ MORE I once again suppress the anger and disgust that I feel for our Government by our lack of action. Why should this young doctor continue to treat and care for our families while we are sitting watching his burn? – Yours, etc, GRÁINNE YOUNG, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Sir, – Paul Kearns's article (' The beaches here in Israel are full. Just an hour's drive away, Palestinians are starving', June 7th,) is telling, frightening and saddening. The evidence he cites from his conversations with his Israeli friends about what is going on in Gaza displays a powerful ideological complex at work. Many Israelis, on Mr Kearns's evidence, believe that there 'are no innocents in Gaza', 18,000 dead children notwithstanding. Many Israelis believe that Hamas uses 'human shields' and they deduce from this that Palestinians and Hamas in particular do not value human life as much as Israel does. Even if that is the case, how then does one explain the ferocious ratio the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is prepared to tolerate of civilian to combatant deaths. Dozens, even hundreds, of Palestinian deaths are permissible to kill one Hamas leader. One is led to conclude, with the great American philosopher Judith Butler, that Palestinian lives are much less valuable than Israeli lives. Many Israelis believe that Hamas 'brought this upon themselves'. This 'argument' does two kinds of work. It detaches the current catastrophe from the longer history of the Gaza Strip and of the Occupation. And it exculpates Israel. This exculpation has been around for a long time. One remembers that Golda Meir, prime minister of Israel in the early 1970s, reckoned that none of the wars Israel fought were its fault. One remembers her declaration that there is no such thing as Palestinians. And one remembers her statement that 'we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons'. Israel kills tens of thousands of people but it's the fault of those people. – Yours, etc, CONOR McCARTHY, Valletta, Malta. Standards of care Sir,– For families, the recent disclosures about poor standards of care for sick children in Ireland raises concerns about trust in our healthcare system. For families of children with intellectual disability it is a double whammy. Not only is their child a sick child requiring State care and services for life, but also intellectually disabled children are disproportionately included among the numbers affected by the series of revelations about hip and spinal surgeries. For children with intellectual disability and, in particular, children with cerebral palsy, hip and spine problems are significant issues causing pain and complications which reduce quality of life. Surgery has been the primary treatment for hip dysplasia related to muscle spasticity and for scoliosis of the spine in children with cerebral palsy. Intellectually disabled children and their families are one of the most vulnerable groups in Ireland, and depend on many forms of State service, including the very limited therapeutic interventions, day and respite services and residential care. Families are continuously campaigning for improved services. Following on from the HSE failure to meet the demand for assessment of need, the revelations from Children's Health Ireland (CHI) about unacceptable standards of surgery adds a further burden to the worries and stresses of families of disabled children. Furthermore, it has taken up to 10 months for families to be informed. It is now time for accountability and transparency on how the huge variation in clinical practices have continued for so long. Families need to be reassured about future clinical oversight and governance. It is unacceptable and very unfair that intellectually disabled children are so disenfranchised in terms of all forms of State services, and any outcomes of the CHI inquiries and reports must acknowledge this and make special provision for vulnerable children. – Yours, etc, PROF SEAMUS COWMAN, Inspire, Trustee and board member, Castleknock, Dublin. Exceptional service Sir, – I unfortunately had to visit a major Dublin hospital very recently through the emergency department. From the first person I met and throughout my stay and treatment the care I received can only be said to have been exceptional. Our health service often gets rough press and undoubtedly there are issues mainly in management and governance. But at floor level, on the ward you could not be in a better place. About 90 per cent of the staff who cared for me were not originally from Ireland but have made it their home. I believe we need them even more than they need us. Literally our lives depend on them. Keep it in mind when you meet them on the street. I am sure many have had the same experience as I have had. On my way home now but thank you St Vincent's and all your wonderful staff. – Yours, etc, PAUL MULLIGAN, Dublin 6. Minding your manners Sir, – I am over 66 years of age and entitled to free travel which I regularly avail of and enjoy. Last year I boarded the busy Maynooth train which had no seats available. I didn't mind and was happy to stand with my earphones in, listening to music. I vaguely noted the young man beside me raising his voice. He did so a second time and I heard him say: 'Is nobody going to give the old lady a seat?' I looked around and was horrified to realise that he was referring to me. He repeated his plea a third time and a passenger got up and gave me the seat. My young man looked at me and said: 'There you are love. Your feet must be killing you.' I was mildly amused and regaled my friends with the story for weeks afterwards. Last week I returned from a hillwalking holiday in England and boarded the packed Maynooth train again. I was overdressed for the hot Irish afternoon, wearing my hiking boots, hiking coat and long trousers. Once again there was no seat available. My wheelie case and small backpack were a nuisance at every stop and I was hot and bothered. To add insult to injury a young woman beat me to a seat which became vacant along the route. I reflected on my experience a year ago and wondered where my gallant hero was when I needed him. – Yours, etc, MARY FOLEY, Leixlip, Co Kildare. Sir, – As I approach my 68th birthday this August, I find myself reflecting on an incident that occurred this week aboard the Luas. I took the last available seat, only to be loudly berated by a young woman in her early 20s for, in her words, 'not being a gentleman'. Over the years, like many others, I've tried to be considerate – offering my seat when someone clearly needed it more. But now, with age making its presence felt in my knees, back and balance, I wonder at what age is a man allowed to sit down without being judged? Courtesy should go both ways. Perhaps we should teach our young people that respect isn't just something to be demanded – it's also something to be given, especially to those who've earned it over a lifetime. – Yours, etc, DONAL McKENNA, Naas, Co Kildare. Trump and Musk Sir, – As a self-professed empathetic, honourable, peace-loving, self-aware but mostly super smart person, Donald Trump erred bigly when he gave Elon Musk the house key. But if they kiss and make up, which in their mutual interest they surely must, I suggest they fulfil their stated desire to go to Mars. For all our sakes let it be a one-way ticket. – Yours, etc, EITHNE MacFADDEN, Carrigart, Co Donegal. Elvis is back in the building Sir, – My tenacity has finally paid off and my 18-inch statue of Elvis at 13, previously owned by Priscilla Presley, is now on show in the U2 room of the Little Museum of Dublin. The original life-sized bronze statue of Elvis at 13 is located quite close to Elvis's birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi, at my suggestion in a letter to the mayor, Larry Otis. A great coup for Ireland. The story appeared in The Irish Times and the Daily Journal of Tupelo etc, way back in 2002. So forgive me Bono. Elvis is back in the building. – Yours, etc, MAURICE COLGAN, Swords, Co Dublin. Planning regulations Sir , – I refer to Margaret Farrell's letter of June 7th, complaining bitterly about the proposed relaxation of some planning regulations. I suggest if she was a 30 year old still living in her childhood bedroom, she might have a different view. – Yours, etc, JOHN LOMBARD, Goatstown, Dublin 14.
Irish Times
30-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Picture This - Frank McNally on knowing your onions, the sophistication of French scammers, and journalism with legs
A reader had appealed to me as a 'last resort', seeking help in finding an old photograph. His name is Richard Evans, and he's writing a history of his family, the Irish branch of which began in the 1880s when his great grandfather – a Shropshire lad – moved to Dublin to become a butcher's apprentice. The apprentice later struck out on his own with shops in Baggot Street and Ranelagh, the latter beside where Humphrey's Pub still stands. When the building was redeveloped years ago, Richard salvaged the mosaic tiles on the footpath outside, bearing the name ' But he is now 'desperate' to find a photograph of the shop and has tried all the obvious places - including Susan Roundtree's book Ranelagh in Pictures - without success. If this column can't help him, he fears the quest is a 'lost cause'. On a tangential note, his email also notes that the butcher later transferred the business to his nephew, one Tom Onions. An aunt of Richard's, another Onions, tells him there were three shops in Ranelagh at one time owned by people called 'Lovely, Hamm, and Onions' respectively, although he doesn't remember that himself. READ MORE Alas, I can't confirm this either, although I dearly want to and have tried. But then, searching for a 'Lovely shop', or an 'Onions shop', or even a 'Hamm shop', tends to confuse search engines. As for asking AI to tell you more about 'Lovely, Hamm, and Onions' in Dublin 6, that's just a fool's errand. *** Also among my emails this week was one from a woman I'd never heard of before, and who didn't know my name. I immediately assumed it was spam, but it was in French. So before deleting, I mentally translated the opening sentences and was intrigued by their intellectual and philosophical tone. They began like this: 'In death, the family does not destroy itself, it is transformed, a part of it goes into the invisible. We believe that death is an absence, when it is a discreet presence. One thinks it creates an infinite distance, while in fact it suppresses all distance, restoring to the mind what was located in the flesh…' There was more in that vein, all of it sounding vaguely profound, at least in the original. Then at last the lady got around to introducing herself, stoically detailing the terminal illness with which she was diagnosed recently, and mentioning the €1.8 million she would now like to donate to a 'trustworthy and honest person'. Sigh. There are scammers everywhere these days. But it's extraordinary that even fraudulent attempts to get your bank details seem to be so much classier in French. *** Further to the theme of Connacht, Hell, and Longford (Diary Wednesday May 28th), regular correspondent Damien Maguire has written to point out that the Cavan panhandle was another destination from farther north. To this day, he says, there are families there – mostly from Donegal - known as 'Ultachs'. This even though Cavan itself is in Ulster (despite its GAA secessionist ambitions, circa 1915, to escape the baleful influence of Monaghan). Damien also mentions in passing that although everyone has heard of the famous 1947 All-Ireland in New York, not many people know Cavan also won in New York in 1958. This wasn't GAA, it turns out. It was a horse called Cavan, which won the prestigious Belmont Stakes that year, preventing the injured favourite Tim Tam, which had already won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, from completing America's Triple Crown. The 2025 Belmont Stakes is next weekend, June 7th, in Saratoga. And I'm delighted to see that favourites include a horse called Journalism, which has already triumphed in this year's Preakness. I may have to risk a few dollars. It's heartening to know that, even in Trump's America, Journalism in any shape can still win. *** On a more poignant note, this week marked the 30th anniversary of the demise of the Irish Press group, a milestone commemorated by a get-together of survivors in Wynn's Hotel. Disturbingly, that means the world has now been without Press newspapers for almost as long as it has had the Spice Girls, who have been the subject of 30th anniversary reunion tour rumours of late. Now I feel old. The last years of the Press coincided with the start of my career as a freelance journalist, which regularly involved pulling all-nighters, as they say. And seeking to get a jump in the competition, in those pre-internet days, it sometimes helped me to get the next day's papers as soon as they were printed. I was an Irish Times reader (although not yet working for it) by then. But having grown up with the Irish Press, thanks to a Fianna Fáil father, I still had a soft spot for that too. So, cycling into town circa 1am, I would first stop by Poolbeg Street, where bundles of the first edition Presses came rolling down a chute to the waiting vans. It was a bonus that the lads in the Press usually gave me the paper free. Atound the corner at The Irish Times, meanwhile, they always charged.
Irish Times
25-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Downsizing in Ranelagh: a sun-kissed slice of Provence in Dublin 6
A Ranelagh homeowner traded down to a house around the corner from her original three-storey abode, the smaller property a villa-style residence overlooking a large green space. It had, she explains, lovely period features including good ceiling heights, cornicing and ceiling roses, dado rails, architraves and timber floorboards. When she bought it, the reception rooms were upstairs, at entrance level, while the kitchen was downstairs, and ran the depth of the house. This lower-floor room opened out to the garden to the rear which, although south-facing, was relatively small. The homeowner brought in Mícheál de Siún of De Siún Architects and, in doing so, achieved a more balanced house, with all the living space on the same floor, now washed in light. She and her late husband had spent a lot of time in the south of France , and it was a painting, Paul Cézanne's Gardanne 1866, a view of the hill town of that name near Aix-en-Provence, that was the inspiration for the ambient renovation. Gardanne, 1866 by Paul Cézanne 'Light was also central to the brief,' says de Siún. By demolishing an outhouse and outside toilet, the architect explains, he gained space to the side of the house. This gave him the room to push the property out to its perimeter wall at entrance level. READ MORE The extension has added just 19sq m (204sq ft) of space, but it is the reorientation of the rooms to the left of the entrance hall, and the addition of glazing on three sides, that is transformative. Mícheál de Siún of De Siún Architects, who were behind the reinterpretation and renovation of the Ranelagh property. Photograph: Alan Betson Now, instead of a small and relatively enclosed back garden, the livingrooms overlook the aforementioned green, affording a front-row view of its trees, their colours changing with the seasons. The kitchen-diningroom now gives the impression of hanging above the boundary wall – the line of which follows the river Swan, which appears on maps dating from mid-1700s and now runs underground, de Siún says – and of being among those trees. 'It feels like you're floating,' de Siún says. The house plants too are thriving on all the sunlight. Exterior. Photograph: Alan Betson Extended area. Photograph: Alan Betson Kitchen area. Photograph: Alan Betson View to rear Renovation designed by De Siún Architects The glass is interspersed with timber upright fins to shield the space from the outside. These are finished in Owatrol oil in Weathered Grey. By inserting a long roof light into the centre of the room, areas that would have been discernibly darker have been illuminated. A beech dining set adds further warmth and is adjacent to a long built-in window seat. The olive-green colour used on the Teroco windows is RAL 6003, to which the steel, by H&M Ironwork, inside and out, was matched. The nature of this home's reinterpretation means the interior is washed in light from sun up to sundown. In the mornings the exterior fins are dappled with shadowplay from the leaves on the trees, backlit by the sun. Livingroom. Photograph: Alan Betson Window on to green space. Photograph: Alan Betson Hallway. Photograph: Alan Betson The elements of the bespoke kitchen, designed and made by Dean Cooper, have been 'scribed to fit', as de Siún puts it, meaning that the units have been constructed to specifically suit the period property's proportions and non-straight walls. It's subtly done and explains why the Nettle Soup-coloured cabinetry, a Colourtrend shade, looks so at home in the space. The Cézanne painting, which now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York, helped the owner select the serene shades that feature on the walls and woodwork. The kitchen island was also made to measure; it's 1m wide and 2.5m long, with ribbed ends to add texture and to echo the character of the architraves, de Siún explains. All this attention to detail knits together the kitchen area, in the old front room, and newly added dining-cum-reading nook. Behind a half wall is additional space housing a guest WC, cloakroom and side entrance via granite steps down to the front garden, all hidden from view from the cooking area. The wallpaper in the lavatory has a painterly quality too; this time it could be a Dutch master. WC. Photograph: Alan Betson Bathroom. Photograph: Alan Betson Exterior. Photograph: Alan Betson Across the hall the interconnecting rooms remain much as they were. Their large sash windows continue to wash the space in light from front to back. The painted cast-iron fireplaces endure, and the beautifully engineered set of original fold-back doors still sit flush with the walls. The blackened floorboards, which had possibly been covered in a bitumen paint, have been sanded back and are now stained a soft matt honey tone, a colour from Osmo oil tints. This helps bring this entire upper floor together. Here, there is a full-size burl walnut grand piano that belonged to the family of the homeowner's late husband and had to be winched up to the second floor of her former home, she recalls. 'They had to take out a window,' she says, delightedly reporting that there was no such drama when bringing it into this home. Her Aunt Molly's dining table is also in this room, and it is lovely to see such pieces with stories on show. Downstairs, the principal bedroom has an en suite bathroom that features microcememt tinted a bleached terracotta. The colour, Fleetwood Shell Coral, is a replica of the sun-warmed rooftops of the Cézanne. Microcement, de Siún explains, 'is worked on by hand and has a finish that feels like polished concrete. The colour is handmade per batch. The owner didn't want to use tiles and there are no seams or joins.' Now when the family gathers, they can wander between the reception rooms and the kitchen-diningroom. The grandchildren, who often excuse themselves after dinner, can jump over the wall with a ball and have a kickabout, surveyed, but only from a distance, by their parents. The work, which was executed by MSVI builders, was a winner in the home extension refurbishment, medium size, at this year's Building and Architect of the Year awards. 'It's very easy to manage,' says the owner. 'I have just 18 steps down to bed, rather than the 50 up to bed in the previous house.'
