The latest lockdown may have put a dampener on the residential market’s new year, but one ambitious duo are not allowing it deter them as they take the plunge and venture forth with a brand new Dublin estate agency.
Pat Mullery and Deirdre O'Gara, two DNG stalwarts with more than 50 years in the trade between them, have departed the mothership to set up shop in the heart of their Dublin 6W stomping ground. The new agency, Mullery O'Gara will operate from a premises housed in the former Age Action shop in Terenure. It's a dramatic departure. Mullery has a reputation as the undisputed King of Resi in the area, and the low-key Galway man has expertly steered countless buyers and sellers through hundreds of sales down the years.
O’Gara meanwhile may be the younger of the two, but as manager for the last 12 years of DNG’s flagship agency in Terenure, she brings plenty of experience and market knowledge to the party. The pair’s departure is a blow for DNG which holds a strong presence in the suburb, and it has moved swiftly to minimise the impact with the redeployment of two key agents Mark Stafford and Eunan Doherty to the Terenure office. Doherty earned his stripes gentrifying vast tracts of Dublin 8. There’s hardly a young buyer between Meath Street and the canal who hasn’t passed through Eunan’s hands en route to a fixer upper home.
Plenty of room
It will make for interesting times ahead and a very competitive environment for anyone looking to buy or sell in the Dublin 6W area. It’s an area already well served by estate agents, including other big guns Sherry FitzGerald and Lisney and smaller operators McGuirk Beggan, Ray Cooke and Mason.
O'Gara says there's plenty of room for them all as different agents focus on their own niches such as lettings, valuations or targeted areas. O'Gara says they plan to take a "hands-on, personal and tailored approach" which translates into handling sales and finding homes for a good database of prospective downsizers. Mullery O'Gara will be looking to match these with the growing cohort of homeowners in Rathfarnham, Templeogue and Terenure now keen to upsize from three- and four-bed homes that have unexpectedly become offices and schools and are bursting at the seams.
