It was a wet and windy Saturday evening on Raglan Road but that wasn't enough to keep the rubberneckers away.
Standing behind the crowd barriers as their umbrellas flapped in the wind, they scanned the street in both directions for any sign that he was on his way. One child tugged at his mother's sleeve and asked about the 'big film' on television that night.
"This is the big film," she replied, pointing as yet another car disgorged its passengers to a blaze of flashbulbs. "Bill Clinton is here tonight."
They waited for more than an hour before the man himself arrived in a four-car motorcade shortly after 6.30pm.
Flanked by his security detail, Clinton swept up the steps to the open door before turning to wave briefly at the crowd of onlookers gathered on the street outside.
"It's not every day you have a former US president call next door," said Karen Bolger, a local resident who had waited for an hour in the rain with her husband and three children. "We thought it would be amazing for the children to see him."
Among the guests waiting inside were former Progressive Democrat TD Tom Parlon, broadcaster Gerry Ryan, hotelier John Fitzpatrick, property developer Noel Smyth, philanthropist Niall Mellon and publisher Niall O'Dowd.
Also attending the cocktail party held to raise funds for Hillary Clinton's presidential election campaign were New York-based lawyer Brian O'Dwyer and Democratic Party fundraiser Stella O'Leary who flew in from Las Vegas.
"The place was awash with Paddies," said one attendee. "You were left wondering where were all the Yanks." More than 150 people attended the fundraising bash, held in the Ballsbridge home of Dublin lawyer and US citizen Brian Farren.
Although only US citizens and Green Card holders are allowed to contribute to election campaign funds, Hillary Clinton's Irish supporters could attend the Dublin event if US citizens bought tickets on their behalf.
The invite stipulated that a copy of the donor's US passport or Green Card should accompany the contribution and RSVP form for the €1,600 a head event.
Dressed in a grey suit and green tie, Clinton was introduced to guests individually and posed for photographs before making a 20-minute speech. He talked of his pride at being involved in the Northern Ireland peace process and discussed his wife's bid for president.
"He said he had every hope she would get the presidency. No better woman, as he put it," one guest recalled.
Clinton also spoke of the challenges posed by climate change and briefly touched on the Iraq war. He mentioned the high cost of living in Ireland when compared with the US, saying he had noticed the difference while walking along Grafton Street that day.
Earlier that day Clinton met with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at Government Buildings. The Taoiseach briefed the former US president on events in Northern Ireland since devolution was restored earlier this year.
They also discussed the work of the Ireland-Clinton Foundation HIV and Aids partnership.