Ann McGettigan and her sister got jobs in nightclubs to subsidise what their dad gave them for college, she says, prompting her to later eschew her studies in maths and economics to open Strings nightclub on Leeson Street, one of the most popular hostelries in Dublin in the late 1980s, which hosted everyone from Prince Albert of Monaco to bands such as Fleetwood Mac.
She recalls the first occasion former Irish soccer manager, the late Jack Charlton, arrived to the venue: “He spent the entire night chatting to [my husband] Joe and as he left he said to me, ‘You’ve passed the test.’ It was him giving the green light for the Irish soccer team to socialise at Strings,” she says.
Entertaining, though not in McGettigan’s blood as the daughter of a farmer, was a constant at Cratloe, at 77 Merrion Road, the home she shares with Joe, a barrister, and son Joseph, which they are now placing on the market. In keeping with their love of hosting, they have entertained countless guests at Cratloe over the years, and the 399sq m (4,295sq ft) of turnkey floor space proved to be the perfect venue.
Purchased 20 years ago, they originally lived across the road from the handsome Victorian pile close to the junction of Ailesbury Road. One of the attractions of the house – besides its impressive period details, spacious accommodation and exclusive location – was the garden. Extending to 0.4 of an acre, the back garden is really spacious in terms of location and has that all-important southwest-facing aspect. However, when they first purchased, McGettigan says, it was “almost frightening [because] it was so covered with trees you couldn’t see the house at all and it was really dark – it felt like the trees were coming in on top of you”.
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She credits horticulturist and Irish Times gardening correspondent Fionnuala Fallon with helping to come up with a plan for the redesign of this considerable space, adding her own details for a large patio off the kitchen.
Inside from the imposing granite steps, McGettigan laid new oak herringbone parquet flooring – as the original timber planks had too many gaps – and it’s a lovely addition adding both character and charm to the two elegant reception rooms and the study at hall level, which have been furnished with period furniture from O’Sullivan Antiques on Francis Street.
Downstairs, at garden level, a bright McNally Living kitchen with Siemens and Bosch appliances shares a large open-plan space with an informal living space. The room opens out to a spacious patio through three sets of doors, allowing seamless indoor/outdoor entertaining during sunny weather.
Also at this level, to the front of the property, lies a self-contained one-bedroom guest apartment. It’s a bit of a movable feast as it could stay as it is, be integrated back into the house or indeed converted to a home-based professional premises – subject to the necessary planning permission.
Upstairs, off a landing with an oval glass atrium roof light, are four fine double bedrooms, the principal of which benefits from an en suite with a Sottini bath.
It’s a super house, and the fact that it’s in turnkey condition will appeal to well-heeled buyers as the headaches of renovations are all taken care of.
Not one to sit still, McGettigan spent a year in Florence where she and Joseph, as a transition-year student, both studied at the (now closed) Gemological Institute of America. She is in the process of establishing her new fine jewels business, and is downsizing with husband and son from their lovely Victorian pile, which has a D1 Ber. It is now on the market through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €3.5 million.
