While the prices achieved so far this year for houses at the upper reaches of Dublin’s residential property market have yet to come anywhere near the €12.5 million secured in 2022 for St Kilda on Sandycove Avenue East, the sums being paid by wealthy buyers are beginning to tick up once again.

Just more than one month on from the €4.6 million sale of Baile an Mhóta on Kerrymount Avenue – the former family home of erstwhile Beacon Hotel owner Paul Fitzpatrick – an examination of the Property Price Register shows that Aclare, one of the largest houses on Marlborough Road in Glenageary, has changed hands for €6.5 million. The off-market transaction took place in January and is understood to have been handled by Michael Grehan of Sherry FitzGerald on behalf of the house’s property developer owner. While Mr Grehan was unavailable for comment on the matter, The Irish Times understands the buyer of Aclare – or number 8 Marlborough Road as it is otherwise known – is an Irish family.

[ Early 20th-century home with contemporary interior on Marlborough Road for €3.25mOpens in new window ]

The five-bedroom Victorian redbrick occupies a pivotal yet private position on the sought-after stretch and sits behind electronic gates on almost an acre of landscaped gardens. While the outgoing owner oversaw a major refurbishment of Aclare following their acquisition of the property for an estimated €5 million in 2006 from the late AIB CEO and deputy chairman Gerry Scanlan, the house had, at the time of that sale, already undergone significant improvement works.

Reporting on the proposed sale at the time, The Irish Times noted that “Aclare’s already substantial accommodation has been extended over the past decade by the current owners and everything has been done, from roof downwards, at considerable expense. With 425sq m (4,600sq ft), five good bedrooms, five bath/shower rooms, a flexible games wing and a 0.8-acre garden with tennis court, a family could happily move in without changing a thing.”