Inside the luxurious ‘once-in-a-generation' Killiney home that's on sale for €10m, and has Bono and Enya as neighbours

Irish Independent

19-06-2025

Mount Mapas House, a Georgian home with unobstructed views of the sea from Killiney Bay to Bray Head, has a drawing room, a sauna, multiple marble fireplaces and direct access to the beach below.
It has been owned by many high-profile figures throughout its lifetime, including a prominent Dublin surgeon, top civil servants, a former manager of the Daily Irish Independent in the 1900s and the late Cormac O'Connell, one of Ireland's best-known pharmacists, who bought the property for £2.3m at auction in 1997.
Neighbours past and present have included singer Van Morrison, ex-Formula One driver Eddie Irvine and Simple Minds star Jim Kerr.
The six-bed, four-bath property has been described as 'one of the finest homes to come to market' this year, offering 'a once-in-a-generation opportunity to own a coastal Georgian masterpiece'.
It has landscaped gardens spanning 1.25 acres and was one of the first houses built on the corner of Vico Road in the affluent area of Killiney, just beyond Dalkey, around 1800.
The property has been described as a house with 'timeless grandeur' and as 'a fine example of an early 19th-century villa with a graceful ironwork veranda at first floor level that lends it a distinctly colonial elegance', with a terrace that once provided 'driveway space for carriages'.
The house, which spans approximately 585 sq m, with 'stately architectural heritage and refined contemporary luxury' is private despite its place on one of Dublin's most sought-after roads.
'Mount Mapas House is not merely a residence – it is a legacy. A home that offers stately elegance, modern comfort, unmatched views, and a prestigious address,' the estate agent, Lisney Sotheby's, said.
It has a reception hall, a drawing room, a dining room, sash windows, a split-level staircase with 'a magnificent cathedral-style skylight', a family bathroom with a sauna, a 'guest cloaks area' and a reception room.
The main bedroom, along with a bay window and panoramic views, also has an intercom to the front door, a digital security alarm panel and a CCTV camera control panel.
One en-suite bathroom has a jacuzzi bath, while another has 'a power steam shower room'.
A conservatory overlooks 'the pond and bridge to the rear gardens and planting to the side and double folding double glazed French doors opening out to the patio area which looks directly out over the grounds and Killiney Bay'.
There is also a dining terrace in the tiered gardens, which include direct private access to Killiney beach, and a 120m deep natural well with a pump and filter for drinking water and garden watering.