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Premier League flourishes in Drumcondra as ex-goalkeeper Brian Murphy revives a period pad with style
A brand-new modern home in the skin of a handsome red-brick period property goes on sale for €795k
Yvonne picked classy minimalist bathroom ware for the Drumcondra property
Exterior of the D7 period pad
A view from the rear
The open-plan kitchen and dining/living room with glass doors
The front entrance
The extension
The staircase
Brian Murphy now is a coach for Waterford FC
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10 St Brigids Road Lower, Drumcondra, Dublin 9
Asking price: €795,000 Agent: DNG (01) 8300989
Roy Keane versus an erupting volcano. Which is fiercest? This conundrum was once considered by long-time Ipswich goalkeeper Brian Murphy after his flight plans from Dublin to the UK to rejoin his team were kiboshed by a once-in-a-lifetime act of God.
In 2010, atmospheric smoke plumes caused by the eruption of a volcano in Iceland (its first in 6,000 years) forced the cancellation of 107,000 flights across Europe over eight days. It had never happened before, nor since.
So a very good excuse not to turn up for work, surely? But good enough for Roy Keane, then manager of Ipswich Town?
“I called Roy to tell him I couldn’t fly back. And to tell the truth, he wasn’t too impressed,” says Brian.
“So I travelled up North, got the ferry over to Scotland and had to get down from Scotland to make it back to Ipswich. It took 14 hours, I think. When I eventually turned up, he gave me a fierce look. Then he said: ‘I suppose these things happen.’ And then he broke into a smile and added, ‘don’t even worry about it.’ I guess he was impressed that I put in all that effort. He has a great wit about him, Roy. But I have to say, he still had me worried.”
The long-time Premier keeper must also have wondered about acts of God when he and his wife Yvonne’s plans to renovate a period house in Drumcondra were sidelined again and again because of Covid-19. Builder availability began to vanish, sites began to close and a severe shortage of materials kicked in, sending costs surging.
Brian has just retired from professional football after decades living in different towns all over the UK. His 23-year goalkeeping career spread 19 years between playing for Manchester City, Ipswich, Portsmouth, Swansea, Cardiff, QPR and three notable years at home for Bohemians and finally, two with Waterford FC, his home-town team.
Brian, who is from just outside Waterford City, and Yvonne, from Donegal, were all ready to start a family in Dublin. Yvonne was working at the Mater as a physio therapist.
“We wanted to live around Drumcondra because it was handy for the Mater. So we found No10 St Brigids Road. It hadn’t been lived in for 10 years and we knew it needed a lot of work. But when we turned up to look at it, we thought it wasn’t quite that bad. We liked the house a lot.”
The couple put in a bid in 2020 and they were successful. Next it was time to look around for a builder. Covid-19 landed and supply issues kicked in. One by one, builders committed and then pulled out, three after long waiting periods and after signing contracts. The fourth builder they hired got the project moving but the pandemic caused further delays.
Meantime Brian and Yvonne decamped to Waterford as lockdown stretched out.
“The house had been reroofed in the 1960s but other than that, once we had a proper look at it, we discovered that the floors were gone, it needed replastering and rewiring. There were walls that were wobbling and chimneys were set to topple. We decided it wouldn’t do the house justice to patch it up as it were; it needed everything put right.”
However, the couple still managed to hold on to some of the core original features from the elegant early 1900s red brick.
These included some beautiful original chimney pieces with tile insets, some ornate ceiling work which they managed to preserve and, best of all, the original staircase which was restored in situ and didn’t have to be disassembled or moved.
Slowly but surely, as Covid-19 restrictions allowed, the work pushed on. Walls were taken down and the builders got to work on an extension that would provide the house with a bright and modern kitchen/living room/diner.
The finished house is essentially the rarity that all city-centre home buyers are seeking right now: a brand-new modern home in the skin of a handsome red-brick period property.
It comes with a light soaked open-plan layout, all new kitchen and appliances and a snug energy-saving B2 rating. It’s been refloored, rewired, replumbed and equipped with combi boiler heating, full insulation and double glazing.
And aside from the rescued features it has period home advantages too with high ceilings and sash windows. The floor space isnow 1,400 sq ft, almost half as large again as an average semi-detached. And for parking there’s a secure rear garage.
The new kitchen/living/dining space ends in a floor-to-ceiling full-width set of glass doors overlooking the garden.
It has a utility room off the kitchen with additional counter space and storage. There’s a living room at the front with cast iron chimney piece with tile inset. There’s a downstairs WC and shower room.
Upstairs the master bathroom on the stair return has extra large tiles with a walk-in shower and free-standing tub. The master bedroom at the back is a double with a fireplace; bedroom two is also a double and the third has wide plank hardwood flooring.
It’s located near the Mater Hospital, the Luas/train at Drumcondra, near the new Grangegorman college campus and within walking distance of the city centre.
But in their two-and-a-half years waiting in Waterford for its completion, Brian has just been hired as a Waterford FC coach while Yvonne has been working at Waterford hospital. And in that time they’ve also had two children, now aged three and 15 months.
Like for so many couples, Covid-19 and remote working, has changed their paths, often for the better.
So, having put down new roots elsewhere, they’ve decided to place this rarity up for sale.
Because as construction costs continue to soar, builders continue to cause issues and low BERs impact property values adversely, a central home with period character with all the work done is exactly what academics relocating to Grangegorman or medics moving to the Mater now require. DNG seeks €795,000.
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