A Kerry connection on a Donnybrook street

A very short stroll to Herbert Park, an even shorter one to the shops in Donnybrook village; it’s not surprising that Brendan Road is popular with househunters. The solid redbricks on one side of the road, mostly semi-detached, are sought after as family homes for their location and size. Number 17 is such a house. With four bedrooms and 223sq m (2,400 sq ft) of space, it is for sale through DNG for €1.35 million.

The owners bought the house 25 years ago and renovated it. It had been in two units and had been in the same family since it was built, in 1912.

A large conservatory was added and a new kitchen, bathrooms and en suite put in, but new owners will probably redo much of that work, as by now it is dated.

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The layout is as expected: two interconnecting reception rooms off the hall – the front rooms, upstairs and down, have attractive square bay windows – and a kitchen in the return. The conservatory, used as the diningroom, was added to make the most of the sun that floods into the southeast-facing garden.

Upstairs there are four double bedrooms, the largest of which originally ran the width of the front of the house but has since been divided to incorporate a large en suite.

Original features include sash windows, cast-iron fireplaces in some bedrooms, and stained glass.There is a small front garden – number 17 shares a pathway with next door – and, at the back, due to the construction of the large conservatory, another small garden. But, as the owner points out, the best garden of all, Herbert Park, is just down the road.

Some years ago, traffic calming measures were put in place at the entrance to Brendan Road to stop the street being used as a shortcut by traffic heading for Morehampton Road. It worked, and the road is now a quiet one where residents have on-street parking.

The road’s name is an anomaly in an area where previous landowners – Pembroke, Herbert, Marlborough – are usually referenced.

Brendan Road was built by a developer called Batt O’Connor, who returned from the US in about 1910 with enough money to begin speculative building, starting with his own house at number 1 and continuing with semi-detached houses when demand and funds permitted. The road is named after the patron saint of his native Co Kerry.