Taste the good life in Brighton Square

Brighton Square is one of Dublin 6's loveliest squares. Triangular rather than square in shape, it is best known as the birthplace of James Joyce on February 2nd, 1882, at number 41 where his parents Corkman, John Stanislaus Joyce, and Longford woman, Mary Jane Murray lived.

These days its most alluring attribute is the green space, to which all residents have a key, where there are tennis courts and a communal garden. You can pick the vegetables and herbs growing there and at festive times it is where the home owners come to celebrate, with Santa even popping in for a visit in December. They also hold harvest and planting days to encourage the children to get involved.

The owner of number 61 will miss the community spirit, but with three children, two of them teenagers, she feels she has outgrown her three-bedroom redbrick semi.

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Number 61 is at the Harold’s Cross Road side, two doors in from Terenure Office Supplies.

When the owner moved in, she reconfigured the ground floor by opening up and extending the rear to create an internal kitchen with two sets of sliding doors leading through to a light-filled dining-cum-sittingroom with French doors to the 61ft-long sunny, south-facing back garden.

She installed a utility room and guest toilet, putting the hot press under the stairs so all the laundry elements are close to each other.

The 124sq m (1,335 sq ft) house has simple period features including sash windows and good ceiling heights. There is a square-shaped sittingroom to the front with a period white marble fireplace.

Upstairs, what was originally the fourth bedroom is now a shower en suite.

This has its own window for natural ventilation. There is a second double to the front and a roomy single, big enough to take a queen-size bed.

The house has off-street parking for two cars and pedestrian side access and is asking €795,000 through agents SherryFitzGerald.