With its pretty village centre and good sporting amenities, it is not surprising that people are queueing up to move into Malahide. There are restaurants to suit every palate, including the long-established Bon Appetit and Cruzzo, the stylish new place on the marina, and the three pubs in the village centre are jam-packed at weekends. On bustling Hill Street, Church Road and The Mall, you will find all the boutiques, plant nurseries and antique shops expected in such a fashionable location. It's a great place to live, say residents, with coastal walks, an abundance of marine activities, and the parklands of Malahide Castle. The local Chamber of Commerce has masterminded a transformation of the town centre over the past 20 years. Cables have been put underground, stylish French street lamps installed and shop fronts have reverted to traditional designs.
People growing up in Malahide may buy houses elsewhere initially, but return as soon as they gather the deposit for a Seabury or Biscayne semi. Once settled in Malahide, few families move out, preferring to upgrade within the village boundaries.
With open farmland on most sides and the coast to the east, the boundaries are simple to define. Malahide stretches as far as the white church near Kinsealy, on the Dublin side, and towards Portmarnock on the Coast Road to Robb's Wall. The Seabury estate just past Estuary Road marks the border with Swords. However, the expected motorway joining with the Belfast Road which will cut across the estuary from Kinsealy could move the boundaries of Malahide westwards. Because of the curved coastline, the sea seems to surround Malahide Like Dalkey, this is one of the earliest sites of settlement in Ireland, dating from when mesolithic fisher-gatherers set up camp on Paddy's Hill near the village. Malahide features in the Book of Invasions as the landfall of the Fir Domhnainn.
Because of its position on the Broadwater Estuary, the area inevitably became a base for Viking raiders, although - unlike Howth, Lambay and Baldoyle - Malahide kept its old Irish name, Mullach Ide. Street names in the town often hark back to earlier times. St Sylvester's Villas (a good first-time buy) was named after St Sylvester's church, where a holy well with a fine corbelled roof dates back further.
Yellow Walls, once a hamlet of six houses, comes from the yellow stain left when local craft weavers hung newly-dyed fabric over the boundary walls to dry in the sun. Gainsborough, a new development entering its second phase on Swords Road, is named after the brig wrecked off Gay Brook Cove in 1838 with the loss of three seamen. There's also a Gaybrook Lawns off Swords Road. Malahide Castle, home to the Talbot family for generations, is now owned by Fingal County Council and is a fine public amenity. Football pitches (donated by the Talbots), wooded walks and the house itself with its good coffee shop are used extensively by the local community. By far the most exciting development to come to Malahide in recent years is the Marina Village, with over three hundred berths and as many apartments and townhouses on the spit of land by the jetty. These had a mixed reaction when they were first built in 1993, but are now an integral part of the town scene. The new Cruzzo's restaurant on the waterside has a Mediterranean look, with a smart blue and terracotta interior.
Marina apartments have gone over the £200,000 mark now for the cheapest two-bed unit. One of these, without a sea view, sold recently through local agent Kevin Flanigan for £220,000 and a similarly-placed three-bedroom townhouse fetched the same price. This agent also sold a three-bed apartment three weeks ago for £280,000. With views of the water, they would cost from £350,000 upwards. Apartments are popular wherever they are in Malahide, particularly with investors attracted by strong rental returns. Gunne Residential has a two-bedroom unit at The Sycamores, a small development on Grove Road, for over of £250,000.
The tall Victorian terraces on Church Road are the creme de la creme and make well over a million when they come up for sale. Joint agents Lisney and Douglas Newman Good sold number 6 Windsor Terrace, an elegant two-storey over garden house with landscaped grounds last May for "in excess £1 million". Large modern houses on good roads fetch similar prices. Lisney sold Westbrook House on Malahide Road, Kinsealy for over £1 million and Delmaine on Dublin Road fetched £900,000. Houses on Grove Road near the village sell for £1 million plus "when you can get them" according to local agent O'Farrell Cleere.
Malahide hit the headlines last year with the announcement of the first millionaire housing estate off Swords Road. The palatial detached Abington houses, currently under construction, are each on over half an acre and will carry a £1 million plus price tag when they come on the market, says selling agent Gunne. Likely to rival Abington are the new houses soon to be built on the former golf links off the Coast Road. O'Farrell Cleere expects the detached houses to cost from £850,000 upwards for floor areas of around 5,000 sq ft. Brian Farrell lives in one of the red brick Tudor-style detached houses built a few years ago by Gem Construction on the golf links, and now fetching over £800,000.
Currently for sale in this price range are two large dormer bungalows on Swords Road, selling for £900,000 each with Lisney. Land values are strongly influencing prices - O'Farrell Cleere recently sold two 2.5 acre sites on Dublin Road opposite the castle for £1.1 million and £950,000. Each site had planning permission for one house. Another four-acre site nearby with the same agent is guiding £1.5 million. A welcome aspect of Malahide is the constant supply of middle-priced estate houses suitable for young families. Seabury is the most popular entry point, with three-bed semis notching up over the £200,000 mark this year. Kevin Flanigan is selling two three-bed semis here for around £200,000 and a four-bedroom semi on Gaybrook Lawns closer to town for over £300,000.
Cheaper still, Flanigan has a three-bedroom semi on Bawn Grove off Church Road for around £170,000. Millview and Biscayne are older estates recommended as good trading-up purchases by O'Farrell Cleere. A three-bed semi with sea views on Biscayne fetched £320,000 last November with Douglas Newman Good. New to the market, a four-bedroom 1950s semi needing upgrading opposite the castle is selling with Gunne for " in the late £300,000s". For first-time buyers, ex-corporation houses on the Back Road at Parnell Cottages and St Sylvester Villas are an ideal entry point for Malahide and sure to rocket in value so close to the village.
Malahide now has an excellent website published by the Community Council and a Tree Council has been formed to protect the mature woods around the town. An Bord Pleanala recently refused permission for 44 new houses on the Auburn estate which threatened Malahide's `sylvan approach' on Dublin Road. Another stand of trees in a field next to Gaybrook Lawns has been protected from over-enthusiastic development.
Sadly, the beach won't have a Blue Flag until overloading of the sewage Treatment Works is addressed, says the Community Council. It doesn't affect brisk early morning walks along the beach and coastal path, however. Nor the sailing, windsurfing and fishing which is an integral part of this beautiful seaside town, an unbelievable nine miles from the capital city.
Plus
Good amenities
The Sea
The DART coming soon
Minus
Traffic jams/poor parking
Danger of urban sprawl
Few lower-priced homes
