Artist Don Conroy's house is a rich, warm palette

DALKEY €595,000:THERE'S HARDLY an inch of wall in Don Conroy's house that isn't covered in his paintings – nature studies of foxes, owls and tigers here, Japanese calligraphy-style works there, a picture of his wife, Gay, swimming with Fungi the dolphin in another spot.

The stairs up to the attic, where the main bedroom leads into his modest studio, are also lined with his works, alongside framed movie posters and memorabilia, including a letter from Sir Laurence Olivier thanking Conroy for some sketches. It’s not the usual decor you’ll find in a modest suburban semi but it works, adding the artist’s own personality to the comfortable home where he and Gay raised five children over the 25 years they have been here.

Now that all five have more or less left home, they’re putting their house, Aisling, 13 Gosworth Park, Dalkey, Co Dublin, up for sale. Lisney is seeking €595,000 for the 202sq m (2175sq ft) four-bed.

They moved there a few years after Conroy became a familiar face to children all over the country with a slot on afternoon television.

An NCAD graduate, who spent time working in the Gate as a teenager, his career teaching children to draw on TV started nearly by chance: an appearance on the Late Late Showin 1982 led to a tryout for an afternoon show. The gig lasted – in one form or another – up to three years ago. Conroy is still busy, painting, exhibiting, writing (he has published a number of children's books), visiting schools and libraries. The attic of this house is where he produces it all: it's a busy room, lined with books and paintings both finished and unfinished. It has a large Velux window matching the two in the bedroom beside it, all looking out to Howth over the sea.

If the attic is the centre of Conroy’s working life, a bright conservatory across the back of the house, off the kitchen, is the heart of the home.

Otherwise, accommodation includes the livingroom at the front of the house, a study, kitchen, and four bedrooms upstairs. There is a lawn at the back in the walled garden. New owners will likely update and redecorate, but the house, once full of the Conroys’ children and their friends, has worn its years well. Gosworth Park is about 10 minutes’ walk from Dalkey, off Castlepark Road, just before the Dart railway bridge.

A 1960s/1970s cul-de-sac, it’s a great place for children with a good-sized green space in the middle.

Aisling, 13 Gosworth Park, Dalkey, Co Dublin

Four-bedroom house with a bright conservatory, attic conversion and sea views

Agent:Lisney