The Congregation of Christian Brothers has instructed agent Bannon to find a buyer for its former monastery on Synge Street in Dublin 8. The property, which is immediately adjacent to Synge Street CBS, the alma mater of numerous luminaries including broadcaster Gay Byrne, former Formula 1 owner and entrepreneur Eddie Jordan and Penneys founder Arthur Ryan, is being offered to the market at a guide price of €3.75 million. The proceeds of the sale will go towards the Christian Brothers meeting what the selling agent describes as their “charitable and legal obligations”.
The property, on Synge Street between Grantham Street and South Circular Road and within a short walk of Camden Street and the Luas green-line stop on Harcourt Street, comprises three main sections including a self-contained three-storey building to the rear. The property extends to a total area of 2.187.7sq m (23,548sq ft), excluding a large cellar area and sits on a site of 0.4 acres.
The building has 22 bedrooms and several large multifunctional rooms. It has served a variety of uses as well as the monastery including, more recently, as short-term residential accommodation. There are several car spaces in a central courtyard.
The property is zoned Z15 under the Dublin City Development Plan 2022-2028. Permissible uses for this zoning include health/medical, residential institution, education, assisted living, sports facility and recreational uses.
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Paul Doyle of Bannon says: “This is a rare opportunity to acquire a large and conveniently located property in the south city centre. Given the extensive accommodation, which includes 22 bedrooms mainly on the top floor, the property provides the purchaser with a variety of potential uses”.
News of the sale of the Synge Street monastery come just one year after the Christian Brothers sold the former Emmaus Retreat Centre in Swords, north Dublin. The facility, which sits on 16.6 acres, was acquired by a private investor for a figure understood to be more than €12 million, which had been guided by Bannon. While the new owner’s plans for the property are not known, in a recent submission to Fingal County Council, they queried whether its use as a hostel (non-tourist) for the provision of short-term homeless accommodation constituted a development or was an exempt development. The council confirmed that it is not exempt.
