Éamon de Valera’s stately hideout on Kenilworth Square for €2.5m

It’s fitting that number 53 Kenilworth Square comes on the market in the centenary year of the Civil War. This imposing, double-fronted redbrick, with its commanding view of this fine square in Rathgar, acted as the temporary presidential office for Éamon de Valera during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. The story goes that de Valera fled his house on Cross Avenue in Blackrock, after it was raided by British soldiers, so Charles Peterson, of pipe-makers Kapp & Peterson, lent him the Kenilworth Square house so he could carry on his presidential business.

It was here, on December 2nd, 1921, that Arthur Griffith brought the final draft of the Anglo-Irish Treaty to de Valera. Dev wasn’t too happy with the deal that had been hammered out with British prime minister Lloyd George, but four days later, on December 6th, the Treaty was signed in London and approved by a Dáil vote the day after. We all know what next: within six months, civil war had broken out as pro- and anti-Treaty forces clashed.

Another story goes that when British soldiers wanted to search the Kenilworth house for the fugitive leader, they were told that there was an outbreak of Spanish flu in the house, and promptly retreated.

All of this provenance is documented in various books on display at the house, including historical works by Tim Pat Coogan, David McCullagh and Mary C Bromage, which the owner says he will bequeath to the new owner, so they can impress their guests at dinner parties with the fascinating history of the house.

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Number 53 Kenilworth Square is certainly a property fit for a president in exile: a detached double-fronted Victorian family home, built in 1862 and extending to 440 sq m (4,736 sq ft), with a magnificent southwest-facing rear garden and an elegant blend of period and modern style inside.

The current owners bought the house 25 years ago from an order of nuns, and happily raised a family here, making improvements and upgrades over the years, and carefully maintaining the superb original features, including ceiling cornices, centre roses, picture rails, dado rails and marble mantelpieces.

On the hall floor is the magnificent living room where Arthur Griffith showed Dev the draft Treaty, and it still retains its air of stately elegance. There’s also a dining room, lounge and study on this floor.

They added modern touches to the garden-level area, turning it into an ideal hub for 21st-century family life. There’s a family room with marble mantelpiece and cast-iron inset, a kitchen with island unit and recessed lights opening on to a breakfast room with tiles floors and glazed doors leading out to the garden. There’s also a bedroom, shower room and utility room on this level.

Big bedrooms

Upstairs are four big bedrooms, one with adjoining dressing room and access to the attic, another with en-suite shower room. There’s a mainly tiled main bathroom on the second-floor return.

The rear garden has a patio and is surrounded by the original boundary walls, with rear access from Garville Lane, plus two side entrances.

The house is BER-exempt, but the owner says the thick walls are well able to keep in the heat in during winter months.

Number 53 Kenilworth Square, Rathgar, Dublin 6, a slice of history extending to 440sq m (4,736sq ft), is for sale through Mullery O’Gara, with an asking price of €2.5 million.