Engineering boss acquires birthplace of Irish revolutionary Joseph Plunkett

An investment fund linked to Jones Engineering boss Jim Curley has acquired a historic building on Upper Mount Street in Dublin, the birthplace of Irish revolutionary Joseph Mary Plunkett.

Astogo Holdings, the private investment fund of Mr Curley and his wife Janet, is understood to have paid just under €2 million for 42 Upper Mount Street, a Georgian building, built around 1830 as one of a pair with No 41. The property, which is in good condition throughout, comprises about 335sq m of net internal accommodation, and was recently leased to a law firm. It is likely to return to the rental market.

Curley is chief executive of Jones Engineering, one of Ireland’s largest privately-held firms, in which he has a 27.3 per cent stake, worth about €119 million. He ranked in 152nd place on the Sunday Times rich list for 2020, with an estimated fortune of some €125 million.

In addition to the latest acquisition, his investment fund has also acquired 12 Upper Mount Street, which it has agreed to let to the embassy of Slovenia. Astogo's other investments include Aratech Technologies, a cleaning technology company.

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Robert Corrigan of Browne Corrigan Chartered Surveyors represented Astogo Holdings in the transaction.

Number 42 Upper Mount Street has a historical significance in that it is the recorded birthplace of Joseph Mary Plunkett. He was born there in 1887 to George Noble Plunkett, a papal count, and his wife Josephine Cranny. He later became a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, was a founding member of the provisional government of the Irish Republic, and a key member in the Easter Rising of 1916. Plunkett was executed in Kilmainham jail on May 4th, 1916, having married Grace Gifford the previous day.