The British ambassador is to move from Glencairn, the official residence in Sandyford, Co Dublin, for the past 32 years, to a house closer to the embassy in Ballsbridge.
The Victorian mansion on 34 acres in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains is to be sold as prime development land for housing. It is likely to make in excess of £35 million.
The move is being made to provide the best value for the British taxpayer, according to a Foreign Office spokesman, who explained last night that it was part of a worldwide review of embassy properties.
Until recent years Glencairn enjoyed a virtually rural setting in south Co Dublin. But houses now occupy a great deal of the surrounding land.
The then ambassador, Mr Christopher Ewart Biggs, was murdered in 1976 when a bomb exploded under his car less than 200 yards from the gates of the residence as he was leaving for his office in Ballsbridge.
Glencairn is a good example of a south Dublin country house. Most others have disappeared over the past 30 years. It is off the main diplomatic beat. Very ornate outside and dark and gloomy inside, it has four main reception rooms and eight bedrooms.
There are superb gardens which are brought into use every year for the big Horse Show Week party.
Acquired from Judge Murphy and extensively remodelled by "Boss" Croker of Tammany Hall, Glencairn was originally a famous stud and was bought by the British government for £35,000 in 1956.
The house and grounds lie in one of the most valuable pockets of development land in south Co Dublin.
It adjoins The Gallops, a huge sprawling development of expensive houses, which has been built over the past eight years.
The decision to sell Glen cairn was obviously influenced by the spectacularly high prices being achieved for development land.
