It seems the “open-minded buyer” that Irish Times property writer Joyce Hickey suggested would be attracted to The Battery property at Sandcove Point has been found, as it sold for its €3 million asking price in July of this year.
Although speculated to be of interest to overseas buyers, especially as it was selling through Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty which specialises in such sales, it was in the end an Irish buyer who secured the landmark building.
The new owner may well have grand designs for the property but any such plans will have to be in keeping with the thinking of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council as it is situated in an architectural conservation area, and is encircled by a granite wall which is itself a protected structure.
The Battery went up for sale in July 2022, with Hickey exploring its fascinating history. The seaside landmark was first built in the early 1800s, soon after construction of the nearby Martello tower, as a coastal defence against the threat then posed by Napoleon’s forces.
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“Reams of military history have been written about the 0.4-acre site,” she wrote, “with maps, plans and section drawings showing the guard room and soldiers’ quarters, and documentary accounts of its use during the second World War as a base for anti-aircraft guns and searchlights”.
Locals will now have to wait and see what will be done with this treasured tranche of the south Dublin coastline. Watch this space.
