Address: 30 St Kevin’s, Bloomfield Avenue, Dublin 8
Price: €435,000
Agent: Owen Reilly
Musician Noel Eccles is selling his apartment in the rafters of the former St Kevin’s Church on Bloomfield Avenue in Dublin 8.
On the day he speaks to The Irish Times, Eccles, who teaches percussion at TU Dublin, is gearing up to play Mahler’s Resurrection at the National Concert Hall (NCH) – a 15-minute walk away on the south side of Dublin city centre.
Of his career, Eccles remembers most fondly touring internationally with Riverdance and playing at the NCH opening concert in 1981. He also toured with major acts, including Van Morrison and The Chieftains, and has recorded with U2 and Brian Eno among many more.
He and his wife, singer Alyth McCormack, now live in Wexford, where they have plenty of outdoor space for gardening, and a recording studio. Eccles is now placing this unique, central apartment, which is Ber exempt, on the market with Owen Reilly Estate Agents, seeking €435,000. It extends to 56sq m (603sq ft), plus a 16sq m (172sq ft) mezzanine.
You enter the apartment building beneath the original stone arch and climb the stairs to reach number 30 on the top floor. The stairwell is lit by a Dublin Steelworks chandelier-like light fixture. The twisted black ironmongery was part of the aesthetic of the apartment building when it was converted in the 1990s, and Eccles owns a side table and candelabras in the same style.
The living space of the apartment is impressive, with two original rose windows, adapted to open easily, looking out to the changing leaves of the trees beyond. A third rectangular window is inset into the wall at the apex above them.
The double-height pitched ceiling is something to behold, with the wooden rafters showcasing the level of craftsmanship that went into creating the church back in 1888-1889.
Having rented the property out for more than a decade, Eccles recalls one tenant who painted all the wood grey without permission, which he then painstakingly removed inch by inch during the pandemic. It is hard to believe anyone would want to hide the existing rich mahogany hue.
A mezzanine level overlooks the living space and comfortably accommodates a double bed. A Velux window in the slanted ceiling provides an expansive view over period rooftops that culminates with cranes and modern office buildings in the distance.
A double bedroom also has a bed tucked under the rafters with a roof light to the stars and sits across from the shower room.
A small kitchen is hived off from the spacious living/dining space.
There is secure residents’ parking in a car park to the front of the building.
The conversion from a Church of Ireland house of worship is so well done that there is no lingering atmosphere of a religious space, but it still exhibits the intricate architectural features that you would never get tired of looking at.
Musician Noel Eccles in his apartment at Saint Kevin’s on Bloomfield Avenue in Dublin. Photograph: Enda O’Dowd 
Living/dining area 
Living/dining area 
Corridor and stairs 
Mezzanine 
Bedroom 
Kitchen 
Hall leading to apartment: Photograph: Enda O’Dowd 
Detailing of rafter joinery. Photograph: Enda O’Dowd 
View from the mezzanine. Pihotograph: Enda O’Dowd 
Building stairwell 
Percussionist Noel Eccles at the National Concert Hall in September 2009. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh