{"id":292222,"date":"2026-02-11T10:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T10:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/292222\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T10:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T10:35:07","slug":"former-dublin-4-seminary-has-scope-for-luxury-hotel-or-high-end-homes-at-e12m-guide-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/292222\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Dublin 4 seminary has scope for luxury hotel or high-end homes at \u20ac12m guide \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having paid about \u20ac16 million in 2018 to secure ownership of the former St Mary\u2019s Carmelite seminary in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, well-known hoteliers Joe and Margaret Scally have abandoned a plan to develop <\/a>a hotel on the site. <\/p>\n

The Scallys, who own the Hayfield Family Collection, which includes the five-star Hayfield Manor Hotel in Cork as well as the Killarney Royal Hotel and the Great Southern Hotel in Killarney, have instead instructed agent Savills to find a buyer for the property. Guiding at a price of \u20ac12 million, St Mary\u2019s is expected to see significant interest from a range of parties given its potential for the development of a hotel similar to the one for which the vendors had secured permission, or a residential scheme aimed towards the upper end of the market<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Located within a quiet cul-de-sac on Bloomfield Avenue and immediately adjacent to the Royal Hospital Donnybrook<\/a>, St Mary\u2019s comprises a four-storey Gothic-revival style building built in 1888 and extended in the 1940s. The property, which served for many years as a college and seminary for the Carmelite Order, extends to 3,305sq m (35,575sq ft) and consists of classrooms, meeting rooms, residential accommodation and a chapel. The building is a protected structure and sits on a 1.25-hectare (3.09-acre) site. <\/p>\n

\"AnAn aerial view of the St Mary’s site shows its location just off Morehampton Road in Donnybrook, Dublin 4 <\/p>\n

The vendors secured planning permission from the then an bord plean\u00e1la in September 2020 (Ref: 3608\/19) for the development of a hotel on the site, with a revised scheme <\/a>approved in April 2024 (Ref: 4792\/23). The approval, which has since lapsed, allowed for the construction of a 163-bedroom hotel with basement parking. The plan was to have meant the conversion and extension of the former seminary into a boutique hotel with a spa facility, including indoor and outdoor swimming pools, along with a steel and glass orangery which would include a tea room and outdoor terrace. The planning permission for the development expired in November 2025.<\/p>\n

While a new owner might want to take advantage of the site\u2019s positive planning history and submit a new planning application for a hotel, they may alternatively look at its potential for housing. Recognising this, the vendors commissioned a feasibility study in preparation for the site\u2019s sale which suggests it could accommodate a scheme of 109 units.<\/p>\n

The St Mary\u2019s site is likely to attract strong interest from developers of homes aimed towards the upper end of Dublin\u2019s residential market. The subject property occupies a prime location just off Morehampton Road and within a short walk of the villages of Donnybrook and Ballsbridge, and Dublin city centre.<\/p>\n

John Swarbrigg, of Savills, says: \u201cThis property offers a standout opportunity to deliver a landmark residential scheme, subject to planning permission, in one of Dublin\u2019s most sought-after neighbourhoods. While the previous consent has expired, it does set a good precedent for what might be achievable in respect of any revised residential-led scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Having paid about \u20ac16 million in 2018 to secure ownership of the former St Mary\u2019s Carmelite seminary in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,20733,61,60,4310,45209],"class_list":["post-292222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-commercial-real-estate","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-property","tag-property-clinic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}