The sale of a house on Shrewsbury Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, is understood to have been agreed for a price well over €45 million.
Several bids were submitted for Walford, a Tudor-style detached home on 1.8 acres, by last Thursday's deadline for tenders. The Duggan family, who have owned it since 1954, were said last night to be "very happy" with the outcome of the sale.
However, the sale has been overshadowed in recent weeks by a legal dispute about the boundary between Walford and the adjoining house, which is owned by solicitor Stephen MacKenzie. Mr MacKenzie made a bid for Walford but admitted last night he had not been successful. The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed by selling agents Sherry FitzGerald.
Letters about the disputed boundary have been exchanged between the Duggans' solicitor, Caroline Crowley - a niece of the family - and Mr MacKenzie. Ms Crowley provided bidders with copies of these letters.
The dispute centres on a laurel hedge planted by Mr MacKenzie, which Ms Crowley has claimed is six feet inside the boundary of Walford.
There is no continuous boundary wall or fence dividing the two properties. According to Mr MacKenzie, various attempts have been made over the years to establish the actual perimeters.
In a letter to the firm of solicitors in which Ms Crowley is a partner, Mr MacKenzie acknowledged that some of his laurels extended into the gardens of Walford "at most two to three feet in limited areas". However, he said he was "flabbergasted" at written statements made by Ms Crowley and the Duggans' gardener of 29 years, Gregory Quinn, which claimed his hedging went a good deal farther into his neighbours' garden.
People tendering for Walford were assured by the vendors that boundary lines on a map accompanying the documents were accurate, that any legal proceedings on the issue would be "defended vigorously" and that the executors would bring a counter claim for all loss or damage incurred by the estate.
