Launching at the Dalkey Book Festival 13-16 June 2024

Abbey Lea on Killiney Hill Road has been the residence of the Australian Ambassador to Ireland since 1965. The wife of the current Australian Ambassador to Ireland, Pippa McIntosh has spent the last 3 years researching the history of the house before it was purchased by the Australian Government and uncovered some fantastic stories about not only the house, but the local Ballybrack/Killiney/Dalkey/Shankill area as well. Pippa has written a book which will launch at this year’s Dalkey Book Festival.

From Harry Clarke procuring contacts and commissions at the house, discovering Oliver St John Gogarty’s poetry about raucous dinner parties, to the murder of the gardener on Strathmore Road by the IRA the night the Ballybrack RIC Barracks was burnt down (May 1920), this book provides researched context and insight into Killiney life from more than 100 years ago.