‘Shy man’ Van values privacy

Privacy and sea views were important considerations for singer Van Morrison and his wife Michelle when they decided to live in Kilross House, Sorrento Rd, Dalkey, Co Dublin, the High Court has heard.

The house, previously owned by businessman Harry Crosbie, was put up for auction in 1996 and the day before the auction, Van and Michelle visited the house but only got access to the garden, Ms Morrison told the High Court yesterday.

Ms Morrison, to whom Mr Morrison transferred sole ownership of the house in 2009, said that, at the time he bought it, Van thought he might have a recording studio there. However, as plans were drawn up, it was decided it would be a family home, she said.

The house, a protected structure which was one of a number of buildings on a larger original property, was extended, with the extension designed to “maximise the views going out to sea”, she said.

Ms Morrison was giving evidence on the fourth day of her action against neighbours Conor and Eileen Kavanagh, claiming they breached an agreement to preserve views her family enjoys of Dalkey Island from Kilross when undertaking work to demolish their old home, Mount Alverno, and replace it with a new structure.

The Kavanaghs deny there was any agreement.

What appealed to Ms Morrison about the house were the views of Dalkey sound and island and rocks known as “the Muglins”.

Asked by her counsel, Mark Sanfey, about Van’s attitude to privacy, she said he was “a private man who sees his job as his job and his private life as his private life. He is also a shy man and he would like to have his privacy in the home.

“When Van gets out of his car, he wants to be able to walk to the hall door without feeling he was being overlooked,” she said.

The case resumes next week.