WE used to sneak in the back to smoke and charm girls,' says Adam Clayton, bass guitarist of U2. That was in the 1970s, W when he was a boarder at St Columba's College in Dublin. Little did he guess that, in the following decade, he would become the owner of that same estate at the foot of the Dublin Mountains.
In 1986, the band rented the house-which was standing empty-to record their fifth studio album, The Joshua Tree, in the acoustically gorgeous, lofty drawing room. The then owner, remembers Mr Clayton, had said: 'If anyone wants to buy the house at the end of the recording, I'll subtract the rental from the price.' So, in 1988, aged 28, he found himself in possession of Danesmoate: a large Georgian house, numerous ancillary buildings (including a dovecote and a two-seater privy) and 17 acres of gardens, pasture and river valley-all in need of serious attention. Although only seven miles from Dublin city, the location was remote and quiet.
That would change in the coming years with the arrival of Dublin's ring road, the M50, which now passes close to the property's boundary. When he bought Danesmoate, Mr Clayton knew the road was coming and that mitigating action was essential. The one thing I knew early on was that I'd need trees.' He hired Neil Murray, a designer and nursery owner based nearby. They took out all the 'overmature timber and all the laurel that had overrun the place' and set to work planting trees-about 4,000 of them-and creating vistas. Wooded areas were replanted with oak ('a lot of oak!'), beech, sycamore, ash, birch and various conifers. Dr Murray, a keen and well-connected plantsman, laced the woodlands with choice trees, including trial specimens from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, and Windsor Great Park.
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