Matt Damon’s luxury Irish Airbnb is up for rent again soon

Hollywood A-lister Matt Damon spent the travel-restricted period caused by COVID-19 in a luxury Airbnb in an Irish village by the sea, and it will shortly become available to rent again.

The star and his family temporarily relocated to Dublin because he was shooting scenes for historical drama-thriller, “The Last Duel,” and they stayed on when the shoot was postponed because the US banned flights between itself and Europe. Dalkey is one of the most exclusive areas of Dublin, and the pretty suburban village by the sea is home to U2’s Bono and music stars Enya and Van Morrison.

Matt, his wife Luciana Barroso and their three younger daughters, Isabella, Gia and Stella, stayed at Ischia, the exclusive home owned and built by former Ferrari Formula 1 racing star, Eddie Irvine. While they have been staying there for several months now, the luxury five-bed house has become available again to rent through Airbnb for €7000 ($7596) per week.

Ischia is a 5000 sq.ft. home located on Sorrento Road, close to restaurants, cafés, pubs and bars - although they all shut down a few weeks after Matt got there to curb the spread of the virus. Accommodating ten people, the €8m ($8.7m) house has five bathrooms, a living room, dining room, sauna, study, cinema room and projector plus a snooker and games room. The outdoor pool links via a lazy river to an indoor lagoon, and the pool area has a bar feature. There is also an oversized hot tub offering great views across Dublin Bay.

For much of his stay, Matt was forced to stay within a 2km radius of the house as the country went into lockdown. In a radio interview with Spin 1038, the actor described Dalkey as "incredible" and "one of the most beautiful places I've ever been." "[Within] two kilometres of here, there’s trees and forests and woods and ocean," he said. "I can’t think of any place you’d rather want to be in a 2km radius."

A stay at Ischia guarantees privacy as it has high walls and even higher gates, and locals don't intrude on the privacy of celebrities living around the area. Matt paid tribute to the people of Dalkey for rebuffing enquiries about him from local and international media via social media. "That's when I realised how great this place was and how protective everybody here is," he laughed.

Ischia is available to rent through Airbnb from 31 May and further information is available here.

Keep up to date with Lonely Planet's latest travel-related COVID-19 news here.

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