Hollywood actor Matt Damon was the unlikely story to come out of coronavirus in Ireland during the first stint of the lengthy lockdown.
While filming scenes for Ridley Scott’s 'The Last Duel', the superstar got stuck in Dalkey where he found a second home for life.
And now the Hollywood superstar is back in the capital to finish off the film's shooting scenes and it was never in doubt where he was going to stay.
He has moved into a Georgian Mansion on Vico Road in Killiney at a cost of €15,000 a week which was once famed for being one of the most expensive homes to ever be sold in Dublin according to The Sunday World.
It is owned by businessman Alistair Tidey who forked out £3million (€3.8million) in 1997, making the purchase the dearest property in the capital at the time.
The 49-year-old actor, film producer and screenwriter from Boston became an adopted Dubliner when he was forced to set up camp in Dalkey at the beginning of March before leaving at the end of May.
He felt very proud to become one of Dalkey's own and had heard rumours about their solid support against a New York Times journalist trying to sniff out some information in a local Facebook group about his time there.
He said in a recent interview: "I heard this story. I had no idea all this was happening behind the scenes. It's incredible."
The actor described Killiney Hill as "insane and like a fairytale" and mentioned a few places in the suburb that he has visited.
"The first few days we were here we went into a book store but unfortunately everywhere is shut down so it's limited [where we can go].
"There is a lovely coffee place still open. The barista said 'normally this place is really buzzing but I've actually got to know my customers lately because we have time to chat' which I thought was great."
