ONE of the oldest operating offices in the state, the Registry of Deeds, now known as the Property Registration Authority (PRA) is preparing to celebrate its 300th anniversary, and to celebrate the fact, An Post is issuing a commemorative stamp, designed by Ger Garland, which depicts an image of bound books, containing records held in the Registry of Deeds.

Located in the heart of Georgian Dublin in Henrietta Street, the Registry of Deeds building is the third and last of James Gandon's major public buildings and the only one not to have been destroyed and re-constructed during its lifetime.

A wonderful source of genealogical research, with over five million memorials on file, the registry provides a record of every property ever purchased including those belonging to Jonathan Swift, Wolfe Tone and William Butler Yeats.

COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MARKET BOOMING

THINGS may not be all boom and bloom in the property market but they're certainly not all doom and gloom either. And while the residential market needs to take some fiscal Solpadeine before returning to wiser ways, claims John Mulcahy, managing director of Jone Lang LaSalle, things in the commercial market are much more optimistic and healthier with office take-up almost 10% higher than in the same period last year. According to Mulcahy, in Dublin alone, during the first half of 2007 there was a take-up of over 1.4 million sq ft of office space from a diverse range of employers. The prospects for the second half of 2007 look equally promising with a number of major space users such as Bank of Ireland, Arthur Cox and State Street seeking proposals for suitable office accommodation.

While further interest rate increases will certainly affect the commercial market, according to Mulcahy their impact will be modified because the commercial market is more sophisticated in its use of SWAPS (10-year interest rates) and various hedging mechanisms.

On the residential side, he's predicting a more modest adjustment of plus or minus 10% and not the 50% predicted by some cosmic economists.

LOUTH GOLF COURSE GETS ITS OWN

CHAMPION GOLFING is big business in Ireland and savvy developers know it. It's not enough these days to tag any old 18-hole course onto a new development. To be truly special it must be designed by a world-famous golfer.

The latest golf course to bag a celebrity sporting hero is based on the Carriglas Manor estate in Co Longford, due to open next summer. The PGA course is being designed by two-time US Open champion, Retief Goosen in partnership with Mount Juliet architect Jeff Howes. It will be the first in Ireland to have sub-aerated greens, tees the quality of greens, creeks and feature lakes at the ninth and 18th holes.

As well as the development of the golf course, the original Carriglas Manor, built in 1837 is being restored into a five-star hotel which will open in December, and there are a number of luxury holiday homes on the site being sold through Hooke & MacDonald and DNG Frank Regan.