Short cut to paradise

IF the scenery is already divine, what better place to enjoy it from than a church?

Up for sale is a rare find, a slice of Glengarriff history in a paradise setting, a former 19th century church on a mature woodland West Cork coastal acre.

And, for those who want uniqueness in a property but who haven’t the skill to convert, their prayers are already answered: all the work here to make this a home of distinction has been done.

Owners of Trinity Church Glengarriff for the last seven years have been Tom and Catherine Bolster, a carefree couple with a number of house renovations under their belts before tackling this place, the Big One.

Trinity Church was built in 1862/63 on a site granted by the Earl of Bantry, and its stained glass windows were endowed by Jane, Countess of Bantry.

Garnish Island, in the bay in front of this former church, attracts up to 80,000 visitors to its Italianate gardens each year and the Gulf Stream maintains a hospitable climate for humans and horticulture.

Trinity Church was deconsecrated in the 1980s, and had a few private owners, but it fell to Tom and Catherine Bolster to make it habitable; it helped that Tom is an engineer by profession.

The roof was good, that was the good news at the start of the work and “we couldn’t have afforded to do the conversion if it needed replacing,” says Catherine.

Their input involved heating, plumbing, wiring, dividing up and creating rooms, fashioning a kitchen and timbers were used which now look like they are original.

While they gained a place redolent of the past and garlanded it with antiques, what didn’t lose was Gothic atmosphere.

Windows have been conserved, and bear the inscription of Watsons of Youghal and London. The pulpit and reading desk are in Sicilian marble and Cannes stone, and roof beams are in dark pitch pine.

Of elegant proportions and stout construction, the church is now a house with three en suite bedrooms, with cast iron roll top baths, the kitchen is in the former vestry, the one-time altar is now a dining area, and the nave is the living room. The belfry is now a guest loo, and the main bedroom is on the first floor gallery.

The couple, with four grown children, ran a summer cafe and restaurant here but are on the move again, and are looking to do a project in France.

They have appointed Kinsale estate agent Victoria Murphy to handle the sale of Trinity Church, and she guides it at €1 million plus.

“If you are into Gothic, history and the unique, then this is for you. Also, if you want to be within walking distance of hotels, pubs and restaurants, it is for you too. And, if you love gardens, the most unique garden island, Garnish, is just five minutes away in a boat, while Cork city and airport are an hour and a half’s drive away,” she says.