Regal estate likely to fetch €2.25m
A solicitor who worked for the Perceval farmily, the Earls of Egmont, Tierney was a baronet and agent, and legal adviser to the 5th Earl of Egmont. The Earl left much of his estate to Tierney, but this was later challenged by the 6th Earl, who succeeded in wrested back his property from Tierney’s beneficiaries, for a large sum of money, in an out-of-court settlement.
One of the Tierney estates, (and there were many, let out to other ‘middling sorts’ of people in North Cork), included Park House, a Georgian dwelling that the Tierney family trolled before the Famine and which, surprisingly, escaped the torch in 1921 and has been continually lived-in since.
The lawyerly connection continues, as the house and 135 acres of land are now being sold by a family with strong legal connections locally. One of Castle Park’s selling agents, Christy Buckley, says it’s quite exceptional in its land and in the house, and it’s being touted as the perfect equestrian estate.
With warmth flowing back into the moribund ‘country estate’ market, it’s an indication of this property’s allure that blood stock and property agents, Goff’s, are included in the sale as joint agents.
There’s an instinctive feeling that Castle Park Farm will move into equestrian hands, as it would easily convert to a breeding or training facility.
The existence of a quality Georgian house, and fine belt of land around it, make sense for buyers and, also, the hefty price tag, of €2.25m, would also involve a national and international scope.
Structurally, the house is in good condition, but both agents say it will need investment to bring it up to today’s standards.
Buyers at this level are likely to go for a full makover, anyway, as the purchase price is usually just the beginining for estates.
Castle Park House is two-storey over-basement with Palladian-style entrance and a range of formal rooms at ground-floor level, with bedrooms overhead and basement below.
The latter had been converted to two-bedroomed, independent-living accommodation, in part, with the remainder laid out with a sitting room, two more bedrooms, a billiard room and bathroom.
The first floor comes with five bedrooms, fanned around an impressive oval landing with original cornicing, and the original features are also retained in the drawing room, dining room and sitting room on the first floor.
The courtyard, at the rear, is a fine, cut-stone U of buildings that would easily convert to stables, says Buckley, The farmyard also comes with a silage shed, with two lean-tos and a four-column hay barn. There’s a long, wooded driveway from the main road, and house and courtyard are set in a stand of mature timber, in a very pictureaque setting, says Buckley.
Located at Paal East, the 135 acres are in a mix of tillage and grassland, in one tidy block, and the farm is suitable for any arable use, he says, but it’s ideally suited to being a stud farm or for other equestrian use, Buckley says.
Less than a mile from Kanturk, the property is well-located within commuting distance of Mallow and Cork City, via good roads.
