Going for the church

YOU might have seen Channel Four’s exemplary Grand Designs Abroad programme last week, featuring a Co Mayo church conversion by a devout Dublin architect.

Now, here’s the chance to try this sort of thing at home yourself.

Two Munster churches currently on the market have that estate agent stand-by, ‘potential’, in spades: all you need is the vision to complete a dream conversion.

The TV-featured former Co Mayo Church of Ireland chapel, re-done to a contemporary design palette, saw over €350,000 spent on a building near Achill island that in the 1990s was picked up almost for scrap value, about £30,000.

Neither of the two Munster purchase options weigh in so initially affordable, however.

Cheaper of the two is Ballybunion’s RC Doon Church, built in the 1830s for a local Fr Buckley.

Estate agents Sherry FitzGerald Murphy Prendiville are guiding the listed 3,500 sq ft property prior to auction next week at €250,000. They say it will make for a dramatically sited home with Atlantic views or even a guesthouse, subject to planning.

It has a barn-like roof, facing galleries, and a one-third acre site.

Meanwhile, moving heavenwards from North Kerry to West Cork, there’s another church challenge at Killoveenoge, four miles from Bantry in Durrus parish.

This church was erected as a chapel of ease for English miners working in the area back in the 1860s and was sold by the Church of Ireland in 1988 to its current Continental owners, Thomas Kay and Lisa Noel, who have used it for art studio/centre, dance and healing workshops.

In good condition, it has had considerable spending on floors, spiral staircase and other features, says the vendor, and could be adapted to residential use at reasonable cost.

West Cork estate agent Charles McCarthy seeks €600,000 for Killoveenoge church, on 0.6 of an acre with sea views.

It includes planning permission for second studio/office building, as well as a ruined cottage which perhaps underpins its higher sale price.

Features of the church include an eye-catching vaulted timbered ceiling, exposed brick internal walls with cavity construction, a sprung hardwood dance floor, and an overhead gallery/balcony. It has gas heating and local services. It fronts on to the Goat’s Path tourist route and may have commercial or residential uses, subject to a new owner’s grand designs.