All manor of finery: auction set for Kilheffernan House

KILHEFFERNAN House is old, but its adjoining cottage is older - dating back to the 16th century.

Given this long history, the Georgian house is adorned with period trimmings and architectural finery, all worn with pride.

Stone sills, slate roofs, pitch pine, marble fire-places, shutters and sash windows all compete for attention, and the grounds have some specimen trees, too.

Set outside Clonmel, on 15 acres of land including a tree-ringed avenue, paddock, grove, the largest Norwegian Maple in Britain or Ireland, and organic gardens, Kilheffernan House is set for public auction on June 27, through the estate agents Stokes and Quirke, guided at over €600,000.

The house will suit architectural aficionados, and those in need of a challenge will relish the prospects here: with inner and outer courthouse buildings in need of renovation, there is work to keep a small army of builders employed and the new owner occupied for some time.

Located outside Clonmel, Kilheffernan House has easy routes to Kilkenny, Waterford and Dublin: the views from this rural retreat encompass the Comeragh Mountains and Slievenamon.

The main house has four bedrooms, a hall with a domed ceiling, arched window, spiralling, cantilevered staircase, a traditional kitchen with a serving hatch and good fireplaces scattered about - what’s notable is the number of original features that are retained.

The linked cottage, with a tin or galvanised roof (some remnants of thatch may remain underneath) measures 34’ by 18’, has an open fire place and a conservatory leading to a private garden: it is ideal for an artist’s studio, visitor’s suite or office

A cobbled inner courtyard has stone-built, loft buildings and an old coach house, while the outer courtyard has further stone buildings.

Some of the gardens have been kept organically since the 1960s, and there are old varieties of apple and pear trees, ripe for care like Kilheffernan House.