Wood setting adds to this home’s appeal

Tommy Barker

The former wooded grounds of Monkstown Castle in Cork have been carved up into one-off, individual house sites, sold on a steady trickle since the early 1990, and while the development notion in such a natural setting initially might have stricken fear into the hearts of many, the delivery slotted between the trees is hard to fault.

The mature demesne grounds, almost a gated community in feeling, but with public access, are still an exceptional setting, with the castle remains now fenced off at the inland gate entrance. The woodland appears well able to swallow up several dozen new homes, with just the last few sites now being built on (the last sites sold in the last year or so for c E160,000).