Park your family here

THE family home of one of Limerick’s busiest and best-known developers, the late Robert Parkes, is up for sale.

Sancta Maria, on the North Circular Road opposite the Bishop’s Palace, is due to sell by auction on October 1. Built back when the family was in full swing and building on all fronts, the large and well-located family home is likely to make E700,000 to E800,000, says Pat Kearney of Rooneys.

The Parkes family built swathes of new housing from the 1960s on Shannon side, running to over 1,200 homes, and now a new generation represented by sons Ralph and Michael are keeping the family name flying with a major retail park development in train (Homebase, Currys, Reids, Elverys, TK Maxx, PC World and Hickeys Home Focus are in for starters) on a 30-acre site as well as other projects.

The Parkes surname surfaces in some of their many developments, such as the Parkway Retail Centre, but one of the busiest successes the family had was with the Parkway Motel, with bars, restaurants, a recreation centre and function rooms.

“It was the Mecca of the mid-west region for many years, and hosted many international stars,” says estate agent Pat Kearney, who added that a swinging feature of the place was the Parkway Orchestra, which drew in much of the city’s (musical) talent of the era.

While Robert Parkes was the man who put it all together, his wife Teresa looked after the look and the ‘feel’ of the place. “It was the venue for all major dinners, banquets and entertainment over many years, and should evoke nostalgic memories for many people in the region,” adds Mr Kearney.

Apart from their commercial acumen, the family’s building company developed a number of well-regarded estates, such as Greenfields, Norwood Park, Granville Park, Woodlawn Park and Lynwood Park - and quite a few other parks.

Robert Parkes died in 1980, and Teresa died earlier this year a short while ago, prompting the family members to put the house that accommodated five Parkes children up for sale.

Location is off the Ennis Road on the North Circular Road, near Holy Rosary Church and the Bishop’s palace, on private grounds of about a fifth of an acre with services to hand.

The 2,500 sq ft two-storey property has three reception rooms, kitchen and breakfast room, four bedroom with two en suite. It has oil heating, aluminium windows and while it needs a decorative update, the location, build quality and size justifies extra spending. A busy auction on October 1 is anticipated.