Elegance, space and quality

Tommy Barker finds a piece of Van Morrison’s Coney Island in east Cork

THE name Ardglass mightn’t mean too much down south, but the up-there Co Down resort is home to a links 18-hole golf course and, more memorably, has been immortalised in the song “Coney Island” by the illustrious Van Morrison.

Van the Man eulogises a shoreline drive out from Downpatrick and Killyleagh, name-checks places in the Lecale district like Coney Island and notes the imperative to “stop off at Ardglass for a couple of jars of mussels and some potted herrings, in case we get famished before dinner...”

You could kind of do the same trip at Ardgass, Castlemartyr.

The elegant mid-1900s family home called Ardglass is in the village, along the main road out to Killeagh and Youghal (to do a Van Morrison travelogue of sorts) and you could also turn out to the sea at Garrvoe a few miles away, or stop off at the five-star Capella Castlemartyr Resort Hotel for some tea and cakes in case you get famished along the way.

Or, you could just stay at home and enjoy your two acres. There is, you see, a surprising amount of land with this pristine offering, a family home with space inside and out and traditional quality decor. It is newly up for sale with Adrianna Hegarty of Hegarty Properties in Midleton, who seeks offers of about €650,000 for the trading up family home on the Killeagh Road (just over the bridge) with about 1,800 sq ft of living space.

Even though it has two acres, it isn’t being pitched as a property with further development potential for speculators/builders, mainly because the gardens behind don’t have separate access.

And, in any case, there really isn’t a shortage of land or sites for house building in the expanded village on the N25.

“It has a superb location in Castlemartyr, adjacent to the recently opened Capella Resort... with the added benefit of a large rear and sunny garden,” says the selling agent, noting Castlemartyr itself “has the advantages of country village life, close to the sea, yet extremely convenient to all shops, speciality stores, schools, churches and all essential amenities.” Cork city is easily enough reached for work or leisure (though the main street of Castlemartyr can get clogged with traffic) and the towns of Midleton and Youghal are each a short drive away.

The nearest beach is Garryvoe and the miles of beaches of Youghal and Redbarn are also near enough to hit on a whim.

Ardglass’ living space includes a hall with original tiling, sitting room with bay window and oak floor, a linked (via partially stained glass door) lounge with similar features and homely feel, home office, a kitchen/dining room, utility and overhead are four bedrooms, three with original, and working, fireplaces and a family bathroom with attractive woodpanelling around the bath, and there’s a separate WC.

The kitchen/dining space has an oil-fired AGA stove, original tiled floor and ORM pine kitchen with integrated appliances and has granite worktops on the island unit. Central heating is oil fired.

Outside, there’s a selection of five useful sheds or outbuildings, detached garage, tarmac front drive, rear sunny patio, and no fewer than four outside taps for the gardens.

Ardglass is clearly a place for a family, and vegetable patch, to thrive and flourish in.