Stone-built estate worker’s cottage shows the fruits of its labour
This stone-built cottage near Gort in Co Galway was, reportedly, gifted to a labourer in return for his work breaking stones for an approach road to the once-grand house and demesne.
That now-departed south Galway house is recalled only in place name and local history, while the lodge where visitors might have once announced their arrival now commemorates its demise, standing right by the original stone entrance pillars.
The lodge wasn’t doing too well itself a few years ago until caring new owners took on its restoration and extension. They boosted it from a modest 600 sq ft to a handier 1,300 sq ft – not exactly a mansion, but with its high-ceilinged timber work it’s a bit of a grand gesture in its own right.
“It was in near complete disrepair when they bought it,” says Anne Daniels of McInerney Auctioneers in Gort. “But they have successfully brought new life and character to the property. When you hear that a building with some history behind it being renovated, you might be worried that those doing the work will have little care for its character: not so here,”
Ms Daniels also points out that the work was done by the carpenter owners.
There’s an understandably ‘woody’ theme, carried through to the one-off, bespoke carved fireplace
They’ve recently dropped the asking price in yet another reduction from the initial €400,000 to just €295,000, having been at €350,000 for a while on its price slide.
The property is a mile off the Limerick-Galway road, four miles from Gort, and the hinterland has good local amenities and a choice of two national schools as well.
It is on a half acre, with decking to the back, and has four bedrooms (one en suite). A latch door leads to a large sitting room with vaulted, pine-sheeted ceilings and the kitchen/dining room also has a vaulted ceiling. The country feel is kept with pine units, granite topped, and a Belfast sink, and Velux windows draw in extra light.
