Gurteen House steeped in history

Tommy Barker finds a Bandon house with history in its blood and wooded grounds with pond, stream and an old bridge.

TRAILING long history and a recent renovation is Gurteen House, a 1700s Georgian home on wooded grounds near Bandon, Cork.

It’s unusual mix includes a listed C17th bridge and path, which may have carried O’Neill and O’Donnell on their march to the Battle of Kinsale, a trout pond, and a bomb crater from the War of Independence. Plus, there’s an adjoining Victorian Gothic Revival home (in separate ownership,) festooned with ornate carvings and gargoyles, attributed to the famed 19th Century Cork architect WH Hill.