Go Forth, live the life

Tommy Barker says Mitchelsfort House, near Watergrasshill was done in true farmhouse style.

SOMETHINGS in life never change: death, taxes and tolls, being a few irritating constants. A modern take on the strong Irish farmhouse — and deeply rooted to its locale — is Mitchelsfort House, just off the Cork to Dublin road near Watergrasshill and nicely on the Cork city side of the M8 motorway toll booth.

Curiously, and coincidentally, old incongruous roadside stone pillars near Mitchelsfort and Fellfort date back to the 1700s, when the quiet country lane here was the main Cork-Dublin carriageway, and was two incarnations/previous road routes ago home to a toll house also.

The area round here is well-known for its farming pedigree too, and to the forefront are the Ryall family. Noted livestock breeder, plough champion and horseman Jack Ryall came here in the 1950s to rear a large family at Fellfort, and his son Ben ended up marrying a woman whose own roots came from the original (now demolished) period 1800s mansion Fellfort House.

Ben and Elaine Ryall modelled their new home, Mitchelsfort House, seen here and built in 2003, on a scaled-down version of the old Fellfort House, and devoted effort and time to its every inch, and to its acre of painstakingly tended gardens and grounds, entered via old salvaged wrought iron gates and ringed pillars. The gardens, meanwhile, are easy to keep and mow, but include veg and herb beds, discretely concealed storage sheds, greenhouse, pumphouse, and an apron of terraced patio with some feature clipped trees.

Following the death of Jack Ryall a short while ago in his 80s, Ben and Elaine are moving across a few fields to the Ryall family home and farmyard at Fellfort, hence the sale of their family home at Mitchelsfort, Watergrasshill via agent Dominic Daly, who guides the 2,300 sq ft home at €650,000.

Ben and Elaine breed award-winning Aberdeen Angus cattle (they got best Angus bull at last week’s Bandon Show) and the farmyard is the heart of that enterprise, so upping sticks isn’t the wrench it might be for most families... the kids will be closer to ponies, and chickens, and day-long activity.

The house they are selling is a well-conceived and built four-bed detached two-story home, with central teak staircase and teak joinery, with top quality antique fireplaces in each of the formal, double-aspected reception rooms. Then, a gable side sun room with vaulted wood-panelled ceilings off on the right-hand side is another heat soaker of a space, a place in which to indulge a bit of hammock swinging time.

Space is generous, and rooms, all a decent size, even the hall and landing (with chandelier) are airy, even with enough space on the landing for a piano. Two of the four bedrooms ranged off this are en suite, and all have built-ions.

The kitchen is, in true farmhouse style, the hearth of the home, with island, oak units, big cooker and massive dining table, big enough for a harvest festival feast.

Other rooms off this practical space by the back door (the only way into a farmhouse!) include a utility, guest WC and home/farm office.

Views from all of the house’s main rooms past its trimmed lawns are over rich, well-kept farmland with glimpses of the Cork-Dublin motorway making the place highly and easily accessible for those on the move.

VERDICT: This is a large family home promising a country quality of life, with village amenities nearby, all just a 10 minute drive from the Jack Lynch tunnel in Cork.