Historic home on the Cork Harbour

One of Cork’s best-kept period harbour homes has a rich past and a bright future, says Tommy Barker.

A HOUSE as fine as Cork Harbour’s immaculate Ardmanagh, and one steeped in local historical and political lore, doesn’t change hands too often, and has been 30 years in its current owners’ careful hands.

Dating to the mid1800s, an inauspicious time in Irish history, recovering from famine amid stirring politics, it was built for campaigning Irish Home Rule politician, writer and founder of the Cork Examiner, John Francis Maguire, and was his family home where he had a brood of up to nine children, before his death in 1872 aged in his late 50s, after a hard-working and prolific career.

Apart from founding the Cork Examiner in 1841, supporting Daniel O’Connell, and campaigning as a journalist, he also wrote many books, including the highly-regarded The Irish in America in 1867, a biography of Fr Theobald Mathew, an account of the industrial movement in Ireland, and even a book of fairy stories.

Along the way, he was MP for Dungarvan from 1852 to 1865, when he became MP for Cork, until the time of his death in ’72. Maguire had also been Lord Mayor of Cork in 1852, 1862, 1863 and 1864. After his death, a ‘national tribute’ was taken up to support his widow and large family, supported by British peers, by the then Home Secretary and even by Queen Victoria.

Among the many causes John Francis Maguire espoused was the creation of a linen industry, and a naval harbour in Cork, where he himself had his harbour home, one Ardmanagh.

Fully harbour-immersed, before the current owners’ 30 years tenure, this brick-faced hillside home with links to Maguire on an imperious perch overlooking the Cross River ferry from Glenbrook to Rushbrooke, had been a long-time home to the Doyle family, of shipping, stevedoring, and boatbuilding repute.

In the Doyles’ time, it had acquired an outdoor swimming pool in the back garden, to add to the pleasure of many acres of private grounds, formal terraced lawns, pasture, orchard, greenhouse, and a tennis court, although the latter’s no longer in service.

The ‘woman of the house’ now, preparing to trade down, says she recalls seeing it high up on the hill above Glenbrook from the Cobh side of the river many, many years ago and of always admiring it, and then, in later years, of getting the chance to visit it as a guest of the Doyles, which only consolidated her admiration for it.

So, when it came for sale in the 1980s, they were hooked, and there was no way she wasn’t going to make a play for it.

It all paid dividends for the low-key family, through child-rearing into adult years — and what a place to grow up in, and to hold family gatherings at. Now, some other fortunate family will find it all out for themselves.

In pristine internal order, Ardmanagh’s for sale with estate agent John Barry of Frank V Murphy & Company as a very attractively-sized package, in one or two lots. The house, comprising 4,500 sq ft and on two storeys over a bone-dry, sparkling lower ground level (with snooker/games room) is offered on 8.9 acres, at €1.5 million; a further 3.59 acres/possible site with road frontage to a cul de sac road is priced independently at an extra €100,000. It won’t be an essential purchase for the main house’s buyer, but it would be nice to keep as much together as possible?

It’s a gleaming family-friendly home, with all of its brasses polished, and all of the essential period home features internally are present and correct — from decorative plaster ceilings with chandeliers to original and ornate fireplaces in the sitting room, drawing room, and formal dining room, with bay windows in the latter two rooms.

Just about every window in the house, on all levels, has been replaced over time in painted teak, with double-glazed sash frames, a considerable investment for many decades to come at Ardmanagh which contributes hugely to its period home authenticity, while also adding to the comfort factor. The windows work was all done by Waterfall-based master joiner, Jim Barry, and about the only window not redone, sensibly, was the original arch-headed, multi-paned and curved stairs window.

Craftsmanship of an earlier century or two is on display internally too in the Victorian era Ardmanagh’s entry level, with doors to the main, carpeted reception rooms featuring classically-inspired ornate frieze panels, architraves, and tall Regency-style pediments — they’re a stand-out feature.

In addition, Ardmanagh has a large kitchen with hand-made, painted units, marble tops, and a big, white Aga, as well as large picture windows overlooking tiered and well-tended flower and shrub beds. There’s also a home office/study with fireplace, rear hall, and a service kitchen off a 24’ by 14’ double height conservatory, with front terrace access, and this hospitable, solid-roofed sun room is all-weather proofed, with a gas fire on one wall for heat, and air conditioning for warmer days.

Overhead are a spacious landing, main bathroom, and four comfortable double bedrooms. Two of them have bay windows, three have harbour views, two have en-suite quality bathrooms, and there’s access to an external viewing balcony off the double aspect master bedroom.

Adding all the more to the feeling of accommodating space is the bright lower ground level, with snooker/games room, plant room and several store rooms/laundry, plus external access.

Outside, the immediate grounds and formal gardens are superbly kept, and buildings include a 19th century stone and brick coach-house/stables/garages, storage barn, there’s a changing room for the very deep outdoor swimming pool (currently drained) by a wisteria-clad pergola, and lower down on the extensive property, past paddocks, is a disused roadside lodge.

Thanks to its acreage, once past the formal entrance gates and up the long drive which cuts through rocky outcrops, the property’s wholly private, and, thanks too to it setting toward the top of the hill above Glenbrook, it get lots of westerly/evening sun, a real bonus on this otherwise east facing slope.

VERDICT: A prize. It’s one of the very best-kept period homes around Cork harbour.

Glenbrook, Cork Harbour

€1.5 million house/+€100,000 site

Size: 420 sq m (4,500 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 5

BER: N/A