With a racecourse, a golf course and Killarney National Park on your doorstep, Bunrower Lodge is a tantalising prospect

Elegant and oozing old world charm, this Kerry home is in a prized residential location, writes Catherine Shanahan

Photo: Don MacMonagle

Killarney, Co Kerry
€495,000
Size	180 sq m (1937 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	D2

HOMES within a stone’s throw of sublime Killarney National Park are hot property.

Bunrower Lodge, on Ross Road, is in the lucky position of being directly across from the park’s entrance.

It’s also within a few furloughs of Killarney Race Course and a short putt from the golf course. Ross Road itself leads down to the largest of Killarney’s three famous lakes, Lough Leane, and to Ross Castle, the restored 15th century ancestral home of the chief of the O’Donoghue Clan, whom legend says sucked out a window of the castle, only to disappear into Lough Leane, along with his horse, table and library.

Legend also says the defenestrated chieftain now lives in a grand palace on the lake’s murky bottom, from where he keeps a close eye on the comings and goings on Ross Road.

If this be true, then he knows the owners of Bunrower Lodge previously lived in Bunrower House, which they ran as a hostel. In fact the Lodge was only built in 1990, following Bunrower House owners’ decision to sell the house and some land to a developer. The upshot was the demolition of Bunrower House and the emergence of Bunrower Court, a small development of three townhouses and five apartments, close to Bunrower Lodge.

Michael Coghlan of Sherry FitzGerald Coghlan handled the sale of Bunrower House and land about three decades ago and he’s back in the frame once more, now that the Lodge is up for sale.

He’s been very busy in the Ross Road area of late, selling four prime 0.25 acre sites on nearby Castle Drive for sums between €320,000 and €350,000 with planning permission for four luxury homes, one of which is already completed.

He expects to be busy with viewings at Bunrower Lodge too, which is also on 0.25 of an acre, once Covid-19 lockdown restrictions are lifted, which he hopes will be on March 5.

“There’s been a good few enquiries since the property went on the market during lockdown so we expect to be showing people around hopefully from March 5,” Mr Coghlan said.

What viewers will see is a house with an olde-world charm and quality that you wouldn’t expect to find in a house just three decades old Much of that is down to the elegant decor, from the sitting room with its antique fireplace and lovely French doors to the garden, to original pine floors, to the gorgeous entrance porch which is really more of a conservatory.

With almost 2,000 sq ft of internal space, four-bed detached Bunrower Lodge has been and can continue to be a terrific family home, especially with such enviable and plentiful outdoor attractions on its doorstep, not least the multitude of walking and cycling trails that run through the magical national park landscape.

“Bunrower Lodge itself doesn’t have a huge garden but really, your garden is the national park,” Mr Coghlan says.

The garden - front and rear - that comes with the Lodge is largely maintenance free. In fact the house may also suit a retired couple, Mr Coghlan says.

“We have a lot of active retirees looking for property in Killarney and they want a home that their children and grandchildren can come and stay in, so they are looking for four bedroom houses and some want a home office or a room they can use as a gym.

Three of the four bedrooms at the Lodge are upstairs, all a fine size, one of them ensuite. 

A downstairs bedroom is being used as a studio.

 Another room with access to the garden is functioning as a home office. There’s a guest WC downstairs and a main bathroom upstairs.

The kitchen is a pretty, cream/country affair with black granite worktops and a tiled floor.

The Lodge also has a detached double garage and private offstreet parking.

Mr Coghlan says the house itself is in a small, private cul de sac, just off the Ross Road, and is within walking distance of Killarney town centre.

He adds that Ross Road is “one of the best residential roads in town”.

VERDICT:  Gorgeous house in stellar location