Six degrees of separation between Harry Potter and Cobh home 

Catherine Shanahan admires a secluded home with some famous connections just minutes from the centre of Cobh

Wilmount House, Cobh, birthplace of Denis Wilson, late father of actress Fiona Shaw.

Cobh, Co Cork
€490,000
Size	149 sq m (1600 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
BER	Exempt

WILMOUNT House bolsters the small-world theory that there’s no more than six degrees of separation between any of us, regardless of where we are.

Tucked up a tree-lined avenue in Cobh, Co Cork, it seems an unlikely candidate for links with Hollywood and Harry Potter, or the hit TV series, Killing Eve.

The connection is there though if you trace back through the history of who lived in it.

Denis Wilson, the real-life father of fictional M16 spymaster Carolyn Martens — more recognisable to younger generations as the awful aunt, Petunia Dursley, in Harry Potter — was born there, and his daughter is none other than multi-award-winning actress Fiona Wilson, stage name, Fiona Shaw, head of the Russia desk in Killing Eve.

Other luminaries associated with Wilmount House, on Wilmount Avenue, Carrignafoy, include the Seymour family, prosperous shipping agents. They originally built Wilmount Castle as their home, and it's believed the castle was the location of Ireland's first phone line, installed to connect Captain William Deane Seymour with his shipping offices on Lynch’s Quay, in Cobh, where he represented the Inman Line. The Seymours lived in the castle for a time, but it burnt down, and they moved to Wilmount House.

According to the national database of heritage buildings, Wilmount House was built circa 1840 and a two-storey extension added circa 1870 — after the castle was burned down, and the Seymours relocated there. 

The extension (kind of like the wing of a colonial villa) and the original building look not dissimilar in size. Somewhere along the way, they were spliced into two houses, to create two lovely semi-detached properties, one of which is now for sale.

An overseas landlord has it on the market with Johanna Murphy of Johanna Murphy & Sons. His father has lived in the adjoining house (the original pre-extension Wilmount) since 1973, which he bought at the same time as the house next door was purchased by the Allisters, a family with an engineering background. The father of the house, the late Val Allister, worked as an engineer with the local authority in Cobh and his son Derry has continued that tradition.

Val and his wife Millie (also deceased) reared a family of eight in Wilmount House, and there was much music and merriment. The current tenant also has a keen appreciation of music and has hosted musician friends there. He says the acoustics are “unbelievably good”, possibly because of its perfect Victorian proportions.

With the tenant relocating to the city and the landlord selling up, Ms Murphy is guiding this period property near Cobh town centre, with views of the harbour, at €490,000.

The gardens deserve special mention. Mature trees and shrubs and vibrant blooms are evident everywhere out front, but what you don’t immediately see is a gem of a patio area to the side of the house, through a wrought iron gate, perfectly shielded from the avenue outside by hedges.

“It’s my favourite spot,” the tenant says. "it’s where I have dinner most nights, and it’s south-facing, so it has the sun right through.” 

Beyond that again, there's a secret garden, concealed to the rear, potentially a terrific play zone for kids.

Right behind the house is a raised flower bed and a couple of steps leading down to the back door. The kitchen window look directly onto the raised bed, where deep pink foxgloves are currently in bloom.

Inside the back door is a gorgeous traditional-style kitchen, rustic and simple, with an extra high ceiling and some lovely old touches like an ancient AGA and a clothes airer, suspended from the ceiling.

 The kitchen is just off the hallway inside a large porch, which is a more recent addition to the house.

 There’s a WC under the stairs and a home office in a natural alcove off the hallway.

On the other side of the stairs is a reception room of excellent dimensions with a big, deep bay window and original fireplace as its centrepoint. 

The main bedroom is directly overhead and it too has a large bay with views of the harbour in one direction and a warm old stone wall in the other, behind which is a big green area known locally as The Track, where Olympian Sonia O’Sullivan used to train, Ms Murphy says.

In addition to the large, main bedroom, there are two more bedrooms off the landing/corridor, which also has windows looking seaward. 

Before it was divided in two, Wilmount House was the big house in the area, reached by the tree-lined avenue, Ms Murphy says, with lots of land — but that land was sold off gradually, and there are a number of homes now on Wilmount Avenue, of different shapes and sizes, all benefiting from its seclusion and no-through traffic status.

“It is so tranquil and peaceful here, and the house has a lovely feel to it," Ms Murphy says.

“What’s more, it’s a really great location, literally a 10-minute walk to the town centre."

When Wilmount House last came to market in 2008, guiding at €485,000. It featured in the Irish Examiner then too. The verdict now is the same as it was then.

VERDICT: An elegant, ready-to-go affordable home, with all the trappings of a big, period property.