That would be an ecumenical matter? €1.2m Donoughmore glebe was home to clergy of two faiths: one  minister fathered nine sons and nine daughters

Large period house a tranquil haven set apart from the modern world, and may go private, or into hospitality

Large, and ripe with potential to finish, either as a family home, or a boutique retreat/venue

Donoughmore, North Cork
€1.2 million
Size	496 sq m (5,230 sq ft)
Bedrooms	7
Bathrooms	7/8
BER	Exempt

WHILE there may be differences in dogma between the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Church, there seems to have been ecumenical agreement that this large Georgian house at Coolmona in Donoughmore made a very fine clerical residence.

The Glebe at Coolmona, Donoughmore,  is guided at €1.2m by agents O'Mahony Walsh

As a glebe house for its first 150 years in existence, it was home to a succession of Church of Ireland rectors — including one who added a large extension to accommodate an astonishing large family consisting of nine sons and nine daughters.

For the subsequent 90 years, it served as the parochial house for the Catholic Church and the parish priests who resided there included one of the first in the country to own a two-stroke motorbike.

When in the 1990s, the clergy no longer had a need for the seven-bed detached house with many acres of gardens and parkland, it almost became a hotel.

The house, which had fallen into disrepair, was bought and renovated by a New Zealander of Irish descent who intended to open it as a boutique hotel.

Sun room to the side

Her plan was to retire from her solicitors practice in Britain, move to Ireland and spend her days as a hotelier and an organic farmer.

“It’s 25 years later and I still haven’t retired, so that didn’t happen,” she reveals with a laugh.

What’s on offer now is a grand stately home with 16ft high corniced ceilings, a Georgian fan-lit entrance, over 486 sq metres of accommodation spread over three floors, stable buildings, a sweeping driveway and 12 acres of wooded parkland.

Rumour has it that this grand period house even has its own ghost, who is said to have made a first appearance in the 1800s. The owner says she’s also been told that there’s a fairy dell in the gardens.

More visible and easily identifiable features include an orchard in a walled garden on the side of the house. “The trees are very old and have been DNA identified,” the owner reveals.

The house dates from 1752 when it was built by Rev Horatio Townshend for £443, which would have been a sizable sum at the time.

Later occupants included Rev Richard Bullen, a relative of Ann Boleyn and, during the Great Famine, Rev Joseph Rogerson Cotter, a rector with 18 children, who was the descendant of a royalist soldier who had fought alongside King James in the Battle of the Boyne.

After it was bought at auction by the Catholic Church in 1900, the seven parish priests who resided in the renamed parochial house included Canon John Burton, the motorcyclist who took up the position in 1913, Canon Martin Quinlan who advanced the level of mechanization with a motor car, as well as Canon Jerry Ahern who put in electricity and phones in the house during the 1950s.

By the 1990s when all the clergy had departed, the house required extensive work. It took two years, an army of tradespeople and, according to the owner, proved “extremely expensive”.

Roof was  redone

“We had the roof redone, replaced all the flooring, put in marble fireplaces, gas heating, a sewage system and a commercial stainless steel kitchen suitable for a restaurant/small hotel,” she said.

All the tall shutter

Commercial scale kitchen

ed timber sash windows — including the nine at the front — were removed, reconditioned and subsequently put back by a specialist company.

A replacement Georgian style door was required for the entrance but the original fan light above was in good enough condition to stay in place.

Adding to the space available for guest entertainment, the owner built on a sizable period-style orangery at the side, which would have been perfect for a party or a wedding breakfast.

The owner secured planning permission for a full-sized swimming pool and the conversion of the stables into guest apartments.

The swimming pool wasn’t built but the conversion of the stables went ahead.

Glebe House has two large high-ceilinged reception rooms. These have reinstated shuttered sash windows and restored cornicing as well as timber flooring and replacement marble fireplaces that were put in by the owner.

To the side there’s a conservatory added in the 1990s and to the rear there is now a substantial kitchen with chequered floor tiles and stainless steel appliances.

An original staircase in the hallway leads to the first floor with two large en suite bedrooms at the front, both of which are accessed by a room in the centre.

Here the layout gets interesting because the first floor of the second wing at the rear is on a different level from the one at the front, although it is accessible from the main staircase. On this floor, there are another three en suite bedrooms while the attic on the top floor has one more.

In the grounds, which are accessed by an electric gated entrance, there are numerous outbuildings, including the converted stable block and two cottages.

Listing Glebe House with a guide of €1.2m, Frank Walsh of O’Mahony Walsh Auctioneers says the seven-bed property offers grandeur as well as options.

“It could be a stately home for returning emigrants but might be bought by someone with thoughts of turning it into a guest house, a wedding venue or a retreat centre,” he says.

VERDICT: A tranquil haven set apart from the modern world.