With the Imperial Hotel no longer in the family, Mark Flynn's bijou riverside home is on the market 

The deck over the river at 1 Kelleher's Villas is a joy to behold 

River Cottage, 1 Kelleher's Villas, Inniscarra

Inniscarra, Cork
€420,000
Size	95 sq m (1025 sq ft
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	2
BER	B3

COMFORT and luxury are fundamentals of the Flynn family hotel business, so why settle for anything less in private life?

Hotelier Mark Flynn applied the same principles when buying River Cottage, a once-derelict Inniscarra property, transformed by a previous owner. 

The 15 minute commute to the then family-owned Imperial Hotel on South Mall sealed the deal.

“I wanted to buy my first house and I was looking at a place in town, but then covid arrived and everything changed,” he says.

“I started to look in the countryside, and River Cottage was ideal because while it feels rural, it was still just 15 minutes door-to-door to the Imperial Hotel,” Mark adds.

Location was the main factor, but the setting came a close second. Set high and dry above the River Lee and with a cantilevered deck out over it, the views are stunning in all directions. 

What’s more, there’s no danger of housing estate development on the opposite bank as the land forms part of the 140-acre Ballincollig Regional Park. To cap it all, the riverward side of the house is south-facing, making it the ultimate sitting-out spot, perfectly pitched for an angler to cast a line and reel in dinner, before anyone has a chance to shout “CATCH and RELEASE”.

Truth be told, it was to be an angler’s home. Pat Falvey, the man who salvaged it after buying it for €132,000 in 2018, has represented Ireland in the World Angling Championships.

Pat, an auctioneer, whose father, also Pat, is a well-known mountaineer, had intended for River Cottage to be his dream home — it’s right next to a river access path for salmon anglers — but circumstances intervened.

 Having done a sterling job of renovating the property, including installing the expansive deck, he put it back on the market for €325,000 in 2020. It sold to Mark the following year for €411,000, according to the Price Register. Mark didn’t have as much time as he would have liked to enjoy it, as the family sold the Imperial Hotel to veteran bar and hotel owner, Dubliner Louis Fitzgerald, in 2023. Mark’s back in Kilkenny now as general manager of the Newpark Hotel, one of four hotels in the family portfolio, which also includes Lawlors in Waterford, The Park in Dungarvan and the Old Ground in Ennis, Co Clare. They sold the Imperial, which they bought in 1995, last year, a decision Mark says was bittersweet.

“I remember washing pots and pans in the kitchen when I was aged five or six,” he says. He’s a regular visitor to Cork still, being a fan of sea-swimming in Kinsale and with lots of friends in the city.

Selling River Cottage aka 1 Kelleher’s Villas is Norma Healy of Sherry FitzGerald who describes it as “a unique home in a very special setting”.

Halfway between the Angler’s Rest Bar, and the Inniscarra Bar, at Coolyduff, “in a great community” the 95 sq m two-bed semi includes two double bedrooms (one with large en suite) ; a main bathroom and, overlooking the river, a large L-shaped, open plan kitchen/dining/living area. 

The entire rear wall is glazed and king size patio doors slide right back for balcony access, creating what interiors’ gurus describe as that highly-desirable “indoor/outdoor space”.

Outdoors is low maintenance: a gravel driveway is accessed via electric gates; the remainder of the sloping site is tastefully landscaped.

The guide price for River Cottage is €420,000.

VERDICT: Downsizers/retirees with time to enjoy the outdoor space and views will love this property. It would also suit a young professional (s) eg employees of tech giant Apple, who will like the fact that the company’s Hollyhill plant is a 10 minute commute by car.