Peace comes dropping slow at Dripsey's €675k Leeside home and grounds

1980s Lee Valley family home on 1.3 acres by reservoir with stone outbuildings has just come through an internal update

Sat, 22 Jun, 2024 - 12:00

Property Editor Tommy Barker reports

Dripsey, Lee Valley
€675,000
Size	212 sq m (2,270 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	C1

IN the few short years since this Cronody, Dripsey, family home was last on the market, there has been change afoot in the Lee Valley locale.

Cronody is near Dripsey and Coachford, by the Inniscarra lake/reservoir

Back in 2021, 1.7million TV viewers had just heard local lad, eight-year-old Jackie McCullogh, on The Late Late Toy Show tell Ryan Tubridy that things in Cork’s Dripsey were: “Ah, not great. There’s nothing close to us; anything close is closed.”

That was then – level five Covid times. Since, the local Dripsey Castle Estate has been sold for close to €5million, and for twice its asking price, to a local young couple who operate it as an occasional wedding venue. And, famed Griffins Garden Centre and cafe has reopened as McD’s (not McDonald’s!) And, the demand for homes on good grounds, by rivers, lakes and the sea, has exacerbated, with property prices rising accordingly. In the interim, this 1980s family home on 1.3 acres of landscaped gardens with old stone outbuildings has had an upgrade, primarily a decorative update, with

its best finishes and internal features retained.

When it last appeared here, in February 2021, it was being sold by the Sheahan family, whose son Patrick had featured in ‘that’ Hozier video, shot at Dripsey/Inniscarra –the video for Take Me To Church had 130million views by then.

The quality of this home saw it bid strongly above its €450,000 AMV to sell for 30% over it, €615,000 (it’s hard to find on the Price Register though), and its successful buyers in 2021 put their own stamp on it.

Their circumstances have changed and it’s for sale as a walk-in job – it’s even possible that the under-bidders from three years ago might join the new bidding process.

It’s listed now with a €675,000 AMV, quoted by agent Ron Krueger, of Engel & Volkers, swapping his normal Kinsale/

Kenmare coastal sales beat for Leeside and proximity to the city of Cork reservoir at the lake at Inniscarra, which it has selected views down to.

He says the c. 2,300 sq ft dormer four-bed home is in immaculate condition and is in a serene cul de sac with a Leeside setting, offering a lovely lifestyle option, pointing out the quality of the gardens and grounds done for years by the late renowned Cork landscaper Brian Cross.

The home has feature ceilings, with an ornate twist sort of pattern in some, large hall and lofty living room.

It also has stained-glass features, a wood-burning stove in the family room (it all gets a ‘representative for the age’ C1 BER) and a modern kitchen with granite tops and a big breakfast peninsula, while the dining area has a bay window with lake views.

One of the four bedrooms is en suite and there’s also a first-floor office and big family bathroom.

The location

is on a headland in Inniscarra lake, south of Dripsey, and near Coachford, about a

25-minute scenic spin back to the city and western suburbs.

The property’s private 1.3 acres includes an old stone barn “which lends itself to many uses and would be ideal as a workshop or storage area or would make a great project to revive it as a granny flat, home office or games room,” says E&V’s Mr Krueger, who is selling for a family who are making a move from lake to sea.