Trading in the rat race for €645k home in tranquil Glandore

An Grianán is a warm and inviting home with a focus on sustainability

An Grianán, set in scenic Drombeg, Glandore

Glandore, West Cork
€645,000
Size	212 sq m (2282 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2
BER	C2

A WISE news editor once said that the best place to pick up local news is in your local and sure enough a casual conversation over a few beers in a Glandore pub laid the foundation for this home in Drombeg.

An Grianán, Drombeg, Glandore

“We were living overseas at the time, but we spent holidays in Glandore as my wife Therese has family here,” says owner Tony, a Dubliner.

“We were in the pub one night and we asked a girl who was an estate agent if she knew of any sites for sale in Glandore. She said they were just after putting half a dozen on the market.”

Colourful interior

The couple sussed out the sites before returning overseas and bought one in 1993, leaving it idle for a while.

Some years later, they returned to Dublin where they had a house, but with a young baby in tow, they felt the urge to get out. “It felt like the middle of a rat race, so we decided to take the plunge and relocate. It was the right move for both of us,” says Tony.

Before their Glandore home was even built, they did a lot of planting around the perimeter and the upshot is a thick, mature wall of green that screens their home from a nearby church and graveyard. With only souls in repose as neighbours, it’s as peaceful as you could imagine. It’s a generous site, about 0.75a, most of it out front, where lots of evergreens add to the sense of seclusion.

Entrance to An Grianán

Next to take shape was the house itself, An Grianán, built at the start of the millennium by Therese’s brother-in-law. They moved in just after Valentine’s Day, 2000. It’s a warm and inviting home thoughtfully fitted out by owners mindful of sustainability.

Country-style kitchen

 The cheery country-style kitchen is made from reclaimed wood; the kitchen stove is a 125-year-old chocolate enamel Franco belge model, reconditioned with the help of Claire Graham of Old Mill Stores in Connonagh, West Cork; timber used in soffits and fascia (Douglas Fir) came from Future Forests, as did the oak for the fireplace mantels.

Living room

Because they built the house they wanted from the get-go and had foresight to include enough bedrooms, the couple never had to extend. At almost 2,300sq ft, Tony says, “we had what we needed, and we had a few extra bedrooms, which was just as well, as we ended up with four children”.

In hindsight, their site was well chosen as the kids could walk to the local primary school in two minutes. The bus to secondary school in Rosscarbery stops outside their door and beaches are easily accessed: Car time to Warren Strand is less than 10 minutes away, Long Strand is 15 minutes.

After 25 years of the good life, the couple are downsizing locally and so their welcoming home — with a south-facing suntrap patio reached via double doors from the kitchen — is on the market with Maeve McCarthy of Charles McCarthy estate agents.

Patio is accessed off the kitchen

Drombeg, Glandore

“Glandore is one of the most picturesque stops on the Wild Atlantic way and the village, with its sheltered harbour, excellent restaurants and thriving sailing club, is just about 2km from An Grianán,” says the agent, who brings the house to market with an AMV of €645,000.

Glandore harbour with Union Hall pier in the backround. Picture Denis Minihane.