Tasty live-work blend at €510k landmark Kenmare property

Historic three-storey mixed-use building in Kenmare’s Square offers retail potential and private living space with roof terrace

Mixed use: 7 The Square Kenmare is an opportunity to live 'above the shop'

The Square, Kenmare
€510,000
Size	210sq m (2,260sq ft/1,400sq ft residential)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	1
BER	D1

LONG local and Donovan family history comes with the chance to live above the shop at 7, The Square, in the very heart of the picturesque and perpetually busy Ring of Kerry town, Kenmare.

Set opposite the vast Quills wools shop in the noted ‘planned town’ laid out centuries ago, the 19th century building was considerably rebuilt in 1927 after a fire.

No 7 started its trading days as a woollen and linen drapery, entering Donovan family hands around 1870s. Later also housing a loom, it traded as J & M Donovan Drapery and Fancy Warehouse, selling gold and silver jewellery, souvenirs, and linens.

7 The Square Kenmare formerly housed the very popular Café Mocha

Over a century and a half, lucky No 7 passed through generations of Donovan family hands, with a number of children born there. In more recent times it traded as Café Mocha, run by Michael and Michelle Donovan since 2018, and hugely popular with locals, school-goers, and tourists.

Michelle Donovan called time at Café Mocha last autumn, to local dismay, and now the entire building with its proud pedigree is up for sale.

7 The Square, Kenmare is next door to a Bank of Ireland branch

It is guided at €510,000 by Suzanne Teahan and John Daly of Sherry FitzGerald Daly Kenmare. That’s for the chance to take ownership of the entire mixed use retail/residential building, next door to the Bank of Ireland (old photos of The Square show it as the National Bank of Ireland and before that it was the Provincial Bank of Ireland).

A few doors away is the current AIB bank branch at 9 Main Street, while in between is No 7’s left-hand neighbour, another Kenmare stalwart, McSwiney & Sons, selling electrical and domestic appliances for at least half a century, now trading under the Expert brand.

The history of 7 The Square, and the Donovan clan’s times here, has been lovingly documented in words and images by the Kenmare Chronicle, with the next chapter now left to curate, write, and document.

7 The Square Kenmare has three bedrooms, a living area, and a kitchen/dining room with roof terrace access

The mid-terraced property spans over 2,200sq ft, over three levels, with separate access to the characterful overhead private living accommodation, with three bedrooms, living area, and kitchen/dining room with access to a sit-out 26’ long roof terrace. It also has an office/study and top-floor private bathroom.

It’s nicely dated, with lots of original feature such as fireplaces, but is likely to need some overhaul and upgrades for the decades ahead.

At ground level is an open retail/café area, with main kitchen, back kitchen, WCs, and stores.

Handily, there’s rear lane access via Emmet’s Place, off Market St, originally called Pound Lane, again recalling earlier trading days in Kenmare when cattle were held for markets by The Square, which still holds weekly farmers’ markets.

7 The Square Kenmare is guided at €510,000 by Suzanne Teahan and John Daly of Sherry FitzGerald Daly Kenmare

On the market now itself, No 7 may be bought by an investor or by an end user with a business plan for it who may or may not opt to live over the business. Alternatively, it may be picked up by a purchaser keen to live in the very heart of the
heritage town, with income scope from renting the commercial area, all for the price of a dormer bungalow in the town’s hinterland, more or less.

VERDICT: Living over the shop is, thankfully, once more becoming a popular and sustainable lifestyle option. Here’s the chance to do so in a spot as special as Kenmare’s Square.