From cloister to couture with class at €725,000 Kinsale apartment

This development's plush present still retains the reassuringly solid bones of its somewhat more austere past

Property: 6 The Clipper, Avila, Convent Garden, Kinsale - Savills - H-Pix WEB

Kinsale, Co Cork
€725,000
Size	123 sq m (1324 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	2
BER	A2

Convents were typically built with soaring ceilings and large windows to let in the ‘divine light’ and in its new iteration this translates to airy spacious rooms including a dramatic mezzanine living space at No 6 The Clipper.

The current owners, a Cork man and his Colombian-born wife, have been living in the US for the past few decades but bought this two-bed Avila duplex at Kinsale’s Mercy Convent in June 2023 and now almost exactly three years on they’re moving out — but not really moving on. They’re buying a bigger property in the same complex: “I’m in the US for 39 years and we were looking for nearly 10 years for the right place to buy in Ireland for when we come ‘home’ for 3-5 months each year.

We actually bought this place without seeing it in person, my friends looked at it for us but they knew when they saw that it has the biggest terrace of the six units in that section that it would be the right one.”

“There’s a lovely diversity among the people here and a good community sense, you have academics, retirees, Americans... I’ve made more friends here than in years in the same US neighbourhood.”

A lot of the original convent structure was preserved, resulting in varied ceiling heights and deep-set sash windows. “It’s just great to have the light streaming in through the massive original windows in the mornings in the kitchen, that’s a beautiful spot.”

And on warmer evenings the generously-sized balcony, which is really more of an ‘outdoor room’, comes into its own.

Speaking of warmth, the deep convent walls coupled with a thorough re-do as apartments means it’s a very cosy A-rated apartment. “I was actually pleasantly surprised by how cheap the energy costs have been here. The exterior is old but it is extremely modern inside with underfloor heating and a Daikin heatpump system. And the solid walls mean you can’t hear anything from neighbours either.”

Of course, the proximity to Kinsale centre is a real bonus: “You’re only 2-3 minutes from The Greyhound [on Market Square] and the restaurants and other bars.”

“We love it here, my wife always says she can’t wait to arrive in Kinsale but when we do have to leave we don’t have to do anything extra, there’s no worries about pipes or closing things off. We just lock up and leave, it’s like a hotel really.”

The Italian designed Arrital has ceramic worktops and integrated appliances and there are Molteni & C wardrobes in both bedrooms — and discreet Linvisibile interior doors.

There’s a large communal garden and designated parking spaces — Cork Airport is 21 km away and Cork city is a 28km drive with plenty beaches and coastal walks in the other direction, notes Karl O’Reilly of Savills.

VERDICT: Quiet luxury in a historic setting with Kinsale town on your doorstep — a dream home, or second home.