Is it a Georgian mansion? A castle? A waterside home on a secluded island? The 142-acre Cuskinny House estate is a little of all three, a beautiful Irish estate on Great Island, the largest of several islands in Cork Harbour, one of the world’s great natural harbours. Rupert Sweeting of Knight Frank’s country department and Michael Daniels of Michael H. Daniels & Co in Fermoy are handling the sale at a guide price of €4m (£3.45m).
The estate occupies a magnificent position on Cuskinny Bay, a small horseshoe bay overlooking the harbour. The focal point of the estate is Cuskinny House, a handsome, late-Georgian country house built around a Norman castle-keep that once stood guard over the approaches to the inner harbour and Cork city itself.
It is approached along a sweeping tree-lined drive that leads along the water’s edge to a large gravel forecourt, with lawns, framed by mature trees, running more than 300ft to the foreshore.
The location could scarcely be more idyllic, but it's not all roses at Cuskinny House as the pictures show: this is a great house now in need of some TLC.
Surrounded by 22 acres of gardens and pleasure grounds, Cuskinny House offers 10,720sq ft of pleasantly rambling, light-filled accommodation including a reception hall, four reception rooms, six bedrooms and three bathrooms, with staff quarters and two self-contained apartments located in the East Wing.
Now in need of modernisation following the death last year of Wanda Ronan, at the age of 101, the present house was built in about 1837 for Savage French by Cork architect Henry Hill, based on drawings scaled down from an earlier, heavy Victorian Gothic design by J. & G. R. Pain.
According to research carried out by Galway University, the French family of Co Cork descend from Richard French of Cork, who died in 1651. By the mid 18th century, Savage French lived at Marino, Great Island, and Savage French of Cuskinny was his grandson. At the time of Griffith’s Valuation (1847–64), Sampson Twogood French of Queenstown owned more than 5,300 acres in Co Cork.
According to Mrs Ronan’s son and executor, Simon Ronan, it was he who built the sea wall at Cuskinny in 1820.
He further reveals that the French family originally rented both the Marino and Cuskinny estates from the Ronan/Ronayne families before eventually buying them outright.
Cuskinny House in Co Cork is for sale at €4m — see more details and pictures.
Credit: Strutt and Parker
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
-
Two quick and easy seasonal asparagus recipes to try this Easter WeekendAsparagus has royal roots — it was once a favourite of Madame de Pompadour.
-
Sip tea and laugh at your neighbours in this seaside Norfolk home with a watchtowerOn Cliff Hill in Gorleston, one home is taller than all the others. It could be yours.
-
Sip tea and laugh at your neighbours in this seaside Norfolk home with a watchtower
On Cliff Hill in Gorleston, one home is taller than all the others. It could be yours.
-
A Grecian masterpiece that might be one of the nation's finest homes comes up for sale in KentGrade I-listed Holwood House sits in 40 acres of private parkland just 15 miles from central London. It is spectacular.
-
Some of the finest landscapes in the North of England with a 12-bedroom home attachedUpper House in Derbyshire shows why the Kinder landscape was worth fighting for.
-
Could Gruber's Antiques from Paddington 2 be your new Notting Hill home?It was the home of Mr Gruber and his antiques in the film, but in the real world, Alice's Antiques could be yours.
-
What should 1.5 million new homes look like?The King's recent visit to Nansledan with the Prime Minister gives us a clue as to Labour's plans, but what are the benefits of traditional architecture? And can they solve a housing crisis?
-
Welcome to the modern party barn, where disco balls are 'non-negotiable'A party barn is the ultimate good-time utopia, devoid of the toil of a home gym or the practicalities of a home office. Modern efforts are a world away from the draughty, hay-bales-and-a-hi-fi set-up of yesteryear.
-
Five beautiful homes, from a barn conversion to an island treasure, as seen in Country LifeOur pick of the best homes to come to the market via Country Life in recent days include a wonderful thatched home in Devon and a charming red-brick house with gardens that run down to the water's edge.
-
The finest interiors in Edinburgh? A seven-bedroom townhouse furnished by Robert Kime comes to marketSituated on one of the New Town's grandest terraces, this four-storey property is a collector's dream.
