MANY people fantasise about living in a castle, but Pauline O’Brien, along with her late husband, Ron, made that dream a reality, when they built Kells, their Shannonside home. It was a project that took three years to complete, but the result was worth it. They built a fairytale-inspired five-bedroom country house, complete with round towers, turrets and ramparts. Inside, reception rooms resemble medieval banqueting halls.
They made such a good job of it that they later ran it as a B & B, although this is a bit of an understatement, considering that it resembles a country estate and its stylish interior has more similarity with hotels such as the luxurious Lyrath Estate in Kilkenny, than your average guest house. Its closeness to Shannon airport has also drawn visitors to Kells.
Now the 7,000 sq ft grey and cream property, in Urlanmore, near Newmarket-on-Fergus, in Co Clare is on sale for €1.25m through Sherry FitzGerald O’Donovan.
It is a bittersweet time for O’Brien, who is saying goodbye to the home she created with Ron, a mechanical engineer who died two years ago. Times change, and with their three children grown up, it’s far too big now for just one person. It’s time for her to move on.
She says: “ I am onto the next chapter of my life. I think first and foremost it is a beautiful family home. It would suit a big family: it’s very spacious and there are plenty of rooms. We turned it into a B&B because it was a good business opportunity, but it was built for a family.”
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The couple, who were both from the area, bought the elevated site in the mid 1990s “at boomtime prices” and started building in 1999. They loved the beauty of the area and the fact that it was only 10 minutes from the airport and close to Bunratty and Dromoland castles.
They hired architect Alex Russell from Liscannor, although Ron had a huge input into the design. “He was very creative and the castle features were all his idea. The building was done by direct labour,” says O’Brien.
“We couldn’t get any construction company to do it for us. It would take too long. So we just hired workers ourselves.”
It was completed in 2002. “I remember that day well, it was Good Friday,” she says. “I couldn’t believe it was finished. The painter was still here for two months afterwards, he lived with us while getting the job done.”
The O’Briens ran it as a business for almost 10 years, with Pauline at the helm, only stopping when Ron became ill.
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“It was very successful, I enjoyed doing all the work around it, the accounts, the bookings. We had someone in to do the laundry, but otherwise it was all me,” she says.
“We met some really interesting people along the way. However, we obviously couldn’t continue to run the business when Ron was unwell.
“It’s now too big for me, there are five acres of grounds here that need to be maintained and the house is huge.
“I am very sad to leave such a beautiful location, with so much personal history, but it will be nice for someone else to enjoy this private and peaceful place.”
O’Brien’s favourite features are the round-tower bedrooms, the beams throughout the house, which were imported from Italy, and the cathedral-style ceilings.
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The house was built to the highest standard of construction with limestone and solid oak throughout, porcelain tile on the floors and thoughtful spotlighting in every room. While it may look like a castle, it has a wealth of modern conveniences.
The internal layout is split level on both the ground and upper floors and the open-plan design gives a feeling of space. Accommodation consists of a main entrance hall, bathroom and cloakroom, and a “great hall”, with an adjoining bar and overhanging balcony.
It also includes a kitchen, dining room, family room, utility room and five en-suite bedrooms. There is solid oak parquet and porcelain tiled flooring throughout.
The spacious kitchen has a stove in a black-and-white tiled recess, plentiful units for storage and an island.
Saving energy was an important factor in Ron’s design and the house has a B3, building energy rating, with underfloor heating fed by a geo-thermal system, solar panels and its own water supply.
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Outside there is a double garage and a plant room with an electricity generator. French doors open onto an extensive raised patio area that has views of the Shannon estuary, as well as looking onto the gardens with their beech trees and private driveway.
Automatic gates give access to the driveway and parking space is right beside the house.
Golf lovers may be interested to know that the garden could easily accommodate a few par three shots, and for those with their own air transport and for whom the short journey from Shannon airport seems too far, there is also space for a helipad.
While away from the hustle and bustle, Kells, which is between Ennis, in Co Clare, and Limerick city, is not a remote property.
Limerick is only 24km away for nightlife or shopping and top tourist attractions, such as the Wild Atlantic Way, the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher are within reach. There is also easy access to the M18 motorway to Galway and Dublin.
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Historically known as Corracatlin, Newmarket-on-Fergus has many castles, such as Ballyhannon, Knappogue and Dromoland, which influenced Kells’ design.