Property 17-02-2012

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Property

17.03.2012

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& Interiors

Full Irish

Cork harbour cottage is pitch-perfect for those seeking an Irish charmer Photo by Denis Scannell

PLUS • TRADING UP • STYLISH HOMES • GET THE LOOK • ANTIQUES • STEP BY STEP DIY

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PROPERTY

HOUSE WEEK OF THE

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Contact Pat Crean on 087 2771189 pcrean@sfsc.ie and Paul Stephenson 086 6889300 pstephenson@sfsc.ie

Tommy Barker reports

Superb development of 3 bed homes situated on the beach of Ballyheigue Village, Co. Kerry

Pictures: Denis Scannell

Old Conor Pass Road, Dingle, Co. Kerry

C

ois Chnoic is a stunning luxury development at the foot of the Conor Pass just 5 minutes from Dingle Town. The development comprises a mixture of Large Semi-Detached three bed homes (which are sold out) and Courtyard Style Terraced Houses of which there are some terrace and end of terrace remaining. It will impress all those seeking a quality home or investment in a superb setting within easy access of Dingle Town and all its amenities. Cois Chnoic will attract the discerning purchaser due to its excellent location, superb design and high quality finish.

and Jill suite. Then, the top or attic level (with proper GLENARN’S a family home in the very best sense of stair access) is home to another bedroom with shower the word — and it works, superbly. From its room en suite, while back at ground level there’s an replacement Rationel window and enlarged exterior optional bedroom five/study/home office off to the facade at the city end of Cork’s Model Farm Road, you right of the newly formed and welcoming entry porch, only just begin to suspect how substantial a home with yet another guest bathroom with wet room/ lurks out the back, and alongside, and up into the shower directly behind (but separately accessed.) attic/roof as well, still with lots of garden space left Selling agent Sheila O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald behind, and space for a few cars to park in front. raves about the ground floor space at Glenarn -and she When last visited back in is dead right.

2003 we even then rated the It starts with a large entry Location: Model Farm Road, Cork original dwelling as a hall, with extra wide lower Price: €520,000 spacious enough home, with stairs section, indicating a bit original features: since it of generosity of Size: 220 sq m (2,500 sq ft) changed hands nearly a accommodation to come, and Bedrooms: 4/5 decade ago, it has had the the hall quite easily also fits Full Monty of a make-over, in room for a piano.

BER rating: Pending stripped back to basics, and Now, it’s time to start Broadband: Yes put back together bigger, and measuring and naming rooms definitely better, rising to a beyond: up front and left is a Best asset: Hugely accommodating plush stature well above the usual living room with deep rank of semi-ds of this early bay window, and cast iron 1900s vintage. fireplace, with its pitch pine flooring running 32’ from But, even after all that work, it just isn’t big enough front to back dining room window bay, next to the for its current occupants: there’s eight of them, the new kitchen with granite topped painted solid timber parents, five children, and an au pair. Oh. plus a big units and integrated appliance. This kitchen is well Bernese Mountain Dog, and other sundry pets. kitted out for cooking and entertaining with oil-fired Clearly, this is a family that grew into, and is now Aga, double electric ovens, and a gas hob. growing out of, its comfortable spaces.

Not done yet: directly behind, stretching into the Yet, even though it has probably grown by as much large back garden, is the first part of a new single as 50% in size, it could still be described as a four bed, storey extension, used a breakfast room and even as it was before the work started. But, that’s only the further back is a garden room/sitting room, superficial reckoning: now, there are three first floor which gets afternoon and evening sun through bedrooms, one with very large en suite with corner its corner windows. And, running alongside the semibath and separate shower, while the other two double detached home is a guest WC and very large (kitchenbedrooms share an en suite in what’s termed a Jack sized) utility, with lots of storage.

CONTENTS 4

TRADING There’s been lots done at this Dunmore East home

6

It’s a testament to the layout, and well-presented busyness that it doesn’t feel bitty or compartmentalised, despite this particular house being 60’ deep in total along its eastern side.

As well as sheer floor area, there’s handy nooks everywhere for storage, with pull-out drawers under the stairs for shoes, loads of places to keep coats, school bags, toys, books, paraphernalia and more: this is a house that just swallows family stuff.

The good news for buyers is that pretty much everything necessary has been done (there’s even planning for two more bedrooms over the single storey rear extension) and the sunny back garden is safe and secure, landscaped with enough space for just mucking about, and the view behind is of mature gardens only, with County Hall visible in the distance.

VERDICT: An unfolding Tardis, by the church in Dennehy’s Cross and so near services, shops, schools, colleges, hospitals and more, two miles from Cork city centre.

Property � ���������

Every Home has its unique selling points...

...let us tell yours to over 181,000* readers, it’s the easiest way to showcase your property

The Green Forest Estate, Cork

SA B,O’B&S

STARTERS Head for the hills and a healthy lifestyle at Ballyhoura

8

COVER STORY Whitewashed waterside Cobh cottage has 200 years of history

10 FEATURE A Portobello terraced house proves small parcels can hold the best goods

14 16 18 21 22

INTERIORS DIY ASK THE DESIGNER GARDENING ANTIQUES

PROPERTY EDITOR Tommy Barker, 021 4802221 property@examiner.ie INTERIORS EDITORIAL Sue O’Connor, 021 4802386 interiors@examiner.ie INTERIORS ADVERTISING Ger Duggan, 021 4802192 interiorads@examiner.ie PROPERTY ADVERTISING Marguerite Stafford, 021 4802100 marguerite.stafford@examiner.ie

2

€130,000

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

L MP

E

• Four bed detached home fitted out to the highest standard • Guest WC, 2 Reception Rooms, Superb Kitchen, Utility, Four Beds (Ensuite) & Bathroom • Mature walled in garden

ER V AD

This exclusive private gated development has direct access to the beach, it is adjacent to the White Sands Hotel, Ballyheigue Golf Course, Ballyheigue GAA grounds, and a host of Village amenities.

€130,000 Exceptional Value Prices reduced from €270,000 ONLY 4 REMAINING

“The Property Auction Experts”

For Sale by Public Auction (unless previously sold)

“On owners instructions” Tuesday 27th March 2012 @ 2.30pm. The Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Cork Weston View, Carrigaline, Co. Cork

Heathfield, Castlemartyr, Co. Cork

• 3 Bedroom Semi detached house • Centrally located minutes from Douglas • Ideal family home PRICED TO SELL

• Spacious 3 Bed Detached House • C1.25 acres • Mature & sheltered gardens front and rear PRICED TO SELL

13 Castle Avenue, Carrigtwohill, Cork

Eyeries, Beara, Co. Cork

84 Primrose Hill, Tower, Blarney, Co. Cork

T

Price on Application

Bowen, O’Brien & Sheehan

Crossfield Orchard, Cork.

T: 021 4802100

Why not advertise your property for sale in the Irish Examiner Properties On the Move page on Saturday, March 31st For further details please contact your selling agent or the Irish Examiner, Property Advertising Department Tel: 021 4802100

*Source: JNRS 2011

• 4 Bed Two Storey SemiDetached House • Newly refurbished • Ideal family home PRICED TO SELL

• 4 Bedroom Detached House • Front & Rear Garden • Finished to high standard PRICED TO SELL

• Traditional cottage on C.O.5 acre • Recently refurbished • Panormic views of Coulagh Bay PRICED TO SELL

FOR SALE BY PRIVATE TREATY 11 Ryecroft, Maryborough Woods, Douglas, Cork A superb 4 bedroomed end terraced home in Cork’s premier address Price Guide €265,000

DABBID AUCTIONS - NEXT GENERAL AUCTION - Wed March 21st, 2012 @ 7pm Building Products, General Household Items, Furniture & Industrial Cleaning Equipment Unit 4 Togher Industrial Estate,Togher Cork (next to Brooks).

For further information and viewings contact The Auction Team Denis A Barrett Auctioneers, 81 South Mall,Cork - Tel: 021 4278455 Email: info@dabbid.com | Email: info@denisbarrett.com Web: www.dabbid.com | Web: www.denisbarrett.com IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

3

TERAPROOF:User:noelcroninDate:15/03/2012Time:12:48:54Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:2

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

PROPERTY

HOUSE WEEK OF THE

XP1 - V1

Contact Pat Crean on 087 2771189 pcrean@sfsc.ie and Paul Stephenson 086 6889300 pstephenson@sfsc.ie

Tommy Barker reports

Superb development of 3 bed homes situated on the beach of Ballyheigue Village, Co. Kerry

Pictures: Denis Scannell

Old Conor Pass Road, Dingle, Co. Kerry

C

ois Chnoic is a stunning luxury development at the foot of the Conor Pass just 5 minutes from Dingle Town. The development comprises a mixture of Large Semi-Detached three bed homes (which are sold out) and Courtyard Style Terraced Houses of which there are some terrace and end of terrace remaining. It will impress all those seeking a quality home or investment in a superb setting within easy access of Dingle Town and all its amenities. Cois Chnoic will attract the discerning purchaser due to its excellent location, superb design and high quality finish.

and Jill suite. Then, the top or attic level (with proper GLENARN’S a family home in the very best sense of stair access) is home to another bedroom with shower the word — and it works, superbly. From its room en suite, while back at ground level there’s an replacement Rationel window and enlarged exterior optional bedroom five/study/home office off to the facade at the city end of Cork’s Model Farm Road, you right of the newly formed and welcoming entry porch, only just begin to suspect how substantial a home with yet another guest bathroom with wet room/ lurks out the back, and alongside, and up into the shower directly behind (but separately accessed.) attic/roof as well, still with lots of garden space left Selling agent Sheila O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald behind, and space for a few cars to park in front. raves about the ground floor space at Glenarn -and she When last visited back in is dead right.

2003 we even then rated the It starts with a large entry Location: Model Farm Road, Cork original dwelling as a hall, with extra wide lower Price: €520,000 spacious enough home, with stairs section, indicating a bit original features: since it of generosity of Size: 220 sq m (2,500 sq ft) changed hands nearly a accommodation to come, and Bedrooms: 4/5 decade ago, it has had the the hall quite easily also fits Full Monty of a make-over, in room for a piano.

BER rating: Pending stripped back to basics, and Now, it’s time to start Broadband: Yes put back together bigger, and measuring and naming rooms definitely better, rising to a beyond: up front and left is a Best asset: Hugely accommodating plush stature well above the usual living room with deep rank of semi-ds of this early bay window, and cast iron 1900s vintage. fireplace, with its pitch pine flooring running 32’ from But, even after all that work, it just isn’t big enough front to back dining room window bay, next to the for its current occupants: there’s eight of them, the new kitchen with granite topped painted solid timber parents, five children, and an au pair. Oh. plus a big units and integrated appliance. This kitchen is well Bernese Mountain Dog, and other sundry pets. kitted out for cooking and entertaining with oil-fired Clearly, this is a family that grew into, and is now Aga, double electric ovens, and a gas hob. growing out of, its comfortable spaces.

Not done yet: directly behind, stretching into the Yet, even though it has probably grown by as much large back garden, is the first part of a new single as 50% in size, it could still be described as a four bed, storey extension, used a breakfast room and even as it was before the work started. But, that’s only the further back is a garden room/sitting room, superficial reckoning: now, there are three first floor which gets afternoon and evening sun through bedrooms, one with very large en suite with corner its corner windows. And, running alongside the semibath and separate shower, while the other two double detached home is a guest WC and very large (kitchenbedrooms share an en suite in what’s termed a Jack sized) utility, with lots of storage.

CONTENTS 4

TRADING There’s been lots done at this Dunmore East home

6

It’s a testament to the layout, and well-presented busyness that it doesn’t feel bitty or compartmentalised, despite this particular house being 60’ deep in total along its eastern side.

As well as sheer floor area, there’s handy nooks everywhere for storage, with pull-out drawers under the stairs for shoes, loads of places to keep coats, school bags, toys, books, paraphernalia and more: this is a house that just swallows family stuff.

The good news for buyers is that pretty much everything necessary has been done (there’s even planning for two more bedrooms over the single storey rear extension) and the sunny back garden is safe and secure, landscaped with enough space for just mucking about, and the view behind is of mature gardens only, with County Hall visible in the distance.

VERDICT: An unfolding Tardis, by the church in Dennehy’s Cross and so near services, shops, schools, colleges, hospitals and more, two miles from Cork city centre.

Property � ���������

Every Home has its unique selling points...

...let us tell yours to over 181,000* readers, it’s the easiest way to showcase your property

The Green Forest Estate, Cork

SA B,O’B&S

STARTERS Head for the hills and a healthy lifestyle at Ballyhoura

8

COVER STORY Whitewashed waterside Cobh cottage has 200 years of history

10 FEATURE A Portobello terraced house proves small parcels can hold the best goods

14 16 18 21 22

INTERIORS DIY ASK THE DESIGNER GARDENING ANTIQUES

PROPERTY EDITOR Tommy Barker, 021 4802221 property@examiner.ie INTERIORS EDITORIAL Sue O’Connor, 021 4802386 interiors@examiner.ie INTERIORS ADVERTISING Ger Duggan, 021 4802192 interiorads@examiner.ie PROPERTY ADVERTISING Marguerite Stafford, 021 4802100 marguerite.stafford@examiner.ie

2

€130,000

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

L MP

E

• Four bed detached home fitted out to the highest standard • Guest WC, 2 Reception Rooms, Superb Kitchen, Utility, Four Beds (Ensuite) & Bathroom • Mature walled in garden

ER V AD

This exclusive private gated development has direct access to the beach, it is adjacent to the White Sands Hotel, Ballyheigue Golf Course, Ballyheigue GAA grounds, and a host of Village amenities.

€130,000 Exceptional Value Prices reduced from €270,000 ONLY 4 REMAINING

“The Property Auction Experts”

For Sale by Public Auction (unless previously sold)

“On owners instructions” Tuesday 27th March 2012 @ 2.30pm. The Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Cork Weston View, Carrigaline, Co. Cork

Heathfield, Castlemartyr, Co. Cork

• 3 Bedroom Semi detached house • Centrally located minutes from Douglas • Ideal family home PRICED TO SELL

• Spacious 3 Bed Detached House • C1.25 acres • Mature & sheltered gardens front and rear PRICED TO SELL

13 Castle Avenue, Carrigtwohill, Cork

Eyeries, Beara, Co. Cork

84 Primrose Hill, Tower, Blarney, Co. Cork

T

Price on Application

Bowen, O’Brien & Sheehan

Crossfield Orchard, Cork.

T: 021 4802100

Why not advertise your property for sale in the Irish Examiner Properties On the Move page on Saturday, March 31st For further details please contact your selling agent or the Irish Examiner, Property Advertising Department Tel: 021 4802100

*Source: JNRS 2011

• 4 Bed Two Storey SemiDetached House • Newly refurbished • Ideal family home PRICED TO SELL

• 4 Bedroom Detached House • Front & Rear Garden • Finished to high standard PRICED TO SELL

• Traditional cottage on C.O.5 acre • Recently refurbished • Panormic views of Coulagh Bay PRICED TO SELL

FOR SALE BY PRIVATE TREATY 11 Ryecroft, Maryborough Woods, Douglas, Cork A superb 4 bedroomed end terraced home in Cork’s premier address Price Guide €265,000

DABBID AUCTIONS - NEXT GENERAL AUCTION - Wed March 21st, 2012 @ 7pm Building Products, General Household Items, Furniture & Industrial Cleaning Equipment Unit 4 Togher Industrial Estate,Togher Cork (next to Brooks).

For further information and viewings contact The Auction Team Denis A Barrett Auctioneers, 81 South Mall,Cork - Tel: 021 4278455 Email: info@dabbid.com | Email: info@denisbarrett.com Web: www.dabbid.com | Web: www.denisbarrett.com IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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PROPERTY

TRADING UP

Sq m:140 (1,500 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms:3 Broadband:Yes

Done in a convincing faux-period style, along the lines of Victorian lodges, are the modern builds at Harbour Village/ Belisle House, one of the best holiday schemes in Waterford’s seaside town, Dunmore East.

Now, one of the c 15 year old three-bed detached homes is on the market with selling agent Michael Coppinger of Sherry FitzGerald John Rohan guiding €250,000 for a quality home that’s as suitable for a couple trading down as trading up.

Heavily wooded inside, with lots of ceiling beams, and outside with ornate fascias and finials, this is a distinctive design, with a good use of materials such as slate roof, and parquet flooring and a granite fireplace in the 19’ by 11’ sitting room. The kitchen is in oak and off the dining space is a large sunroom, with glazing on three sides and four Veluxes in the high, pitched pine-sheeted ceiling.

There’s a guest WC by the utility, and upstairs two of the three bedrooms have en suite bathrooms, plus there’s a main family bathroom, making for no fewer than four loos in all.

VERDICT: With all Dunmore East’s amenities to hand, from bars to sports and the sea, this upper village setting makes for a handy lifestyle buy.

Sq m: 140 (1,500 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms: 4/5 Broadband: Yes

Despite its €325,000 asking price, the 4/5 bed family home at 2 Ballinaspig Lawn is getting viewings from first time buyers, as well as from families who’ve sold already, and who’ve been waiting for a property arrival such as this.

So says auctioneer Garry O’Donnell of ERA Downey McCarthy of this March market offering, with 1,500sq ft on the go, in a great Cork western suburban setting near schools, playing pitches, Wilton Shopping Centre and CUH. With its part-brick front elevation and sloping side extension into the former garage section, No 2’s a generous semid, with a 20’ by 12’ front room with two windows to the gardens, there’s a rear study, and a playroom or bed 5 to the side, along with shower room, wide kitchen/dining room, and utility.

Overhead are four bedrooms (three doubles) plus main family bathroom.

Decor wise, it’s fresh and smart looking.

Outside there’s enough room to park a few cars, plus front lawn with shrubs, and behind is a decent sized back garden with patio, and play areas, with views over an adjoining sports pitch.

VERDICT: With 1,500sq ft already, this is already sizeable enough, and the site size allows for more building without eating too much into outdoors space either, says agent Garry O’Donnell.

SPUR HILL CORK €350,000 Sq m: 195 (2,100 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes

VERDICT: You’re high above Cork City, but only a mile or two from the suburbs.

Significantly reduced in price and within a stone’s throw of Blarney, Co Cork, this large bungalow at Fox’s Bridge, near Vicarstown, is one for a family and perhaps, a pony.

As Robert O’Keeffe of Irish and European puts it, where would you get a house of this size, on almost an acre, within a half-hour of the city at the asking price?

He may have a point — Academy Lodge is a fine, ready-to-go house, with lots of space, three ensuite bedrooms, (of a potential total of five), a range of living rooms and some quirky touches. For example, the standalone bar/recreation room at the back of the

With 11 sold and just four left, this Killarney development is a winner. Tommy Barker reports

DOUGLAS, CORK €275,000

There’s been a lot of upgrading done to the family home Lothea, up on the crown of Spur Hill just outside Cork’s western suburbs, with views back down from this side-of-airport-hill setting to the city centre.

The five-bed house, on a one-third acre site, has a readjusted price guide of €350,000 with agent Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald, who first put it up for sale prior to Christmas.

Thanks to a good 19’ by 17’ living room, linking by squared arch to a dining room, Lothea feels its c 2,100 sq ft, and that living space is nicely brought up to date, with marble tiled floor, Rocal wood-burning stove and oak shaker doors.

The dining room links in turn to the kitchen, with pine sheeted ceiling and Shaker units, and the floor and most of the walls have been re-tiled, as was the hall, while other rooms include utility, guest WC and a study off the splayed entrance hall. There’s access to an attached garage from a rear hall.

Overhead, one of the five bedrooms is en suite and has views to the city, and the family bathroom has a bath and separate shower.

FOX’S BRIDGE, CORK €300,000

4

Apartment sales buck the trend

We scan a selection of trading up homes around the country

BISHOPSTOWN, CORK €325,000

DUNMORE EAST €250,000

Sq m: 121 (1,300 sq ft) BER rating: D1

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

A full makeover has been done to the family home Arklow, or No 53 in old Greenhills Court, just off the South Douglas road in Cork City.

A new market arrival with agent Lucy Wolfe and Co, it’s a semi-d with a bit extra on the side, with a larger than standard site and a very good, private back garden to match the amount of off street parking in front — probably enough for four or five cars.

No 53’s been remodelled with a fresh, bright and modern decor, to showhouse standard, suggests Lucy Wolfe, and internally it has two oak-floored reception rooms, plus a full-width 20’ by 11’ kitchen/dining room to the rear of the property, with gloss units and porcelain tiled floor.

Off to the back is a large stone-flagged patio, and garden with play areas for children.

The location is strong, within a walk of Douglas village to the east and the city centre to the west, with suburban amenities including schools, parks, swimming pool, Nemo Rangers GAA club, as well as links to the south city ring and inner-link road network close to hand for motorists.

VERDICT: Nothing at all to do but move in, says the selling agent, and 1,300 sq ft is above average size for this semi-d species and vintage.

Sq m: 280 (3,000 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

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Bedrooms: 4/5 Broadband: Yes

house, which is all set and ready to go for the World Cup/Olympics and most likely will appeal to the male half of a buying couple. Alternatively, the room could be used as a studio, dance space, gym or playroom and it’s handy to have.

Then, there’s further storage in the shape of a 40ft container at the back. Don’t be put off by this — check out the architectural conversions on the internet.

VERDICT: Beautifully maintained grounds, a lot of space in a good, modern build — new owners could make this house over in a jiffy.

I

t’s a success story, of sorts, and especially for the beleagured apartment sector — 11 clearly ‘upmarket’ sales are currently going through in Killarney’s The Old Presbytery scheme, with four units left to sell.

The sales number are good for any scheme, but especially for apartments — and prices are also bucking the trend, even if they’re just a fraction of what developer Philip O’Connor had hoped to get.

The sales already secured, and the

four 1,500sq ft-plus units left to sell, are being bought for less than the cost of building them, and that’s even putting no value at all on the site, which had changed hands for millions back in the mid-2000s, once to Sunday’s Well Properties and then to Philip O’Connor.

The low number (16 in all), the level of finish and features, the space, and the setting by the Cathedral, all combined to make them a great buy, says selling agent Michael Coghlan of Sherry FitzGerald.

That’s appreciated by locals, who’ve

been to the fore in the 11 sales to date, as they’re a mix of business owners and returning ex-pats.

Marketing at the current prices started in November, and with contracts now completed, the first of the 11 buyers get possession this month.

Old Presbytery is a brand-new build opposite St Mary’s Cathedral and by Killarney’s National Park at King’s Bridge, and prices range from €225,000 for a choice of two 1,500 sq ft ground floor units, next is a duplex, and top is a €340,000 for a 1,650 sq ft penthouse with

Rose Martin has found a lovely cottage in a perfect location close to Blarney, Co Cork

T

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

Killarney, Co Kerry €225,000 to €340,000 from 140 sq m (1,500ft) 2 B3 Yes Unlikely to be repeated

Pictures: Denis Scannell

A cul de sac that leads to a revelation

HE days of snapping up a cottage on an acre on the edge of Cork city are few and far between, but the arrival of Rose Cottage on the market should confound and, perhaps, delight those who have given up the hunt.

Bookings are in train for the threebed on 0.7 of an acre despite having just gone up for sale. The reason? Site and location.

Rose Cottage is on Kiely’s Lane in Cloghroe, a popular walking spot for the denizens of Tower near Blarney and an area with superb views.

Rolling hills, green fields and young

PROPERTY

calves gambolling are part of the backdrop to this property, but the less lyrically-minded will appreciate the short walk to Tower and Cloghroe villages, with schools, shops and supermarkets on the doorstep.

The other sensible point of attraction is that the house comes with full planning permission for a major makeover — for either a two-storey 2,000 sq ft extension or a one-storey 1,000 sq ft extension.

Or, a buyer could quite happily live in it the way it is now, because the house is in move-in condition — better than, in fact.

roof-top terraces and two basement parking spaces.

Features include secure access, underground parking, two lifts, gas heating, pressurised water system, en suite bedrooms, ‘B’ level BER ratings, oak floors and recessed lighting.

VERDICT: Locals have copped on to the good things on offer here in what’s a niche scheme and “one which won’t be built again for a long time given the costs involved,” notes the auctioneer.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

A cosy, country cottage, it has a fine sunroom projection off the main living room, which is a good size at 24’ by 10’ and leads through to the kitchen/dining room at the rear.

Bedrooms one and two are to the front of the house and the master bedroom is to the rear, and is ensuite.

There’s plenty of parking to the side, which also includes a sunny patio area and further on, there’s a raised deck, which gets the best of late-evening sun and also has the best of views.

The gardens frame the house and the bulk of the site is shielded by high hedging from the road. In fact, a good

Cloghroe, Co Cork €270,000 93 sq m (1,000 sq ft) 3 Pending Yes Land, lots of land

walkaround is necessary to get the full effect of the house and grounds which include a large haybarn/shed and a couple of pretty potting sheds and storage areas.

Rose Cottage, in its quiet cul de sac location, offers not just somewhere to live, but a lifestyle opportunity and it’s on offer through Brendan Bowe of Bowe Auctioneers at €270,000.

VERDICT: This is the kind of house that’s perfect for a young family and big enough (and with plans enough) to expand. The location is excellent and it’s certainly worth a look.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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PROPERTY

TRADING UP

Sq m:140 (1,500 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms:3 Broadband:Yes

Done in a convincing faux-period style, along the lines of Victorian lodges, are the modern builds at Harbour Village/ Belisle House, one of the best holiday schemes in Waterford’s seaside town, Dunmore East.

Now, one of the c 15 year old three-bed detached homes is on the market with selling agent Michael Coppinger of Sherry FitzGerald John Rohan guiding €250,000 for a quality home that’s as suitable for a couple trading down as trading up.

Heavily wooded inside, with lots of ceiling beams, and outside with ornate fascias and finials, this is a distinctive design, with a good use of materials such as slate roof, and parquet flooring and a granite fireplace in the 19’ by 11’ sitting room. The kitchen is in oak and off the dining space is a large sunroom, with glazing on three sides and four Veluxes in the high, pitched pine-sheeted ceiling.

There’s a guest WC by the utility, and upstairs two of the three bedrooms have en suite bathrooms, plus there’s a main family bathroom, making for no fewer than four loos in all.

VERDICT: With all Dunmore East’s amenities to hand, from bars to sports and the sea, this upper village setting makes for a handy lifestyle buy.

Sq m: 140 (1,500 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

Bedrooms: 4/5 Broadband: Yes

Despite its €325,000 asking price, the 4/5 bed family home at 2 Ballinaspig Lawn is getting viewings from first time buyers, as well as from families who’ve sold already, and who’ve been waiting for a property arrival such as this.

So says auctioneer Garry O’Donnell of ERA Downey McCarthy of this March market offering, with 1,500sq ft on the go, in a great Cork western suburban setting near schools, playing pitches, Wilton Shopping Centre and CUH. With its part-brick front elevation and sloping side extension into the former garage section, No 2’s a generous semid, with a 20’ by 12’ front room with two windows to the gardens, there’s a rear study, and a playroom or bed 5 to the side, along with shower room, wide kitchen/dining room, and utility.

Overhead are four bedrooms (three doubles) plus main family bathroom.

Decor wise, it’s fresh and smart looking.

Outside there’s enough room to park a few cars, plus front lawn with shrubs, and behind is a decent sized back garden with patio, and play areas, with views over an adjoining sports pitch.

VERDICT: With 1,500sq ft already, this is already sizeable enough, and the site size allows for more building without eating too much into outdoors space either, says agent Garry O’Donnell.

SPUR HILL CORK €350,000 Sq m: 195 (2,100 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Bedrooms: 4 Broadband: Yes

VERDICT: You’re high above Cork City, but only a mile or two from the suburbs.

Significantly reduced in price and within a stone’s throw of Blarney, Co Cork, this large bungalow at Fox’s Bridge, near Vicarstown, is one for a family and perhaps, a pony.

As Robert O’Keeffe of Irish and European puts it, where would you get a house of this size, on almost an acre, within a half-hour of the city at the asking price?

He may have a point — Academy Lodge is a fine, ready-to-go house, with lots of space, three ensuite bedrooms, (of a potential total of five), a range of living rooms and some quirky touches. For example, the standalone bar/recreation room at the back of the

With 11 sold and just four left, this Killarney development is a winner. Tommy Barker reports

DOUGLAS, CORK €275,000

There’s been a lot of upgrading done to the family home Lothea, up on the crown of Spur Hill just outside Cork’s western suburbs, with views back down from this side-of-airport-hill setting to the city centre.

The five-bed house, on a one-third acre site, has a readjusted price guide of €350,000 with agent Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald, who first put it up for sale prior to Christmas.

Thanks to a good 19’ by 17’ living room, linking by squared arch to a dining room, Lothea feels its c 2,100 sq ft, and that living space is nicely brought up to date, with marble tiled floor, Rocal wood-burning stove and oak shaker doors.

The dining room links in turn to the kitchen, with pine sheeted ceiling and Shaker units, and the floor and most of the walls have been re-tiled, as was the hall, while other rooms include utility, guest WC and a study off the splayed entrance hall. There’s access to an attached garage from a rear hall.

Overhead, one of the five bedrooms is en suite and has views to the city, and the family bathroom has a bath and separate shower.

FOX’S BRIDGE, CORK €300,000

4

Apartment sales buck the trend

We scan a selection of trading up homes around the country

BISHOPSTOWN, CORK €325,000

DUNMORE EAST €250,000

Sq m: 121 (1,300 sq ft) BER rating: D1

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

A full makeover has been done to the family home Arklow, or No 53 in old Greenhills Court, just off the South Douglas road in Cork City.

A new market arrival with agent Lucy Wolfe and Co, it’s a semi-d with a bit extra on the side, with a larger than standard site and a very good, private back garden to match the amount of off street parking in front — probably enough for four or five cars.

No 53’s been remodelled with a fresh, bright and modern decor, to showhouse standard, suggests Lucy Wolfe, and internally it has two oak-floored reception rooms, plus a full-width 20’ by 11’ kitchen/dining room to the rear of the property, with gloss units and porcelain tiled floor.

Off to the back is a large stone-flagged patio, and garden with play areas for children.

The location is strong, within a walk of Douglas village to the east and the city centre to the west, with suburban amenities including schools, parks, swimming pool, Nemo Rangers GAA club, as well as links to the south city ring and inner-link road network close to hand for motorists.

VERDICT: Nothing at all to do but move in, says the selling agent, and 1,300 sq ft is above average size for this semi-d species and vintage.

Sq m: 280 (3,000 sq ft) BER rating: Pending

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Bedrooms: 4/5 Broadband: Yes

house, which is all set and ready to go for the World Cup/Olympics and most likely will appeal to the male half of a buying couple. Alternatively, the room could be used as a studio, dance space, gym or playroom and it’s handy to have.

Then, there’s further storage in the shape of a 40ft container at the back. Don’t be put off by this — check out the architectural conversions on the internet.

VERDICT: Beautifully maintained grounds, a lot of space in a good, modern build — new owners could make this house over in a jiffy.

I

t’s a success story, of sorts, and especially for the beleagured apartment sector — 11 clearly ‘upmarket’ sales are currently going through in Killarney’s The Old Presbytery scheme, with four units left to sell.

The sales number are good for any scheme, but especially for apartments — and prices are also bucking the trend, even if they’re just a fraction of what developer Philip O’Connor had hoped to get.

The sales already secured, and the

four 1,500sq ft-plus units left to sell, are being bought for less than the cost of building them, and that’s even putting no value at all on the site, which had changed hands for millions back in the mid-2000s, once to Sunday’s Well Properties and then to Philip O’Connor.

The low number (16 in all), the level of finish and features, the space, and the setting by the Cathedral, all combined to make them a great buy, says selling agent Michael Coghlan of Sherry FitzGerald.

That’s appreciated by locals, who’ve

been to the fore in the 11 sales to date, as they’re a mix of business owners and returning ex-pats.

Marketing at the current prices started in November, and with contracts now completed, the first of the 11 buyers get possession this month.

Old Presbytery is a brand-new build opposite St Mary’s Cathedral and by Killarney’s National Park at King’s Bridge, and prices range from €225,000 for a choice of two 1,500 sq ft ground floor units, next is a duplex, and top is a €340,000 for a 1,650 sq ft penthouse with

Rose Martin has found a lovely cottage in a perfect location close to Blarney, Co Cork

T

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

Killarney, Co Kerry €225,000 to €340,000 from 140 sq m (1,500ft) 2 B3 Yes Unlikely to be repeated

Pictures: Denis Scannell

A cul de sac that leads to a revelation

HE days of snapping up a cottage on an acre on the edge of Cork city are few and far between, but the arrival of Rose Cottage on the market should confound and, perhaps, delight those who have given up the hunt.

Bookings are in train for the threebed on 0.7 of an acre despite having just gone up for sale. The reason? Site and location.

Rose Cottage is on Kiely’s Lane in Cloghroe, a popular walking spot for the denizens of Tower near Blarney and an area with superb views.

Rolling hills, green fields and young

PROPERTY

calves gambolling are part of the backdrop to this property, but the less lyrically-minded will appreciate the short walk to Tower and Cloghroe villages, with schools, shops and supermarkets on the doorstep.

The other sensible point of attraction is that the house comes with full planning permission for a major makeover — for either a two-storey 2,000 sq ft extension or a one-storey 1,000 sq ft extension.

Or, a buyer could quite happily live in it the way it is now, because the house is in move-in condition — better than, in fact.

roof-top terraces and two basement parking spaces.

Features include secure access, underground parking, two lifts, gas heating, pressurised water system, en suite bedrooms, ‘B’ level BER ratings, oak floors and recessed lighting.

VERDICT: Locals have copped on to the good things on offer here in what’s a niche scheme and “one which won’t be built again for a long time given the costs involved,” notes the auctioneer.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

A cosy, country cottage, it has a fine sunroom projection off the main living room, which is a good size at 24’ by 10’ and leads through to the kitchen/dining room at the rear.

Bedrooms one and two are to the front of the house and the master bedroom is to the rear, and is ensuite.

There’s plenty of parking to the side, which also includes a sunny patio area and further on, there’s a raised deck, which gets the best of late-evening sun and also has the best of views.

The gardens frame the house and the bulk of the site is shielded by high hedging from the road. In fact, a good

Cloghroe, Co Cork €270,000 93 sq m (1,000 sq ft) 3 Pending Yes Land, lots of land

walkaround is necessary to get the full effect of the house and grounds which include a large haybarn/shed and a couple of pretty potting sheds and storage areas.

Rose Cottage, in its quiet cul de sac location, offers not just somewhere to live, but a lifestyle opportunity and it’s on offer through Brendan Bowe of Bowe Auctioneers at €270,000.

VERDICT: This is the kind of house that’s perfect for a young family and big enough (and with plans enough) to expand. The location is excellent and it’s certainly worth a look.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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STARTER HOMES

Get on your bike to sample the great outdoors in Ballyhoura

This three-bed chalet could be the ticket to great outdoor living. Tommy Barker reports

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PROPERTY FEATURE

Sweet, pretty cottage With its Victorian past, Lee View Cottage at 95 Sunday Well, Cork, looks and feels good, writes Rose Martin

Pictures: Denis Scannell

BANDON, CO CORK €170,000 Sq m: 100 (1,100 sq ft) BER rating: C2

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

Billed as turnkey proposition for first-time buyers is 19 Rosewood Rise, in Bandon, West Cork. The smartorder home has a 16’ by 12’ reception room, a 19’ by 18’ kitchen-diner, three bedrooms, three bathrooms.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband:

VERDICT: In pristine order, say Sherry FitzGerald Brennan Busteed

CORK CITY €175,000 (offers over) Sq m:102 (1,100sq ft) BER rating: Pending It has a side and back garden, so along with a good location and great parking, No 25 Parkowen, off Quaker Road, Cork, is a good long term bet.

On the market at offers in excess of €175,000, the three-bed semi is a 1960s build with quite a good bit of space and will just need a freshening up for first time buyers.

It comes with two living rooms, as well as separate kitchen, two double bedrooms and a single, along with main bathroom.

And as a corner site, it has room to the side and back for expansion and also comes with views over the city.

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

There’s great outdoor living to be had around the Limerick/Tipperary/Cork Ballyhoura heartland — it’s now firmly on the map and GPS coordinates of those into hill-walking, mountain biking, fishing, kayaking, quad biking and horse-riding.

Though not a place you’d pass through on the way to anywhere major, Ballyhoura has become a destination in its own right in the past decade: its 90km of looped forest mountain bike trails are the biggest and best in Ireland, and attract visitors and positive vibes from abroad too.

To tie in with its appeal, several holiday homes schemes have been developed with green and eco-credentials, some as recently as 2009, and others now are about a decade old.

Kilfinane, Limerick €88,000 95 sq m (1,015 sq ft) 3 G Yes

Bike action on the Ballyhoura Trails.

One of the pioneering schemes was the 16 timberclad chalets built in the Ballyorgan Forest Homes development.

Now, No 10 is new to market with agents DJ Hayes & Co, who guide the three-bed, one en suite dwelling at €88,000. It has a high ceilinged main living space, linked kitchen/dining, and double glazing, with stonebreasted fireplace, and it has electric storage heating.

A new owner might like to upgrade the insulation and run radiators off a wood-burning stove.

VERDICT: If you are into the great outdoors, you’ll never be bored at Ballyhoura.

Kate Kearney of DNG Kevin Condon is the selling agent.

W

VERDICT: Great location, good house, worth a viewing.

POULADUFF, CORK €185,000 Sq m: 93 (1,000 sq ft) BER rating: E Fifteen viewings in its first fortnight on the market, and under offer already but at €20k shy of its €185,000 asking price — that’s 14 Marian Park, off Cork’s Pouladuff road in the inner southern suburbs.

Selling agent Garry O’Donnell of ERA Downey McCarthy says there’s plenty of space in the 1,000sq ft three-bed with part-converted garage (upgraded to a large utility, but needing a front window). Viewers so far are first time buyers, and a few people who’ve already sold and have cash in hand No 14 is in very good

6

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband:Yes

Mountain views at corrugated cottage decorative order, has been underpinned and is certified, and has easykeep outdoor space front and back, with off-street parking.

VERDICT: A good size and setting for the cash being sought.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Rose Martin profiles a 200-year-old home near Mitchelstown, Co Cork

IT’S the corrugated roof that will draw the sentimental buyer — that and the fact that this totally traditional cottage is in good habitable condition. Nearly 200 years old, Evergreen Cottage at Skeheen Upper, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, offers a bit of the good life, as well as stunning views onto the Galtees and the Knockmealdowns.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband:

Mitchelstown, Co Cork €125,000 112 sq m (1,200 sq ft) 3 Pending Yes

Ideal for walkers and get-away-from-it-allers, the house is a modernised three bed with good space and half an acre, four miles from Mitchelstown.

VERDICT: Ideal as a retirement home. The house is on offer though Michael Dorgan Auctioneers for offers in the region of €125,000.

HO knows how old this cottage it? It’s agent and he’s seeking offers in the region of €270,000 likely to have stood here long before the for this sweet, pretty cottage: Victorian expansion of Cork City, so could “You’re in the heart of it here but it’s still very it have been part of the demense of Cork private — it’s rare to get that,” he says, adding that city gaol? It’s one of a row of cottages facing south there has been considerable viewing interest in the over the river which may have housed low-level past two weeks. jailers — and with enough garden in which to feed a Facing full south at the front, with views over UCC family. and the Mardyke, the Either way, and despite the cottage is above, and Location: Sunday’s Well, Cork lack of a back story, Lee View set well back from, the Price: €270,000 Cottage at 95 Sunday’s Well main road. There are Road is still around — and French doors onto the Size: 84 sq m (900 sq ft) still looking good too. garden from the living Bedrooms: 2 Upgraded and maintained room which, like the consistently, the house is a rest of the house, has a BER rating: Pending rare sale here, in fact, last cafe creme colour time round it never even scheme and a feminine, Broadband: Yes went to open market. country house style to Best feature: Location The current owner was the interior. passing, saw the house, liked High ceilings and it and as its then owner was gardening to the front, terrazzo flooring are some of the original features, and put in a request to buy it there and then. That there’s an open fire in the main living room with intervention was timely: the previous owner was quality wooden flooring. transferred in her job, the deal was done and within Simple and easy to manage, there is great scope to two months the present owner, now vendor, was in add to and improve the cottage, perhaps taking an situ. extra floor in the roof and a glass projection over the A simple, honest cottage, there are two ways to look rear, north-facing yard in a re arrangement of the at this property: a walk-in job for a single person or kitchen and bathroom space. The cottage has an downsizing couple, or a project for ambitious younger easterly window, which could be expanded on in any buyers. A quick scoot around gives the basic outline: a makeover. living room connecting to a kitchen diner on one side, with bathroom behind and two double bedrooms on VERDICT: Lee View Cottage is a rare sale in an area the other. There’s also a small yard at the rear. where properties have more vaulted values — hence Michael Creedon of DNG Creedon is the selling the huge interest so far.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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STARTER HOMES

Get on your bike to sample the great outdoors in Ballyhoura

This three-bed chalet could be the ticket to great outdoor living. Tommy Barker reports

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PROPERTY FEATURE

Sweet, pretty cottage With its Victorian past, Lee View Cottage at 95 Sunday Well, Cork, looks and feels good, writes Rose Martin

Pictures: Denis Scannell

BANDON, CO CORK €170,000 Sq m: 100 (1,100 sq ft) BER rating: C2

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

Billed as turnkey proposition for first-time buyers is 19 Rosewood Rise, in Bandon, West Cork. The smartorder home has a 16’ by 12’ reception room, a 19’ by 18’ kitchen-diner, three bedrooms, three bathrooms.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband:

VERDICT: In pristine order, say Sherry FitzGerald Brennan Busteed

CORK CITY €175,000 (offers over) Sq m:102 (1,100sq ft) BER rating: Pending It has a side and back garden, so along with a good location and great parking, No 25 Parkowen, off Quaker Road, Cork, is a good long term bet.

On the market at offers in excess of €175,000, the three-bed semi is a 1960s build with quite a good bit of space and will just need a freshening up for first time buyers.

It comes with two living rooms, as well as separate kitchen, two double bedrooms and a single, along with main bathroom.

And as a corner site, it has room to the side and back for expansion and also comes with views over the city.

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband: Yes

There’s great outdoor living to be had around the Limerick/Tipperary/Cork Ballyhoura heartland — it’s now firmly on the map and GPS coordinates of those into hill-walking, mountain biking, fishing, kayaking, quad biking and horse-riding.

Though not a place you’d pass through on the way to anywhere major, Ballyhoura has become a destination in its own right in the past decade: its 90km of looped forest mountain bike trails are the biggest and best in Ireland, and attract visitors and positive vibes from abroad too.

To tie in with its appeal, several holiday homes schemes have been developed with green and eco-credentials, some as recently as 2009, and others now are about a decade old.

Kilfinane, Limerick €88,000 95 sq m (1,015 sq ft) 3 G Yes

Bike action on the Ballyhoura Trails.

One of the pioneering schemes was the 16 timberclad chalets built in the Ballyorgan Forest Homes development.

Now, No 10 is new to market with agents DJ Hayes & Co, who guide the three-bed, one en suite dwelling at €88,000. It has a high ceilinged main living space, linked kitchen/dining, and double glazing, with stonebreasted fireplace, and it has electric storage heating.

A new owner might like to upgrade the insulation and run radiators off a wood-burning stove.

VERDICT: If you are into the great outdoors, you’ll never be bored at Ballyhoura.

Kate Kearney of DNG Kevin Condon is the selling agent.

W

VERDICT: Great location, good house, worth a viewing.

POULADUFF, CORK €185,000 Sq m: 93 (1,000 sq ft) BER rating: E Fifteen viewings in its first fortnight on the market, and under offer already but at €20k shy of its €185,000 asking price — that’s 14 Marian Park, off Cork’s Pouladuff road in the inner southern suburbs.

Selling agent Garry O’Donnell of ERA Downey McCarthy says there’s plenty of space in the 1,000sq ft three-bed with part-converted garage (upgraded to a large utility, but needing a front window). Viewers so far are first time buyers, and a few people who’ve already sold and have cash in hand No 14 is in very good

6

Bedrooms: 3 Broadband:Yes

Mountain views at corrugated cottage decorative order, has been underpinned and is certified, and has easykeep outdoor space front and back, with off-street parking.

VERDICT: A good size and setting for the cash being sought.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Rose Martin profiles a 200-year-old home near Mitchelstown, Co Cork

IT’S the corrugated roof that will draw the sentimental buyer — that and the fact that this totally traditional cottage is in good habitable condition. Nearly 200 years old, Evergreen Cottage at Skeheen Upper, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, offers a bit of the good life, as well as stunning views onto the Galtees and the Knockmealdowns.

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband:

Mitchelstown, Co Cork €125,000 112 sq m (1,200 sq ft) 3 Pending Yes

Ideal for walkers and get-away-from-it-allers, the house is a modernised three bed with good space and half an acre, four miles from Mitchelstown.

VERDICT: Ideal as a retirement home. The house is on offer though Michael Dorgan Auctioneers for offers in the region of €125,000.

HO knows how old this cottage it? It’s agent and he’s seeking offers in the region of €270,000 likely to have stood here long before the for this sweet, pretty cottage: Victorian expansion of Cork City, so could “You’re in the heart of it here but it’s still very it have been part of the demense of Cork private — it’s rare to get that,” he says, adding that city gaol? It’s one of a row of cottages facing south there has been considerable viewing interest in the over the river which may have housed low-level past two weeks. jailers — and with enough garden in which to feed a Facing full south at the front, with views over UCC family. and the Mardyke, the Either way, and despite the cottage is above, and Location: Sunday’s Well, Cork lack of a back story, Lee View set well back from, the Price: €270,000 Cottage at 95 Sunday’s Well main road. There are Road is still around — and French doors onto the Size: 84 sq m (900 sq ft) still looking good too. garden from the living Bedrooms: 2 Upgraded and maintained room which, like the consistently, the house is a rest of the house, has a BER rating: Pending rare sale here, in fact, last cafe creme colour time round it never even scheme and a feminine, Broadband: Yes went to open market. country house style to Best feature: Location The current owner was the interior. passing, saw the house, liked High ceilings and it and as its then owner was gardening to the front, terrazzo flooring are some of the original features, and put in a request to buy it there and then. That there’s an open fire in the main living room with intervention was timely: the previous owner was quality wooden flooring. transferred in her job, the deal was done and within Simple and easy to manage, there is great scope to two months the present owner, now vendor, was in add to and improve the cottage, perhaps taking an situ. extra floor in the roof and a glass projection over the A simple, honest cottage, there are two ways to look rear, north-facing yard in a re arrangement of the at this property: a walk-in job for a single person or kitchen and bathroom space. The cottage has an downsizing couple, or a project for ambitious younger easterly window, which could be expanded on in any buyers. A quick scoot around gives the basic outline: a makeover. living room connecting to a kitchen diner on one side, with bathroom behind and two double bedrooms on VERDICT: Lee View Cottage is a rare sale in an area the other. There’s also a small yard at the rear. where properties have more vaulted values — hence Michael Creedon of DNG Creedon is the selling the huge interest so far.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

Ballymore Villa oozes charm in a great setting

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

Great Island, Cork €235,000 141 sq m (1,510 sq ft) 2/3 Exempt Yes Real charm

With an affordable guide price, Tommy Barker says this 200-year-old property has kept a watchful eye on passing ships, including Titanic

B

ALLYMORE Villa was already 100 years old when a certain large ship steamed into its Cork harbour vista, created a bit of a local stir, and sailed off again — into the history books and a frosty tomb.

As the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes up next month, Cobh will share some of the worldwide spotlight of this human catastrophe; this wee, 200-year old cottage near the water’s edge has seen many ships, stories — and, indeed, owners, come and go, the Titanic being one of many.

One of the more picturesque properties along this Marlogue/ Cuskinny stretch just two miles east of Cobh/Cove/ Queentsown, Ballymore Villa is also probably one of the more affordable as it hits the spring 2012 market: it’s guided at €225,000 by estate agent Michael Piggot of Sherry FitzGerald O’Donovan, who says it is completely charming, and perfect for the buyer who wants something out of the ordinary, in an exceptional setting.

It isn’t just those out for pleasure walks along the Cork harbour shoreline and woods here who stop and admire the whitewashed cottage with its latticed windows and old slate roofs: it’s also been flown by, by an abundant birdlife, as Cuskinny marsh is home turf to as many as 150 species of bird. And, it’s where broadcaster Derek Mooney and his fully-fledged radio contributors have recorded and broadcast RTE’s annual Dawn Chorus each spring, for the past seven or eight years.

Cuskinny’s busy with human varieties of waders, walkers and callers other days too, and is set along a stretch of what’s known as the 21 Ditches, a shore-hugging walk full of lowtide delights. Here, too at Cuskinny, are the collection of

8

Pictures: Denis Scannell houses little and large built in the early 1800s by the landowning Jackson-Bennet family Ballymore Villa was part of the Jackson-Bennet Estate, which included Ballymore Cottage across the road from this ‘villa,’ as well as The Priory, Ballymore Lodge,

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Ballymore House, and Bennet’s Court, now the imposing building Cuskinny Court.

Local rumour is that a rake of the Jackson-Bennet family had built Balllymore Villa as a discreet spot for trysts with his mistress, and it was linked by a woodland garden path — along which he led some merry

dalliances.

Now, after several private ownerships and improvements since the 1970s, the winsome, L-shaped Ballymore Villa house is back for sale. It last changed hands only four years ago, when its owners moved south from Dublin for work reasons, and now another work and new family move sees them somewhat reluctantly returning up country.

It’s a house that its fortunate occupants seem to love, quirks and all, and it has a pretty surprising amount of space given its quaint, olde worlde cottage look. There’s about 1,500 sq ft of space, for example, with two first floor dormer bedrooms, with dressing-room/ walk-through closet, with baby room/store room, plus bath with shower, and those who want more bedroom space could consider making use of a room off the kitchen, which the owners use for making and playing music.

Character is everywhere, especially in room shapes and in exposed painted original stone walls, and while the Lshape layout is a bit random, the fact most of the house is only one room wide means many rooms have a double aspect, giving brightness — and windows were replaced some years ago with appropriatelooking painted hardwood frames.

It’s reckoned that given the roof pitch, it might have been thatched originally, but now most of it is roofed with hefty 24” slate, save for the 1980sbuilt hardwood conservatory with twinwall polycarbonate roof. That sun room/ conservatory is one of the villa’s nicest sitting in/out and harbour watching spots, and with a south and west aspect it warms with any sun at all. It also looks out over the c onethird of an acre garden, lawns and woods, with naturalistic planting and landscaping, plus

parking for a brace of cars off the quiet Cuskinny roadway.

There’s a modern kitchen, and a smashing ferny green garden view from its deep window sill by the sink, and the kitchen has a large solid fuel stove, with other fireplaces in the recently upgraded 15’ by 12; living room, and in the 15’

by 11’ music room/dining room. Oh, and there’s oil fired central heating as well, while the angled, approx 18’ by 12’ conservatory is a passive heat soak when it’s bright, and it has double doors to the garden and the patio by the back door.

Passersby by heading through Cuskinny will glimpse

the sun room on the gable wall, and its Victorian outline and timber frame help to bed it down with the older, stone-built dwelling, while the facade more directly to the hill starting to rise up by the house, is suitably old fashioned, with jaunty lattice-windowed dormers.

Internally, one of the two

main first floor bedrooms has had extra height gained by going up to the roof ’s apex, and exposing some lovely old timbers in the process, but the other, larger bedroom and bathroom suite is still in a lowceilinged section of the house.

Even those a bit under 6’ tall will find head-height hazards if

they don’t watch where they’re going. It doesn’t exactly meet current day building regulations — but it was built 200 years ago, and is still looking and standing well.

VERDICT: This cottage has all the character you’d want, in a convenient coastal setting.

Character is everywhere — in room shapes and in exposed painted original stone walls

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

Ballymore Villa oozes charm in a great setting

Location: Price: Size: Bedrooms: BER rating: Broadband: Best feature:

Great Island, Cork €235,000 141 sq m (1,510 sq ft) 2/3 Exempt Yes Real charm

With an affordable guide price, Tommy Barker says this 200-year-old property has kept a watchful eye on passing ships, including Titanic

B

ALLYMORE Villa was already 100 years old when a certain large ship steamed into its Cork harbour vista, created a bit of a local stir, and sailed off again — into the history books and a frosty tomb.

As the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic comes up next month, Cobh will share some of the worldwide spotlight of this human catastrophe; this wee, 200-year old cottage near the water’s edge has seen many ships, stories — and, indeed, owners, come and go, the Titanic being one of many.

One of the more picturesque properties along this Marlogue/ Cuskinny stretch just two miles east of Cobh/Cove/ Queentsown, Ballymore Villa is also probably one of the more affordable as it hits the spring 2012 market: it’s guided at €225,000 by estate agent Michael Piggot of Sherry FitzGerald O’Donovan, who says it is completely charming, and perfect for the buyer who wants something out of the ordinary, in an exceptional setting.

It isn’t just those out for pleasure walks along the Cork harbour shoreline and woods here who stop and admire the whitewashed cottage with its latticed windows and old slate roofs: it’s also been flown by, by an abundant birdlife, as Cuskinny marsh is home turf to as many as 150 species of bird. And, it’s where broadcaster Derek Mooney and his fully-fledged radio contributors have recorded and broadcast RTE’s annual Dawn Chorus each spring, for the past seven or eight years.

Cuskinny’s busy with human varieties of waders, walkers and callers other days too, and is set along a stretch of what’s known as the 21 Ditches, a shore-hugging walk full of lowtide delights. Here, too at Cuskinny, are the collection of

8

Pictures: Denis Scannell houses little and large built in the early 1800s by the landowning Jackson-Bennet family Ballymore Villa was part of the Jackson-Bennet Estate, which included Ballymore Cottage across the road from this ‘villa,’ as well as The Priory, Ballymore Lodge,

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Ballymore House, and Bennet’s Court, now the imposing building Cuskinny Court.

Local rumour is that a rake of the Jackson-Bennet family had built Balllymore Villa as a discreet spot for trysts with his mistress, and it was linked by a woodland garden path — along which he led some merry

dalliances.

Now, after several private ownerships and improvements since the 1970s, the winsome, L-shaped Ballymore Villa house is back for sale. It last changed hands only four years ago, when its owners moved south from Dublin for work reasons, and now another work and new family move sees them somewhat reluctantly returning up country.

It’s a house that its fortunate occupants seem to love, quirks and all, and it has a pretty surprising amount of space given its quaint, olde worlde cottage look. There’s about 1,500 sq ft of space, for example, with two first floor dormer bedrooms, with dressing-room/ walk-through closet, with baby room/store room, plus bath with shower, and those who want more bedroom space could consider making use of a room off the kitchen, which the owners use for making and playing music.

Character is everywhere, especially in room shapes and in exposed painted original stone walls, and while the Lshape layout is a bit random, the fact most of the house is only one room wide means many rooms have a double aspect, giving brightness — and windows were replaced some years ago with appropriatelooking painted hardwood frames.

It’s reckoned that given the roof pitch, it might have been thatched originally, but now most of it is roofed with hefty 24” slate, save for the 1980sbuilt hardwood conservatory with twinwall polycarbonate roof. That sun room/ conservatory is one of the villa’s nicest sitting in/out and harbour watching spots, and with a south and west aspect it warms with any sun at all. It also looks out over the c onethird of an acre garden, lawns and woods, with naturalistic planting and landscaping, plus

parking for a brace of cars off the quiet Cuskinny roadway.

There’s a modern kitchen, and a smashing ferny green garden view from its deep window sill by the sink, and the kitchen has a large solid fuel stove, with other fireplaces in the recently upgraded 15’ by 12; living room, and in the 15’

by 11’ music room/dining room. Oh, and there’s oil fired central heating as well, while the angled, approx 18’ by 12’ conservatory is a passive heat soak when it’s bright, and it has double doors to the garden and the patio by the back door.

Passersby by heading through Cuskinny will glimpse

the sun room on the gable wall, and its Victorian outline and timber frame help to bed it down with the older, stone-built dwelling, while the facade more directly to the hill starting to rise up by the house, is suitably old fashioned, with jaunty lattice-windowed dormers.

Internally, one of the two

main first floor bedrooms has had extra height gained by going up to the roof ’s apex, and exposing some lovely old timbers in the process, but the other, larger bedroom and bathroom suite is still in a lowceilinged section of the house.

Even those a bit under 6’ tall will find head-height hazards if

they don’t watch where they’re going. It doesn’t exactly meet current day building regulations — but it was built 200 years ago, and is still looking and standing well.

VERDICT: This cottage has all the character you’d want, in a convenient coastal setting.

Character is everywhere — in room shapes and in exposed painted original stone walls

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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FEATURE

FEATURE

Renovation hits the right buttons

This period Portobello terraced home has a new look thanks to good design and the right use of materials, Tommy Barker reports

Y

OU don’t need large and spectacular sites, big bulging budgets and grand dreams with vaunting ambitions to create a quite perfect, calming, living environment. This Portobello Dublin terraced home is quiet testimony to this fact.

Well, it’s quiet at least and only when the son of the house isn’t skinning alive his drum kit in one of its two bedrooms.

This Victorian city terraced house’s renovation was finished off just last year for its owners, a French/Irish couple who’d lived here since the 1980s, and who’d extended once before — but badly.

This time around they wanted to create a calm, polished living and working space in the location they knew and were comfortable in, and were fortunate to come across architect Donal Colfer, “a friend of a friend”.

Modest in just about every way bar commitment to quality, the house grew only marginally, from about 850 sq ft to perhaps 1,100 sq — but every inch mattered. In fact, it mattered so much the back yard’s boundary wall was trimmed back to gain an extra, ‘mere’ four inches width of outdoor space.

Compare that space paring and parsing to the wantonness of some of the Celtic Tiger blingtastic piles of the boom, where homes incidentally swelled by hundreds of square feet, and ‘design’ was for almost random thousands of square feet.

For the owners (the woman of the house is a fashion designer) of this Portobello home, small was to be beautiful, and indeed it is. So accomplished, in fact, the finished work has just achieved an enviable Architectural Association of Ireland (AAI) 2012 Special Mention Award.

It’s a project that Wexford-born architect Donal Colfer relished, and it’s refreshing to hear a design professional so enthusiastic, and so engaged with, a scheme where the total budget was also modest.

Think comfortably under €150k for a full house renovation and overhaul, to the highest standards and craft execution.

The previous extension had had the often common effect of darkening and closing off the traditional ‘back room,’ and so the brief was to rediscover space, with light through, and — unusually

10

enough — it included the rider that there wasn’t going to be much furniture, “and they weren’t interested in entertaining”. So, very much a calm, uncluttered and private space, please.

Colfer says, and gratifyingly so from his point of view, that the clients were willing to push the envelope in design terms and were open to experimenting with materials.

Thus, this finished, cut and cored home is now notable for a materials’ palette that includes green marble terrazzo flooring, a soft and warm polished stucco plaster finish throughout, and all joinery (doors, partitions/shelving/ units, and stairs,) in walnut, with solid walnut parquet flooring upstairs, and quality poured concrete columns framing timber window frames in the upstairs study area, overseen by engineer David Maher. Lighting was designed by the architect, who admits to high levels of detailing and drawing prior to going on site.

There’s now a generosity of internal space, particularly at ground level which flows from front wall right though to the slender, linear extension’s end; yet that extra length is given its own identity by virtue of the simplicity of being stepped down two steps from the rest of this levelThe easy temptation might have been to extend across the full width the house, and leave their exterior space beyond, but the southerly aspect instead suggested this long (relatively speaking, of course,) galley kitchen, with its screen wall

This finished home is now notable for a materials’ palette that includes green marble terrazzo flooring, concrete, walnut and a soft and warm polished stucco plaster finish throughout

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

of glass contrasting with the more private diffused mullioned glazing overhead by the study space (the sandblasted glass upstairs protects neighbours’ privacy).

Above, the cast concrete fairfaced columns had to be shuttered and poured for the 12 columns and top frieze in four pours, with the ‘topping out’ marked by a gift of a bottle of whiskey for contractor Martin Brennan and crew who is “exceptional, a builder at the top of his game,” says Colfer who’d worked with Brennan before. The flat roof here has been finished with a type of bitumen called Parolan, topped with sea pebbles, while roof opes allow shafts of light penetrate for a chiaroscuro effect over the soft ground marble, limestone and black oxide and umber pigmented plaster.

The two former reception rooms’ fireplaces have been kept, back to back, in the main living space, and it’s probable that the cost of so much artisan hand-finishing so evident here is balanced out by the modesty of the house’s size, and its openess — there’s not that many walls here: even the front door opens into the main living space, part-screened by a head-height stand-alone walnut bookcase.

“It’s all quite simple, there’s no extravagance here and the quality really isn’t expensive to achieve,” says perfectionist Colfer, who’s one of five sons of teacher, writer and historian Billy Colfer, and a brother of Artemis Fowl series author Eoin Colfer.

Work here started in Oct 2010, and finished in May 2011, a tight enough deadline but one that coincided with considerably lower building costs (down 30% from peak, Donal reckons) gratis of the lull. It also meant getting the commitment and care of people of the calibre of specialist stucco plasterer Paul Marlowe from Belfast, who normally does highend hotels, boutiques and the like across Ireland and the UK, builder Martin Brennan, joiner James Hanrahan and then many architects’ favourite, Longford Wood Products for the windows and more.

“People often don’t understand what an architect can bring to a project like this, the quality of life that you can deliver — there’s so many good, young architects that can do this,” Donal Colfer generously says.

Pictures: Denis Scannell

SOURCEBOOK Architects: Donal Colfer Architects 37 North Great Georges Street Dublin 1 www.donalcolfer.ie 086-3188671 email: info@donalcolfer.ie ..................................................................................................

Main Contractor: Martin Brennan MB Siuineireacht Ltd 11 Reginald Square Dublin 8 086-6052644 ..................................................................................................

Engineer: David Maher & Associates. 12 Portobello Road, Dublin 8 email: info@davidmaher.net ..................................................................................................

Hanrahan Cabinetmaking & Carpentry, 1B Bloomfield Ave, South Circular Road, Dublin 8. 086-8866299 ..................................................................................................

Internal Polished Plaster Specialists- PD Marlow145 Ballygomartin Road Belfast BT13 3NA info@pdmarlowe.com

Joinery/windows: Wood Products Longford, Townspark Industrial Estate, Longford, 043-3346386 www.woodproducts.ie ..................................................................................................

Terrazo: PJ Ryan Terazzo and Mosaic Specialists 1 Colberts Fort Belgard Road Tallaght Dublin 24, 01-4598522 ..................................................................................................

Bespoke sprayed steel light fitting fabricators Barelle Limited, Unit 2 JFK Avenue, JFK Industrial Estate, Dublin 12 ..................................................................................................

Internal Tiling- Mosaic Assemblers, 14 Trinity Courtyard, Fonthill Business Park, Dublin 22 01-6267668 www.mosaicassemblers.com

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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TERAPROOF:User:rosemartinDate:15/03/2012Time:12:19:37Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:10

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

XP1 - V1

FEATURE

FEATURE

Renovation hits the right buttons

This period Portobello terraced home has a new look thanks to good design and the right use of materials, Tommy Barker reports

Y

OU don’t need large and spectacular sites, big bulging budgets and grand dreams with vaunting ambitions to create a quite perfect, calming, living environment. This Portobello Dublin terraced home is quiet testimony to this fact.

Well, it’s quiet at least and only when the son of the house isn’t skinning alive his drum kit in one of its two bedrooms.

This Victorian city terraced house’s renovation was finished off just last year for its owners, a French/Irish couple who’d lived here since the 1980s, and who’d extended once before — but badly.

This time around they wanted to create a calm, polished living and working space in the location they knew and were comfortable in, and were fortunate to come across architect Donal Colfer, “a friend of a friend”.

Modest in just about every way bar commitment to quality, the house grew only marginally, from about 850 sq ft to perhaps 1,100 sq — but every inch mattered. In fact, it mattered so much the back yard’s boundary wall was trimmed back to gain an extra, ‘mere’ four inches width of outdoor space.

Compare that space paring and parsing to the wantonness of some of the Celtic Tiger blingtastic piles of the boom, where homes incidentally swelled by hundreds of square feet, and ‘design’ was for almost random thousands of square feet.

For the owners (the woman of the house is a fashion designer) of this Portobello home, small was to be beautiful, and indeed it is. So accomplished, in fact, the finished work has just achieved an enviable Architectural Association of Ireland (AAI) 2012 Special Mention Award.

It’s a project that Wexford-born architect Donal Colfer relished, and it’s refreshing to hear a design professional so enthusiastic, and so engaged with, a scheme where the total budget was also modest.

Think comfortably under €150k for a full house renovation and overhaul, to the highest standards and craft execution.

The previous extension had had the often common effect of darkening and closing off the traditional ‘back room,’ and so the brief was to rediscover space, with light through, and — unusually

10

enough — it included the rider that there wasn’t going to be much furniture, “and they weren’t interested in entertaining”. So, very much a calm, uncluttered and private space, please.

Colfer says, and gratifyingly so from his point of view, that the clients were willing to push the envelope in design terms and were open to experimenting with materials.

Thus, this finished, cut and cored home is now notable for a materials’ palette that includes green marble terrazzo flooring, a soft and warm polished stucco plaster finish throughout, and all joinery (doors, partitions/shelving/ units, and stairs,) in walnut, with solid walnut parquet flooring upstairs, and quality poured concrete columns framing timber window frames in the upstairs study area, overseen by engineer David Maher. Lighting was designed by the architect, who admits to high levels of detailing and drawing prior to going on site.

There’s now a generosity of internal space, particularly at ground level which flows from front wall right though to the slender, linear extension’s end; yet that extra length is given its own identity by virtue of the simplicity of being stepped down two steps from the rest of this levelThe easy temptation might have been to extend across the full width the house, and leave their exterior space beyond, but the southerly aspect instead suggested this long (relatively speaking, of course,) galley kitchen, with its screen wall

This finished home is now notable for a materials’ palette that includes green marble terrazzo flooring, concrete, walnut and a soft and warm polished stucco plaster finish throughout

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

of glass contrasting with the more private diffused mullioned glazing overhead by the study space (the sandblasted glass upstairs protects neighbours’ privacy).

Above, the cast concrete fairfaced columns had to be shuttered and poured for the 12 columns and top frieze in four pours, with the ‘topping out’ marked by a gift of a bottle of whiskey for contractor Martin Brennan and crew who is “exceptional, a builder at the top of his game,” says Colfer who’d worked with Brennan before. The flat roof here has been finished with a type of bitumen called Parolan, topped with sea pebbles, while roof opes allow shafts of light penetrate for a chiaroscuro effect over the soft ground marble, limestone and black oxide and umber pigmented plaster.

The two former reception rooms’ fireplaces have been kept, back to back, in the main living space, and it’s probable that the cost of so much artisan hand-finishing so evident here is balanced out by the modesty of the house’s size, and its openess — there’s not that many walls here: even the front door opens into the main living space, part-screened by a head-height stand-alone walnut bookcase.

“It’s all quite simple, there’s no extravagance here and the quality really isn’t expensive to achieve,” says perfectionist Colfer, who’s one of five sons of teacher, writer and historian Billy Colfer, and a brother of Artemis Fowl series author Eoin Colfer.

Work here started in Oct 2010, and finished in May 2011, a tight enough deadline but one that coincided with considerably lower building costs (down 30% from peak, Donal reckons) gratis of the lull. It also meant getting the commitment and care of people of the calibre of specialist stucco plasterer Paul Marlowe from Belfast, who normally does highend hotels, boutiques and the like across Ireland and the UK, builder Martin Brennan, joiner James Hanrahan and then many architects’ favourite, Longford Wood Products for the windows and more.

“People often don’t understand what an architect can bring to a project like this, the quality of life that you can deliver — there’s so many good, young architects that can do this,” Donal Colfer generously says.

Pictures: Denis Scannell

SOURCEBOOK Architects: Donal Colfer Architects 37 North Great Georges Street Dublin 1 www.donalcolfer.ie 086-3188671 email: info@donalcolfer.ie ..................................................................................................

Main Contractor: Martin Brennan MB Siuineireacht Ltd 11 Reginald Square Dublin 8 086-6052644 ..................................................................................................

Engineer: David Maher & Associates. 12 Portobello Road, Dublin 8 email: info@davidmaher.net ..................................................................................................

Hanrahan Cabinetmaking & Carpentry, 1B Bloomfield Ave, South Circular Road, Dublin 8. 086-8866299 ..................................................................................................

Internal Polished Plaster Specialists- PD Marlow145 Ballygomartin Road Belfast BT13 3NA info@pdmarlowe.com

Joinery/windows: Wood Products Longford, Townspark Industrial Estate, Longford, 043-3346386 www.woodproducts.ie ..................................................................................................

Terrazo: PJ Ryan Terazzo and Mosaic Specialists 1 Colberts Fort Belgard Road Tallaght Dublin 24, 01-4598522 ..................................................................................................

Bespoke sprayed steel light fitting fabricators Barelle Limited, Unit 2 JFK Avenue, JFK Industrial Estate, Dublin 12 ..................................................................................................

Internal Tiling- Mosaic Assemblers, 14 Trinity Courtyard, Fonthill Business Park, Dublin 22 01-6267668 www.mosaicassemblers.com

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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TERAPROOF:User:noelcroninDate:15/03/2012Time:12:27:21Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:12

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Are you searching for a stove? Open day on Saturday March 24th F LAME by Design has been in operation since 1998. In that time they have built up a wealth of knowledge in the stove and fireplace industry. They continue to strive for excellence in the products they promote and the installation methods they employ. To this end they have sourced some of the best products on the market and maintain close relationships with their partners. They are committed to employing best practise in all their installation procedures with on-going training. They are approved by HETAS, the governing body in the U.K for solid fuel installations (currently there is no regulatory body in Ireland for solid fuel installations).

Working closely with key interior designers, architects and builders, Flame by Design would be happy to arrange an appointment with any of your key people to go through their portfolio. Whether you are looking to convert your existing fire or are undertaking a new build and need a complete stove, breast build & flue system, they are available to guide and inform you. They invite you to view their gallery at www.flamebydesign.ie to see why a large proportion of their work comes through referrals.

Frequent anecdotal evidence confirms that the use of uncertified flues by unregulated installers is an issue. This causes extra expense to the homeowner in remedial work and has resulted in chimney fires. While many people are understandably cutting back on expenses, stove and flue installations are not DIY jobs.

To this end Flame by Design would love to welcome you to their premises on the Kinsale Road for an open day on March 24, to dispel the myths and misinformation. Their aim is to provide sound, reliable information with a wraparound service from enquiry to installation, should you require it. Their showroom is spread over 2 floors, showcasing fireplaces from 48” to 72” with lighting stove, gas & electric displays and introducing their newly opened flue section.

TOP TIPS ON CHOOSING A STOVE ● What output do you require?

If the stove is not the correct size for your room it will result in either under heating or overheating. Bring your room dimensions (width, length & height) when choosing your stove to calculate this. With

12

new builds & extensions bring your plans. ● What fuel type?

Are you looking for a multi-fuel stove or wood burning only?

Multi-fuel stoves can use both smokeless fuels & wood while wood burning are strictly wood only. ● What stove type?

If you have an existing fireplace, is it suitable to convert? If you have a conservatory or room without a chimney what are your options? Can you install a free standing stove with your block built chimney? Can you heat more than one room without a back boiler? What about insert / cassette stoves? Double sided stoves? ● Are you looking for a back boiler version?

Open fire back boiler systems are inefficient and expensive to run. These can be replaced with highly efficient back boiler inset stoves. Savings with these new systems are significant as they burn 2/3 less fuel & dramatically reduce oil & gas bills.

Before you choose a stove you should engage a plumber to confirm how many kilowatts of heat will be required to heat

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

your radiators. ● What style are you looking for?

There are all styles on the market to suit your room from insert to freestanding. If you have existing fireplaces bring a picture to determine what will be suitable for your home.

TOP TIPS ON CHOOSING A RETAILER ● How much experience do they have in the industry?

Incorrect information can result in costly mistakes for you.

What about their products?

Are they manufactured by companies with long standing reputations in the stove industry? Are they CE approved & certified? Do they have air wash systems? Clean burn? How efficient are they? ● Do they have a showroom where you can view lighting models?

Lighting demonstrations in your home are even more important to show you how to set up a fire properly in order

to heat up the flue and maintain a good draw. Correct user operation will keep your stove working at an optimal level. ● Do they provide site surveys

by HETAS approved engineers?

A professional site survey can confirm all your questions on suitability and options. With existing fireplaces this will involve inspecting the opening and flue to confirm whether your chimney is safe to use.

Where a new chimney system is required a survey will determine the best position for this taking into regard all

building regulations. ● Do they provide an installation and after sales service?

Any retailer can sell a stove.

Does your retailer have the expertise that comes with working with the products they are selling? Can they provide references? Do they have a portfolio of works? Can they advise on all the options available to you including flueing? As there is no authority in Ireland governing solid fuel installations, how do they govern themselves? Do they work in accordance with building regulations?

TOP TIPS ON MAINTAINING A STOVE ● Use the correct fuel In multi-fuel stoves use dry wood or stove coal only. Never burn house coal as it damages the stove and the flue system.

With all wood burned use only seasoned or kiln dried hardwood or manufactured ecologs. The wood should have a moisture content of less than 20%. Burning wet wood will cause a build up on the glass &

Ask the experts, there isnt anything to know about stove and flue installations that we haven’t already experienced

result in harmful deposits in the stove and flue which will damage your stove and block your flue. Wood with high moisture content may not be easy to detect but if in doubt, test it with a moisture meter.

● Use the correct lighting procedures There is no substitute for a lighting demonstration in your own home. This will show you how to heat the flue, how to start the fire, build it and reload. ● Sweep the chimney regularly Sweeping before installation is always necessary and thereafter at the end of every burning season. This is important for the efficient running of your stove as any build up of soot or tar deposits can reduce the draw and make the stove run badly.

FREE CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM & MOISTURE METER With Full Flue Installations

Unit 4b Kinsale Road Business Park, Kinsale Road, Cork (Across from Harvey Normans) Tel: 021 496 7724 Web www.flamebydesign.ie Open: Mon to Sat 9.30am-5pm Sun 2pm-5pm Closed St. Patricks Day and Sun 18th March Open Bank Holiday Mon 19th March 2pm-5pm

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

13

TERAPROOF:User:noelcroninDate:15/03/2012Time:12:27:21Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:12

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

XP1 - V1

ADVERTISING FEATURE

ADVERTISING FEATURE

Are you searching for a stove? Open day on Saturday March 24th F LAME by Design has been in operation since 1998. In that time they have built up a wealth of knowledge in the stove and fireplace industry. They continue to strive for excellence in the products they promote and the installation methods they employ. To this end they have sourced some of the best products on the market and maintain close relationships with their partners. They are committed to employing best practise in all their installation procedures with on-going training. They are approved by HETAS, the governing body in the U.K for solid fuel installations (currently there is no regulatory body in Ireland for solid fuel installations).

Working closely with key interior designers, architects and builders, Flame by Design would be happy to arrange an appointment with any of your key people to go through their portfolio. Whether you are looking to convert your existing fire or are undertaking a new build and need a complete stove, breast build & flue system, they are available to guide and inform you. They invite you to view their gallery at www.flamebydesign.ie to see why a large proportion of their work comes through referrals.

Frequent anecdotal evidence confirms that the use of uncertified flues by unregulated installers is an issue. This causes extra expense to the homeowner in remedial work and has resulted in chimney fires. While many people are understandably cutting back on expenses, stove and flue installations are not DIY jobs.

To this end Flame by Design would love to welcome you to their premises on the Kinsale Road for an open day on March 24, to dispel the myths and misinformation. Their aim is to provide sound, reliable information with a wraparound service from enquiry to installation, should you require it. Their showroom is spread over 2 floors, showcasing fireplaces from 48” to 72” with lighting stove, gas & electric displays and introducing their newly opened flue section.

TOP TIPS ON CHOOSING A STOVE ● What output do you require?

If the stove is not the correct size for your room it will result in either under heating or overheating. Bring your room dimensions (width, length & height) when choosing your stove to calculate this. With

12

new builds & extensions bring your plans. ● What fuel type?

Are you looking for a multi-fuel stove or wood burning only?

Multi-fuel stoves can use both smokeless fuels & wood while wood burning are strictly wood only. ● What stove type?

If you have an existing fireplace, is it suitable to convert? If you have a conservatory or room without a chimney what are your options? Can you install a free standing stove with your block built chimney? Can you heat more than one room without a back boiler? What about insert / cassette stoves? Double sided stoves? ● Are you looking for a back boiler version?

Open fire back boiler systems are inefficient and expensive to run. These can be replaced with highly efficient back boiler inset stoves. Savings with these new systems are significant as they burn 2/3 less fuel & dramatically reduce oil & gas bills.

Before you choose a stove you should engage a plumber to confirm how many kilowatts of heat will be required to heat

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

your radiators. ● What style are you looking for?

There are all styles on the market to suit your room from insert to freestanding. If you have existing fireplaces bring a picture to determine what will be suitable for your home.

TOP TIPS ON CHOOSING A RETAILER ● How much experience do they have in the industry?

Incorrect information can result in costly mistakes for you.

What about their products?

Are they manufactured by companies with long standing reputations in the stove industry? Are they CE approved & certified? Do they have air wash systems? Clean burn? How efficient are they? ● Do they have a showroom where you can view lighting models?

Lighting demonstrations in your home are even more important to show you how to set up a fire properly in order

to heat up the flue and maintain a good draw. Correct user operation will keep your stove working at an optimal level. ● Do they provide site surveys

by HETAS approved engineers?

A professional site survey can confirm all your questions on suitability and options. With existing fireplaces this will involve inspecting the opening and flue to confirm whether your chimney is safe to use.

Where a new chimney system is required a survey will determine the best position for this taking into regard all

building regulations. ● Do they provide an installation and after sales service?

Any retailer can sell a stove.

Does your retailer have the expertise that comes with working with the products they are selling? Can they provide references? Do they have a portfolio of works? Can they advise on all the options available to you including flueing? As there is no authority in Ireland governing solid fuel installations, how do they govern themselves? Do they work in accordance with building regulations?

TOP TIPS ON MAINTAINING A STOVE ● Use the correct fuel In multi-fuel stoves use dry wood or stove coal only. Never burn house coal as it damages the stove and the flue system.

With all wood burned use only seasoned or kiln dried hardwood or manufactured ecologs. The wood should have a moisture content of less than 20%. Burning wet wood will cause a build up on the glass &

Ask the experts, there isnt anything to know about stove and flue installations that we haven’t already experienced

result in harmful deposits in the stove and flue which will damage your stove and block your flue. Wood with high moisture content may not be easy to detect but if in doubt, test it with a moisture meter.

● Use the correct lighting procedures There is no substitute for a lighting demonstration in your own home. This will show you how to heat the flue, how to start the fire, build it and reload. ● Sweep the chimney regularly Sweeping before installation is always necessary and thereafter at the end of every burning season. This is important for the efficient running of your stove as any build up of soot or tar deposits can reduce the draw and make the stove run badly.

FREE CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM & MOISTURE METER With Full Flue Installations

Unit 4b Kinsale Road Business Park, Kinsale Road, Cork (Across from Harvey Normans) Tel: 021 496 7724 Web www.flamebydesign.ie Open: Mon to Sat 9.30am-5pm Sun 2pm-5pm Closed St. Patricks Day and Sun 18th March Open Bank Holiday Mon 19th March 2pm-5pm

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

13

TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:15/03/2012Time:11:36:37Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:14

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V2

XP1 - V2

INTERIORS

INTERIORS

We take a detailed look at one aspect of the home every week ...

SOMETHINGEXTRA

Hallway

This week we love...

■ Coffee Ceremony by Martin Horgan, a reinvention of the coffee table made from maple. With room for five, the design allows space only for a coffee cup and water glass at each of the five places. In concept it has the notion of ancient Japanese tea ceremonies, but the new context and Horgan’s approach is rooted firmly in the modern experience.

■ Coffee Ceremony: It’s all in the moment, €8,000. www.martinhorgan.com

There’s definitely room for improvement in this routinely overlooked and rarely used space, writes Carol O’Callaghan

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT Much of a small hallway’s problems can be solved with a few well chosen items.

LEFT: Take a free-standing mirror and lean it against a wall to reflect space and light. (Carlton mirror from Meadows & Byrne €250).

ABOVE RIGHT: A wall-mounted mirror will help to turn a hall into a room (from Littlewoods Ireland €170).

Pretty up the practicality of hanging coats with decorative statement hooks like the Lustre

by Julien Mcdonald (€30 at Debenhams).

SUBTLE STATEMENTS A well-chosen piece of furniture can transform a utilitarian hall.

Add some subtle lighting for an inviting ambience.

Take a bold approach to colour in your hallway — try gold and aubergine for a room-like feel. (Versailles console €635, mirror €795, antique lamp €220 from Boulevard Interiors)

A striking modern hallway uses the building’s architectural features to create impact. Just add some lighting and sculptural chairs.

F

UNNY how aspirations change with the generations. Time was our hallways were kept immaculate to create the best first impression, sometimes to the point where family came in through the back door and the front door was kept strictly for guests.

You’d be hard pressed nowadays to find a family hallway that isn’t a jumble sale of trainers the size of ocean-going liners and sports bags fragranced with eau-de-gymnasium. But you can’t blame all the unsightliness on the kiddies now can you, when the devilish duo of exposed electric meter and an understairs space stuffed with black bags that never made their way to the charity shop, are evidence of your own sins.

The urge to preach a homily of

14

chastisements is tempered only by the guilt that I too need to transform my hall which is currently quite bare. Not fashionably minimal, mind you, but bare in the dullest way that I could only absolve myself of by spending the last couple of weeks reading and musing on the matter. And if nothing else, it has been revealed that when it comes to making the most of your hallway, the trinity of natural light, space and storage is indeed a blessing.

Remember the golden rule that darker hues decrease space and lighter colours expand it —if your hall is long and narrow opt for a darker colour on the shorter walls and neutral or very pale on the long ones. The level of wear and tear caused by traffic in and out or just the longing for a fashionably intense

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

hue might tempt you towards darker colours, but they will drain the potential for natural light to be maximised. It’s your hall and your choice so consider how adequate the overhead light is, and if you don’t want its glare as soon as dusk falls, introduce a lamp on a hall table or a wall light.

Coats need to be hung, shoes stored and bags deposited, but if space is so limited that you have nowhere to site a coat stand, can you utilise the space under the stairs? Small ready- made, self-assembly shelving units will work very well as a place for hats, scarves, gloves and sports bags. Add some attractive baskets to keep pairs of shoes together, and finish by screwing a few coat hooks to the wall under the highest part of the stairs. In the tiniest of halls,

consider an above-head height shelf for smaller items, and beneath it place some hooks for coats and handbags.

If there’s no room for furniture, and you want to get rid of the feel that the hall is just a walk- through area, try personalising it with photos or prints you love using the same design of frame which can be done with little expense. A mirror in the hall is an essential for many of us, often located above a console. As it happens, there’s a popular style for standing out-size mirrors with heavy frames, often in silver or gilt, against a wall. It helps to create a room feel and is large enough to reflect the space and make it seem bigger.

Next week the family room gets a revamp.

A slim, Lamp light meets wall elegant light in the Classy console lamp, (from Aoki table Interiors €49.99). won’t overwhelm a small hallway.

(Barcelona from gilmorespace.com €600).

The bright and cheery Rochelle chest provides plenty of top storage (from Next Interiors €630).

Left: A period hallway. Centre: Save space with a ladder shelf. Right: Ikea unit stores shoes and bags in a busy hall.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

15

TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:15/03/2012Time:11:36:37Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:14

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V2

XP1 - V2

INTERIORS

INTERIORS

We take a detailed look at one aspect of the home every week ...

SOMETHINGEXTRA

Hallway

This week we love...

■ Coffee Ceremony by Martin Horgan, a reinvention of the coffee table made from maple. With room for five, the design allows space only for a coffee cup and water glass at each of the five places. In concept it has the notion of ancient Japanese tea ceremonies, but the new context and Horgan’s approach is rooted firmly in the modern experience.

■ Coffee Ceremony: It’s all in the moment, €8,000. www.martinhorgan.com

There’s definitely room for improvement in this routinely overlooked and rarely used space, writes Carol O’Callaghan

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT Much of a small hallway’s problems can be solved with a few well chosen items.

LEFT: Take a free-standing mirror and lean it against a wall to reflect space and light. (Carlton mirror from Meadows & Byrne €250).

ABOVE RIGHT: A wall-mounted mirror will help to turn a hall into a room (from Littlewoods Ireland €170).

Pretty up the practicality of hanging coats with decorative statement hooks like the Lustre

by Julien Mcdonald (€30 at Debenhams).

SUBTLE STATEMENTS A well-chosen piece of furniture can transform a utilitarian hall.

Add some subtle lighting for an inviting ambience.

Take a bold approach to colour in your hallway — try gold and aubergine for a room-like feel. (Versailles console €635, mirror €795, antique lamp €220 from Boulevard Interiors)

A striking modern hallway uses the building’s architectural features to create impact. Just add some lighting and sculptural chairs.

F

UNNY how aspirations change with the generations. Time was our hallways were kept immaculate to create the best first impression, sometimes to the point where family came in through the back door and the front door was kept strictly for guests.

You’d be hard pressed nowadays to find a family hallway that isn’t a jumble sale of trainers the size of ocean-going liners and sports bags fragranced with eau-de-gymnasium. But you can’t blame all the unsightliness on the kiddies now can you, when the devilish duo of exposed electric meter and an understairs space stuffed with black bags that never made their way to the charity shop, are evidence of your own sins.

The urge to preach a homily of

14

chastisements is tempered only by the guilt that I too need to transform my hall which is currently quite bare. Not fashionably minimal, mind you, but bare in the dullest way that I could only absolve myself of by spending the last couple of weeks reading and musing on the matter. And if nothing else, it has been revealed that when it comes to making the most of your hallway, the trinity of natural light, space and storage is indeed a blessing.

Remember the golden rule that darker hues decrease space and lighter colours expand it —if your hall is long and narrow opt for a darker colour on the shorter walls and neutral or very pale on the long ones. The level of wear and tear caused by traffic in and out or just the longing for a fashionably intense

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

hue might tempt you towards darker colours, but they will drain the potential for natural light to be maximised. It’s your hall and your choice so consider how adequate the overhead light is, and if you don’t want its glare as soon as dusk falls, introduce a lamp on a hall table or a wall light.

Coats need to be hung, shoes stored and bags deposited, but if space is so limited that you have nowhere to site a coat stand, can you utilise the space under the stairs? Small ready- made, self-assembly shelving units will work very well as a place for hats, scarves, gloves and sports bags. Add some attractive baskets to keep pairs of shoes together, and finish by screwing a few coat hooks to the wall under the highest part of the stairs. In the tiniest of halls,

consider an above-head height shelf for smaller items, and beneath it place some hooks for coats and handbags.

If there’s no room for furniture, and you want to get rid of the feel that the hall is just a walk- through area, try personalising it with photos or prints you love using the same design of frame which can be done with little expense. A mirror in the hall is an essential for many of us, often located above a console. As it happens, there’s a popular style for standing out-size mirrors with heavy frames, often in silver or gilt, against a wall. It helps to create a room feel and is large enough to reflect the space and make it seem bigger.

Next week the family room gets a revamp.

A slim, Lamp light meets wall elegant light in the Classy console lamp, (from Aoki table Interiors €49.99). won’t overwhelm a small hallway.

(Barcelona from gilmorespace.com €600).

The bright and cheery Rochelle chest provides plenty of top storage (from Next Interiors €630).

Left: A period hallway. Centre: Save space with a ladder shelf. Right: Ikea unit stores shoes and bags in a busy hall.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

15

TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:15/03/2012Time:11:41:25Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:16

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

XP1 - V1

DIY

DIY

BRANCH OUT WITH NATURAL MATERIALS

DIYTIPS

Home Scents: Create a diffuser Rather than plugging in that chemical concoction parading as a room scenter, try putting together your own completely natural diffuser. If can be any size and the scent should last months.

WHAT YOU NEED: ■ A glass bottle, jar or vase with a steady base.

■ A cork stopper to fit the above. This stops the liquid evaporating on the surface.

■ A drill with a small-paddle bit and drill.

■ Some thin, dried stalks with hollow stems. Dried reeds or large ornamental grasses will work best.

Looking for some inexpensive objects to find a home this spring? Kya de Longchamps provides some answers

T

HIS year we ate our Christmas tree. Well, to explain, we didn’t buy a Christmas tree, and instead used the money for a pub lunch for the family. We dragged in a lovely big beech limb left by pruning, and tenderly rubbed its rough surfaces with white poster paint for lichen-like frosty glaze. Propped in a corner and decorated, I can honestly say it was the loveliest tree we had ever brought indoors.

Natural materials with all their weather borne and honestly accrued flaws create a pleasing contrast to the manufactured sophistication of any home. Here are some other ideas to invite some free and inexpensive naturals home this spring. Step lightly on the environment taking your inspirational materials in small amounts, and leaving those wild flowers well alone.

SEA GLASS It’s impossible to walk on any beach without finding silky soft pieces of old glass tumbled by the waves for decades into gem-like chunks. Every piece carries a unique history now deeply appreciated by costume and even fine jewellery makers. It might take a few weeks to assemble enough to display, but immersed in water in a clear glass vase, or even used to support the stems of flowers, they make a fascinating loose material. Set the vase in front of a window to backlight your collection.

Flatter pieces are ideal for a bohemian splash-back for a bathroom sink. Mix the sea glass with pieces of broken tiles and even crockery and assemble a random quilt-style arrangement with tile adhesive before grouting into position. Check out your local garden centre for glass cabochonstyle beads to stud through the work.

Cover an old planter with self hardening clay and push the glass into it as glowing accents.

BRANCH OUT The trees may not be all in leaf yet, but their own textural and sculptural beauty is present in the bare branches too. The Japanese have a special flare for using simple non-floral twiggy arrangements and as a pared back piece of ornamentation — you don’t even need a bloom. If you’re trimming back the garden, there’s an ideal opportunity to use those attractive off-cuts and to flatter the container in which you place your branches or twigs. Bare branches or branches coming into leaf make

16

■ Essential oil of choice (try eucalyptus or lavender).

■ Hot tap water.

handsome arrangements alone, or mixed with shop bought fresh flowers to create dramatic height. Keep moving the branches around to find their natural flow vertically or horizontally according to the tree species and then build on this framework.

Take some nice knobbly apple or pear tree branches a good metre long and secure them into a twiggy tree with a piece of gold or silver wire. Suspend the ‘tree’ upside down to make a chandelier using a piece of attractive cord looped through itself. Using white thread or fine wire, decorate it with interesting suspended trinkets from single drop earrings, small toys that turn nicely on a thread, crystal droplets (acrylic is fine too) and so on. Make the threads more interesting with a few small beads in glass or pearls above the objects. Hang this in a window to turn in the light.

IVY CHAIR CORSAGE Ivy is a real survivor and often green and thriving when other plants are cowering in the earth. It twists around things and dribbles down from arrangements beautifully. Take some generous lengths of florists wire and wind off-cuts of ivy around the wire in generous swags to hide their supports.

Add some silk daffodils here and there for a little spring promise. Using some shorter pieces of wire to secure (mind you don’t pierce a guest sitting back), drape the corsage over your dining chairs loosely around the shape of the chair back, fluffing the flowers into place. For extra luxury, thread a ribbon that matches your tables setting through the swags and match it to an ivy themed centrepiece with little nests, candy eggs and fresh daffodils.

SHELL VOILE Shells make stunning ornaments by themselves or coaxed into attractive heaps. Litter them across a dining table for a coastal theme, including one gorgeous one on each napkin to take home. Take a plain sheer curtain and give it some added life by attaching fine shells in a scattering over the surface.

You can either use a hot-glue gun to attach a small wire to the shell or drill a minute hole in the shell surface. Either way, keep in mind that the shells or any other decorative element will have to come off if you wash the panel.

Any plain rough wood frame around a picture or mirror can take applied shell decoration, but if you can stretch your talents to putting driftwood together in a rough frame shape suspended by soft

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Every piece of sea glass, tumbled by the sea, carries a unique history.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Drill a hole in the cork stopper using your paddle bit to hold the stems upright.

If it still doesn’t fit, put a couple of elastic bands around it for a tight fit.

Cut the stalks to a good length for your bottle and ensure they are nicely dried out.

Fill your container about a quarter full of hot water from the tap.

Enough to make it steady.

Add 20-30 drops of essential oil to the water for every 100mls of water.

Push your reeds through the hole in the cork and into your liquid. Arrange them nicely and put to work.

A driftwood mirror brings the world of nature indoors.

Q&A

Do you have a DIY question you would like answered?

Send it to interiors@examiner.ie

Q. What is considered to be the most eco-friendly wood flooring? We’re looking for a medium-width plank for an open plan living area.

A. Bamboo is a highly environmental, sustainable wood-flooring choice as it’s a type of grass and grows quickly and is ready to harvest in as little as three years, leaving the roots to grow again.

In terms of durability it’s comparable to a quality softwood. Suppliers include B&Q. Expect to pay around €25-€30 per square metre.

Hazelnut branches in all their glory can make a spectacular focal piece in any room.

Sea glass can make a simple decorative fixture on a dining table.

rope, it will be an art form all in itself for a bathroom or casual space. Use preserving jars or a large vase as a terrarium to display shells, staging them on a bed of fine sand. Jog the sand into angles for added ‘dune’ interest and backlight by a window. Try celebrating magnificent large shells set with old books and curious in Victorian collector style groups under the pooling light of a lamp on a forgotten side table in a

at any DIY shop for pennies and make great mosaic materials. A large flat beach stone with a pad of felt stuck to the bottom surface can act as a lovely doorstop on even a wood floor and are ideal for shabby chic paperweights.

Extra aggregate paving stones often thrown around the garden can be set on any old stout flower pot or urn to make a low side table to set a cup of tea by a garden chair. Give the slab a good

postcard of memories.

STONE MAD Children are fascinated by natural found stones, but we forget their weighty loveliness and variety as we grow up. Simply piled up in an attractive bowl as you find them, rocks and pebbles have a gorgeous honesty. If you don’t’ have access to natural stones, bags of river stones are widely available

power wash and even concrete will buff up. Spread stones generously over the surface of planters and window boxes to prevent compost splattering windowsills and box edges when it rains. Bed attractive rocks in a winding river of moss for a fascinating dining table centre piece. Use a group of galvanised or ceramic dish-style supports to keep moisture off the table surface, hiding edges and joins with a moss frame.

Q. I’ve heard that plants can freshen up indoor air. What are the best species for releasing oxygen and sopping up CO2?

A. Well if NASA is to be believed in its 2009 research, the winners for air filtration include the peace lily, English (or Irish) ivy, spider plants, heartleaf and selloum philodendron, weeping fig, chrysanthemum, and the humble rubber plant.

Q. We still have a few mice in the house despite installing ultrasonic devices. We don’t own a cat. I hate to poison them. Is there anything I can use to at least keep them out of the kitchen?

A. First of all, examine your housekeeping habits. Often shoring up the bin, and securing all food stuffs including dry cat food, will dry up their food supply and they will leave with the warmer weather. Cottonwool balls soaked in peppermint oil is said to be revolting to mice. Lay these on trails you know they use.

Bamboo grows quickly and is ready to harvest in three years.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

17

TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:15/03/2012Time:11:41:25Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:16

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

XP1 - V1

DIY

DIY

BRANCH OUT WITH NATURAL MATERIALS

DIYTIPS

Home Scents: Create a diffuser Rather than plugging in that chemical concoction parading as a room scenter, try putting together your own completely natural diffuser. If can be any size and the scent should last months.

WHAT YOU NEED: ■ A glass bottle, jar or vase with a steady base.

■ A cork stopper to fit the above. This stops the liquid evaporating on the surface.

■ A drill with a small-paddle bit and drill.

■ Some thin, dried stalks with hollow stems. Dried reeds or large ornamental grasses will work best.

Looking for some inexpensive objects to find a home this spring? Kya de Longchamps provides some answers

T

HIS year we ate our Christmas tree. Well, to explain, we didn’t buy a Christmas tree, and instead used the money for a pub lunch for the family. We dragged in a lovely big beech limb left by pruning, and tenderly rubbed its rough surfaces with white poster paint for lichen-like frosty glaze. Propped in a corner and decorated, I can honestly say it was the loveliest tree we had ever brought indoors.

Natural materials with all their weather borne and honestly accrued flaws create a pleasing contrast to the manufactured sophistication of any home. Here are some other ideas to invite some free and inexpensive naturals home this spring. Step lightly on the environment taking your inspirational materials in small amounts, and leaving those wild flowers well alone.

SEA GLASS It’s impossible to walk on any beach without finding silky soft pieces of old glass tumbled by the waves for decades into gem-like chunks. Every piece carries a unique history now deeply appreciated by costume and even fine jewellery makers. It might take a few weeks to assemble enough to display, but immersed in water in a clear glass vase, or even used to support the stems of flowers, they make a fascinating loose material. Set the vase in front of a window to backlight your collection.

Flatter pieces are ideal for a bohemian splash-back for a bathroom sink. Mix the sea glass with pieces of broken tiles and even crockery and assemble a random quilt-style arrangement with tile adhesive before grouting into position. Check out your local garden centre for glass cabochonstyle beads to stud through the work.

Cover an old planter with self hardening clay and push the glass into it as glowing accents.

BRANCH OUT The trees may not be all in leaf yet, but their own textural and sculptural beauty is present in the bare branches too. The Japanese have a special flare for using simple non-floral twiggy arrangements and as a pared back piece of ornamentation — you don’t even need a bloom. If you’re trimming back the garden, there’s an ideal opportunity to use those attractive off-cuts and to flatter the container in which you place your branches or twigs. Bare branches or branches coming into leaf make

16

■ Essential oil of choice (try eucalyptus or lavender).

■ Hot tap water.

handsome arrangements alone, or mixed with shop bought fresh flowers to create dramatic height. Keep moving the branches around to find their natural flow vertically or horizontally according to the tree species and then build on this framework.

Take some nice knobbly apple or pear tree branches a good metre long and secure them into a twiggy tree with a piece of gold or silver wire. Suspend the ‘tree’ upside down to make a chandelier using a piece of attractive cord looped through itself. Using white thread or fine wire, decorate it with interesting suspended trinkets from single drop earrings, small toys that turn nicely on a thread, crystal droplets (acrylic is fine too) and so on. Make the threads more interesting with a few small beads in glass or pearls above the objects. Hang this in a window to turn in the light.

IVY CHAIR CORSAGE Ivy is a real survivor and often green and thriving when other plants are cowering in the earth. It twists around things and dribbles down from arrangements beautifully. Take some generous lengths of florists wire and wind off-cuts of ivy around the wire in generous swags to hide their supports.

Add some silk daffodils here and there for a little spring promise. Using some shorter pieces of wire to secure (mind you don’t pierce a guest sitting back), drape the corsage over your dining chairs loosely around the shape of the chair back, fluffing the flowers into place. For extra luxury, thread a ribbon that matches your tables setting through the swags and match it to an ivy themed centrepiece with little nests, candy eggs and fresh daffodils.

SHELL VOILE Shells make stunning ornaments by themselves or coaxed into attractive heaps. Litter them across a dining table for a coastal theme, including one gorgeous one on each napkin to take home. Take a plain sheer curtain and give it some added life by attaching fine shells in a scattering over the surface.

You can either use a hot-glue gun to attach a small wire to the shell or drill a minute hole in the shell surface. Either way, keep in mind that the shells or any other decorative element will have to come off if you wash the panel.

Any plain rough wood frame around a picture or mirror can take applied shell decoration, but if you can stretch your talents to putting driftwood together in a rough frame shape suspended by soft

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Every piece of sea glass, tumbled by the sea, carries a unique history.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Drill a hole in the cork stopper using your paddle bit to hold the stems upright.

If it still doesn’t fit, put a couple of elastic bands around it for a tight fit.

Cut the stalks to a good length for your bottle and ensure they are nicely dried out.

Fill your container about a quarter full of hot water from the tap.

Enough to make it steady.

Add 20-30 drops of essential oil to the water for every 100mls of water.

Push your reeds through the hole in the cork and into your liquid. Arrange them nicely and put to work.

A driftwood mirror brings the world of nature indoors.

Q&A

Do you have a DIY question you would like answered?

Send it to interiors@examiner.ie

Q. What is considered to be the most eco-friendly wood flooring? We’re looking for a medium-width plank for an open plan living area.

A. Bamboo is a highly environmental, sustainable wood-flooring choice as it’s a type of grass and grows quickly and is ready to harvest in as little as three years, leaving the roots to grow again.

In terms of durability it’s comparable to a quality softwood. Suppliers include B&Q. Expect to pay around €25-€30 per square metre.

Hazelnut branches in all their glory can make a spectacular focal piece in any room.

Sea glass can make a simple decorative fixture on a dining table.

rope, it will be an art form all in itself for a bathroom or casual space. Use preserving jars or a large vase as a terrarium to display shells, staging them on a bed of fine sand. Jog the sand into angles for added ‘dune’ interest and backlight by a window. Try celebrating magnificent large shells set with old books and curious in Victorian collector style groups under the pooling light of a lamp on a forgotten side table in a

at any DIY shop for pennies and make great mosaic materials. A large flat beach stone with a pad of felt stuck to the bottom surface can act as a lovely doorstop on even a wood floor and are ideal for shabby chic paperweights.

Extra aggregate paving stones often thrown around the garden can be set on any old stout flower pot or urn to make a low side table to set a cup of tea by a garden chair. Give the slab a good

postcard of memories.

STONE MAD Children are fascinated by natural found stones, but we forget their weighty loveliness and variety as we grow up. Simply piled up in an attractive bowl as you find them, rocks and pebbles have a gorgeous honesty. If you don’t’ have access to natural stones, bags of river stones are widely available

power wash and even concrete will buff up. Spread stones generously over the surface of planters and window boxes to prevent compost splattering windowsills and box edges when it rains. Bed attractive rocks in a winding river of moss for a fascinating dining table centre piece. Use a group of galvanised or ceramic dish-style supports to keep moisture off the table surface, hiding edges and joins with a moss frame.

Q. I’ve heard that plants can freshen up indoor air. What are the best species for releasing oxygen and sopping up CO2?

A. Well if NASA is to be believed in its 2009 research, the winners for air filtration include the peace lily, English (or Irish) ivy, spider plants, heartleaf and selloum philodendron, weeping fig, chrysanthemum, and the humble rubber plant.

Q. We still have a few mice in the house despite installing ultrasonic devices. We don’t own a cat. I hate to poison them. Is there anything I can use to at least keep them out of the kitchen?

A. First of all, examine your housekeeping habits. Often shoring up the bin, and securing all food stuffs including dry cat food, will dry up their food supply and they will leave with the warmer weather. Cottonwool balls soaked in peppermint oil is said to be revolting to mice. Lay these on trails you know they use.

Bamboo grows quickly and is ready to harvest in three years.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

17

TERAPROOF:User:sueoconnorDate:15/03/2012Time:11:39:15Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:18

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

XP1 - V1

INTERIORS

HOME ECONOMICS

ASK THE

DESIGNER

Q

How can I make the most of my apartment balcony this spring?

A. When designing a small space such as a balcony, every inch counts.

First consider how the balcony will be used all year round — even if you don’t venture out in winter, it should still be attractive to view from inside. For instance, if you work during the day, it’s more likely to be used for entertaining at night. Outdoor lighting is key to transforming your balcony into a safe and stylish retreat — Woodie’s DIY do a good selection of solar-charged ones. Seating is also a must to encourage guests to actually use the balcony — with limited space, a bistro table and chair set is probably your best bet.

Little touches such as an outdoor rug, brightly coloured scatter cushions and wind chimes can help make your balcony more inviting.

Q. I’ve just redecorated inside my home, but now the front door is letting the whole thing down — help.

A You’ll often hear real estate agents talking about ‘kerb appeal’ — how the outside of a house can attract potential buyers to take a look inside. But you don’t have to be in the property game to give your front door the X factor. A small change such as painting your front door a vibrant red can give your home’s facade a facelift. Exterior accessories such as a quirky doormat, welcome sign and pretty lanterns placed along the pathway will help make your guests feel more welcome.

If replacing the door isn’t an option,

18

Purlees

Analogue TV and you The end of the analogue television is nigh and there are some facts and issues to keep in mind, writes Kya deLongchamps

try replacing the door knocker or adding a pop of colour with a wreath.

Other than Saorview...

Q. As I’m not very green-fingered, can you suggest some more low-maintenance ways to spruce up my back garden?

I

A. If you struggle to keep even a pot of parsley alive, outdoor art is a good alternative to brighten up your garden — check out Outdoor Accents’ range of ‘Weatherprint’ outdoor art distributed in Ireland by www.outdooraccents.co.uk. Outdoor clocks, mirrors, laser-cut wall art and hanging tea-lights will also add character to your garden without the need for watering. When it comes to garden decoration, remember that less is more — too much will look more ‘junk yard’ than ‘back yard’.

f you want more than what’s on offer from Saorview, or wish to combine it with more programming, there are a number of satellite services, cable and broadband TV providers to choose from. You will, in most cases, need a set top box and cabling to get connected, and in the case of satellite, a dish for the roof set up in the right direction. Some providers offer the equipment free, but look for set up charges, discounts for direct debit, and what your monthly costs will be once the often enticing join up offers have trailed off. If you want high definition TV (HD) you will need a HD ready television and HD set top box, generally at a higher rate of subscription.

Q. Do you have unique garden gift ideas for my mum for Mother’s Day? A. Typically, green-fingered mums are given trowels, watering cans and garden gloves — so why not give her something to help her enjoy all her hard work in the garden instead! Cork based company Hammockology have a fab range of colourful hammocks and hanging chairs — see www.hammocks.ie. If she’s an animal lover, take a look at the quirky handmade bird and pet houses by Donegal-based Chic-Hens — see www.chic-hens.ie. Or Pressieport.ie sell a ‘Name a Rose’ kit, €24.99, containing rose seeds, a growing guide and naming certificate that will be entered into International Rose Naming Registry — so she can even have a flower named after her for Mother’s Day.

WEB WATCH 1

Interior designer Deirdre Coleman (www.escaledesign.ie) answers your outdoor design queries. Email: interiors@examiner.ie

2

Above: The outside of a house can attract potential buyers to look inside. Below: Birdhouses from €35 available from www.chic-hens.ie. Classic Striped Hammock, €65 — available from www.hammocks.ie

The analogue system will be replaced by Digital Terrestrial Television on Oct 24. Only those still using aerials mounted on the roof to receive their television signal will be affected by this change, as it is a completely separate system to the commercial cable services offered by Sky and other firms.

O

Every week Sue O’Connor picks her top three interiors sites. If you have a favourite you’d like to see featured, email: interiors@examiner.ie

Gorgeous Gifts and Interiors

3

Etsy

This site shows you how to jazz up any surfaces in your home. Selfadhesive films, decorative films; etch effect designs; wallpapers and bespoke stained glass designs are just some of the products on offer.

Stickers in a choice of colours and sizes, which can be made to suit your exact requirements and will prevent great-aunt Eileen walking through a glass door. This site has those safety stickers to stop any nasty accidents. It also has custom-made stickers so you can send on what you want and they will work their magic on your text.

Products featured on this site waver from the beautiful to the sublime. Novelty items like card masks for a dinner party, ostrich feather dusters, and a host of unusual trays and dinner plates can give your house that something special. The store was created by interior designer, Milo FitzGerald, and has an off shoot of an interior design gallery which showcases charming residential and commercial projects. You can shop by price or by designer, which include Normann Copenhagan, Five Dollar Shake, Black and Blum, and Ibride.

A nod to this site has to be given as it’s sales hit $525.6 million in 2011.

But it still has kept its neighbourhood theme with its handcrafted and unusual delights. “We see a world in which very-very small businesses have much-much more sway in shaping the economy; local living economies are thriving everywhere, and people value authorship and provenance as much as price and convenience,” claims the site. You can buy and sell everything here for the home and garden — be it handmade, vintage or suppliers so you know the source of the product.

■ www.purlees.com

■ www.gorgeousgiftsandinteriors.com

■ www.etsy.com

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Beast cushion found on www.pinterest.com.

Originally posted from www.etsy.com

n Oct 24, the analogue system that has delivered Irish television for time immemorial will finally be switched off and will be replaced entirely by the already operating digital signal of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). This highly important moment in Irish broadcasting is termed the Digital Switchover of DSO. For many of us already using commercial cable and Sky’s satellite services, this moment will register as excited white noise on the RTÉ news. However, if you are one of the 250,000 households still receiving an analogue television signal through an aerial mounted on the roof, it’s time to upgrade your service.

There are two choices to join the digital age, either you can take up a contract with the existing digital services or you can vouch for Saorview (free view), RTÉ’s brand of digital broadcast delivering the Irish channels, RTÉ ONE, RTÉ TWO, RTÉ Junior, RTÉ ONE+1, RTÉ News Now, 3e, TG4, and TV3 to about 98% of the country.

Saorview is non-subscription and the programming is free, (you just pay your TV license as usual) and can be picked up by your existing UHF aerial. If you cannot receive Saorview, an infill service called Saorsat will be available.

The service may be free, but the set up is not. To start enjoying Saorview you will need to purchase either a set top box to run between the aerial and the television ( around €50), or a new digital television (IDTV) that’s Saorview ready with the new receiver

integrated in the set itself. The set top box and IDTVs are available from most electrical retailers in Ireland, and start from around €150. There’s a small grey and red bird over the words ‘Saorview Approved’ on these televisions.

Once you have your set top box or IDTV linked to the aerial by cable, you then tune in your Saorview service using the manual that comes with your new equipment. Your aerial may need adjusting, but if you are currently picking up TV3, it’s probably fine. If you have more than one television you will need a set top box for each. If you choose a set top box with features such as pause and rewind expect to pay from €80-€100.

The Saorview service is capable of transmitting High Definition (HD) programming. Keep this in mind if you’re replacing the set entirely.

Taking into account the potential for confusion and in some cases hardship involved in tailoring a TV to dovetail with the new service, a network of trained individuals are coordinating a public awareness campaign to smooth the transition to DSO. Termed the Digital Outreach Champions, you can find their plain but informative website at www.goingdigital.ie. Saorview is not a subscription and is not sold door to door by Saorview, RTÉ or anyone else.

Similarly, there is no ‘special’ aerial needed. Ensure you, your elderly or vulnerable family, friends and neighbours are not targeted by individuals ‘selling’ the service or equipment, by spreading the word.

■ Further guidance on the Digital Switchover is available at http://www.goingdigital.ie/, through LoCall 1890 940 980 (English language) and 1890 940 970 (Irish language).

■ Information booklets are also available in post offices and Citizen Information Centres throughout the country and an updated booklet will be sent to all households later in the summer. The Saorview information leaflet can be found at www.soarview.ie.

■ If you think you’ve been deceived or misled in relation to the purchase of digital TV receiving equipment, for example a TV, set-top box, aerial or satellite dish or the installation of any of this equipment, contact the National Consumer Agency on 1890 432432 or 01402 5555. The National Consumer Agency has prepared an independent information guide on digital television which you can find at www.nca.ie.

■ AerTV: Provided by a broadband signal, you will need speeds of at least 1Mb to enjoy the service. HD being set up this year. The basic service is free. Nationwide. www.aertv.ie.

Contact (do this online): support@aertv.ie.

■ Sky:. Available to 99% of households.

Generous 65 TV channel Sky + packages start at €25 and include dozens of radio channels too, but climb to a peak of €76 for inclusion of all movie channels and sports.

Installation is around €30 by a local installer and a Sky + set top box is free to new customers (not HD). www.skyireland.ie. Tel: 0818-719852.

■ UPC: This operates as a MMDS cable service to rural areas and standard cables in most urban areas. 87-149 channels depending on your choice from three digital packages. With Digital+, you can pause and rewind programming. 13 HD channels.

Monthly fee from €25.40 includes a set top box charge. Installation and activation €50, cabling €40.

Broadband, phone bundles available. www.upc.ie. Tel: 1890-940070.

The Saorview service can transmit High Definition programming. Keep this in mind if you’re replacing your set.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

19

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INTERIORS

HOME ECONOMICS

ASK THE

DESIGNER

Q

How can I make the most of my apartment balcony this spring?

A. When designing a small space such as a balcony, every inch counts.

First consider how the balcony will be used all year round — even if you don’t venture out in winter, it should still be attractive to view from inside. For instance, if you work during the day, it’s more likely to be used for entertaining at night. Outdoor lighting is key to transforming your balcony into a safe and stylish retreat — Woodie’s DIY do a good selection of solar-charged ones. Seating is also a must to encourage guests to actually use the balcony — with limited space, a bistro table and chair set is probably your best bet.

Little touches such as an outdoor rug, brightly coloured scatter cushions and wind chimes can help make your balcony more inviting.

Q. I’ve just redecorated inside my home, but now the front door is letting the whole thing down — help.

A You’ll often hear real estate agents talking about ‘kerb appeal’ — how the outside of a house can attract potential buyers to take a look inside. But you don’t have to be in the property game to give your front door the X factor. A small change such as painting your front door a vibrant red can give your home’s facade a facelift. Exterior accessories such as a quirky doormat, welcome sign and pretty lanterns placed along the pathway will help make your guests feel more welcome.

If replacing the door isn’t an option,

18

Purlees

Analogue TV and you The end of the analogue television is nigh and there are some facts and issues to keep in mind, writes Kya deLongchamps

try replacing the door knocker or adding a pop of colour with a wreath.

Other than Saorview...

Q. As I’m not very green-fingered, can you suggest some more low-maintenance ways to spruce up my back garden?

I

A. If you struggle to keep even a pot of parsley alive, outdoor art is a good alternative to brighten up your garden — check out Outdoor Accents’ range of ‘Weatherprint’ outdoor art distributed in Ireland by www.outdooraccents.co.uk. Outdoor clocks, mirrors, laser-cut wall art and hanging tea-lights will also add character to your garden without the need for watering. When it comes to garden decoration, remember that less is more — too much will look more ‘junk yard’ than ‘back yard’.

f you want more than what’s on offer from Saorview, or wish to combine it with more programming, there are a number of satellite services, cable and broadband TV providers to choose from. You will, in most cases, need a set top box and cabling to get connected, and in the case of satellite, a dish for the roof set up in the right direction. Some providers offer the equipment free, but look for set up charges, discounts for direct debit, and what your monthly costs will be once the often enticing join up offers have trailed off. If you want high definition TV (HD) you will need a HD ready television and HD set top box, generally at a higher rate of subscription.

Q. Do you have unique garden gift ideas for my mum for Mother’s Day? A. Typically, green-fingered mums are given trowels, watering cans and garden gloves — so why not give her something to help her enjoy all her hard work in the garden instead! Cork based company Hammockology have a fab range of colourful hammocks and hanging chairs — see www.hammocks.ie. If she’s an animal lover, take a look at the quirky handmade bird and pet houses by Donegal-based Chic-Hens — see www.chic-hens.ie. Or Pressieport.ie sell a ‘Name a Rose’ kit, €24.99, containing rose seeds, a growing guide and naming certificate that will be entered into International Rose Naming Registry — so she can even have a flower named after her for Mother’s Day.

WEB WATCH 1

Interior designer Deirdre Coleman (www.escaledesign.ie) answers your outdoor design queries. Email: interiors@examiner.ie

2

Above: The outside of a house can attract potential buyers to look inside. Below: Birdhouses from €35 available from www.chic-hens.ie. Classic Striped Hammock, €65 — available from www.hammocks.ie

The analogue system will be replaced by Digital Terrestrial Television on Oct 24. Only those still using aerials mounted on the roof to receive their television signal will be affected by this change, as it is a completely separate system to the commercial cable services offered by Sky and other firms.

O

Every week Sue O’Connor picks her top three interiors sites. If you have a favourite you’d like to see featured, email: interiors@examiner.ie

Gorgeous Gifts and Interiors

3

Etsy

This site shows you how to jazz up any surfaces in your home. Selfadhesive films, decorative films; etch effect designs; wallpapers and bespoke stained glass designs are just some of the products on offer.

Stickers in a choice of colours and sizes, which can be made to suit your exact requirements and will prevent great-aunt Eileen walking through a glass door. This site has those safety stickers to stop any nasty accidents. It also has custom-made stickers so you can send on what you want and they will work their magic on your text.

Products featured on this site waver from the beautiful to the sublime. Novelty items like card masks for a dinner party, ostrich feather dusters, and a host of unusual trays and dinner plates can give your house that something special. The store was created by interior designer, Milo FitzGerald, and has an off shoot of an interior design gallery which showcases charming residential and commercial projects. You can shop by price or by designer, which include Normann Copenhagan, Five Dollar Shake, Black and Blum, and Ibride.

A nod to this site has to be given as it’s sales hit $525.6 million in 2011.

But it still has kept its neighbourhood theme with its handcrafted and unusual delights. “We see a world in which very-very small businesses have much-much more sway in shaping the economy; local living economies are thriving everywhere, and people value authorship and provenance as much as price and convenience,” claims the site. You can buy and sell everything here for the home and garden — be it handmade, vintage or suppliers so you know the source of the product.

■ www.purlees.com

■ www.gorgeousgiftsandinteriors.com

■ www.etsy.com

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

Beast cushion found on www.pinterest.com.

Originally posted from www.etsy.com

n Oct 24, the analogue system that has delivered Irish television for time immemorial will finally be switched off and will be replaced entirely by the already operating digital signal of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). This highly important moment in Irish broadcasting is termed the Digital Switchover of DSO. For many of us already using commercial cable and Sky’s satellite services, this moment will register as excited white noise on the RTÉ news. However, if you are one of the 250,000 households still receiving an analogue television signal through an aerial mounted on the roof, it’s time to upgrade your service.

There are two choices to join the digital age, either you can take up a contract with the existing digital services or you can vouch for Saorview (free view), RTÉ’s brand of digital broadcast delivering the Irish channels, RTÉ ONE, RTÉ TWO, RTÉ Junior, RTÉ ONE+1, RTÉ News Now, 3e, TG4, and TV3 to about 98% of the country.

Saorview is non-subscription and the programming is free, (you just pay your TV license as usual) and can be picked up by your existing UHF aerial. If you cannot receive Saorview, an infill service called Saorsat will be available.

The service may be free, but the set up is not. To start enjoying Saorview you will need to purchase either a set top box to run between the aerial and the television ( around €50), or a new digital television (IDTV) that’s Saorview ready with the new receiver

integrated in the set itself. The set top box and IDTVs are available from most electrical retailers in Ireland, and start from around €150. There’s a small grey and red bird over the words ‘Saorview Approved’ on these televisions.

Once you have your set top box or IDTV linked to the aerial by cable, you then tune in your Saorview service using the manual that comes with your new equipment. Your aerial may need adjusting, but if you are currently picking up TV3, it’s probably fine. If you have more than one television you will need a set top box for each. If you choose a set top box with features such as pause and rewind expect to pay from €80-€100.

The Saorview service is capable of transmitting High Definition (HD) programming. Keep this in mind if you’re replacing the set entirely.

Taking into account the potential for confusion and in some cases hardship involved in tailoring a TV to dovetail with the new service, a network of trained individuals are coordinating a public awareness campaign to smooth the transition to DSO. Termed the Digital Outreach Champions, you can find their plain but informative website at www.goingdigital.ie. Saorview is not a subscription and is not sold door to door by Saorview, RTÉ or anyone else.

Similarly, there is no ‘special’ aerial needed. Ensure you, your elderly or vulnerable family, friends and neighbours are not targeted by individuals ‘selling’ the service or equipment, by spreading the word.

■ Further guidance on the Digital Switchover is available at http://www.goingdigital.ie/, through LoCall 1890 940 980 (English language) and 1890 940 970 (Irish language).

■ Information booklets are also available in post offices and Citizen Information Centres throughout the country and an updated booklet will be sent to all households later in the summer. The Saorview information leaflet can be found at www.soarview.ie.

■ If you think you’ve been deceived or misled in relation to the purchase of digital TV receiving equipment, for example a TV, set-top box, aerial or satellite dish or the installation of any of this equipment, contact the National Consumer Agency on 1890 432432 or 01402 5555. The National Consumer Agency has prepared an independent information guide on digital television which you can find at www.nca.ie.

■ AerTV: Provided by a broadband signal, you will need speeds of at least 1Mb to enjoy the service. HD being set up this year. The basic service is free. Nationwide. www.aertv.ie.

Contact (do this online): support@aertv.ie.

■ Sky:. Available to 99% of households.

Generous 65 TV channel Sky + packages start at €25 and include dozens of radio channels too, but climb to a peak of €76 for inclusion of all movie channels and sports.

Installation is around €30 by a local installer and a Sky + set top box is free to new customers (not HD). www.skyireland.ie. Tel: 0818-719852.

■ UPC: This operates as a MMDS cable service to rural areas and standard cables in most urban areas. 87-149 channels depending on your choice from three digital packages. With Digital+, you can pause and rewind programming. 13 HD channels.

Monthly fee from €25.40 includes a set top box charge. Installation and activation €50, cabling €40.

Broadband, phone bundles available. www.upc.ie. Tel: 1890-940070.

The Saorview service can transmit High Definition programming. Keep this in mind if you’re replacing your set.

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

19

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WISH LIST

WISH LIST

Cleaning up your patios

The multi-petalled Bloom pendant light is finished in green, white and gold, but is suitably subtle for all year round use (from Objekt, Limerick €540)

The all-Irish Bunbury Board comes with a unique report detailing the location of the tree from which it was hewn.

Now it’s offered in a limited edition from trees felled in the grounds below St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, believed to be the burial place of St Patrick (from €25.95 at www.irishwoods.com)

The delicious My Kiwi chair and footstool by Fama offers comfort and style and a touch of the eclectic to your interiors (from New Furniture Centre €1,195).

The Harlequin rug combines 70’s patterning with contemporary colour combination for a fresh and modern aesthetic (from Casey’s Furniture €135)

Hate limescale?

Amazing Water Softener SALE others don’t want you to find out about!

WAS €1,296

NOW €674

HURRY LIMITED OFFER! ENDS 5PM WEDNESDAY 21ST MARCH

SAVE UP TO €800 A YEAR WITH EWT SOFTENED WATER ������ �������� ��� �� ��������� �������� ����� ��� ������ ����� ��� ����� �� � ������� ���� �� ���� ���������

��� ����� ������� ��� ��� ����� �����

��������� ��� ������� ��� ��� �� ������ ��� ������������ �������� �����

��� �� ����� ������ ��� �������� �����

Voted Irish Business of the Year 2011

by Action Coach International

BONUS OFFER! Order before 5pm Wednesday 21st March & receive FREE S2000 Drinking Water System worth €190 FREE Installation worth €70

SAVE €300+ yearly. Limefree water can reduce hot water costs by 25%

Less cleaning time on bathrooms.

Save on cleaning products and elbow grease

Cleaner clothes 50% reduction in washing powder.

Stop damage to your appliances.

Reduce shampoos, moisturisers, cleaners etc by 30%

Cleaner dishes 6 times more effective at reducing spotting and filming.

Great drinking water No need to buy expensive bottled water with an EWT S2000 Water filter!

Enjoy invigorating soft water showers.

Prevent Limescale damage to appliances.

LO-CALL 1850 39 28 37

Email: info@ewtechnologies.ie / www.ewtechnologies.ie 20

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

IN THE GARDEN

GARDENNOTES

by Charlie Wilkins

■ Ballyseedy Cork will host a talk on growing vegetables for Midleton GIY on Wednesday at 7pm at their premises in Fota Business Park Carrigtwohill. Fee €2. Raffle in aid of CUH cancer ward. All welcome.

E

In honour of our dear saint who gives us an annual day off Carol O’Callaghan parades a Wish List of home interiors goodies in patriotic hues

Ensure your dried goods stay that way with the Orla Kiely storage jar (€52.95 at Kilkenny shops, Cork and Cobh; Hamish Hawkins, Kinsale; Shoe Baloo, Waterford; Jupiter, Ennis; Brown Thomas Cork and Limerick)

XP1 - V1

€260 EXTRA VALUE FREE!

when you order before 5pm Wednesday 21st March

very year requests on how to clean paths and paving of slippery, green algae arrive in great numbers on my desk. These crop up in all seasons, but particularly during early spring when the foul-looking deposits are more likely to be noticed. All can cause falls and injury if left untreated.

Getting rid of these is not a hard job, but up to now it entailed quite a bit of scrubbing coupled to highpressure water washing and copious rinsing. A number of products were recommended as suitable for eliminating the most common types of algae, chief among these being household bleach, tar-oil wash (now banned and withdrawn) and Jeyes Fluid (now newly formulated). Today I can suggest something stronger and better; an extra staple, sodium hypochlorate solution called ‘Chloras’.

In Munster, ‘Chloras’ is generally sold through Co-Op Superstore outlets. Elsewhere it’s available as ‘Sterichlor’ or ‘Unichlor’. You can have five litres for around €6 or 25 litres for €20. The latter is far more economical, and because it does not have a shelf life unused quantities can be stored for long periods. The product is normally used for sterilising dairy parlours, milking equipment, as a detergent solution in food outlets, and as a sterilisation additive to swimming-pools.

Areas to be treated should be drenched with water to begin. A small amount of undiluted or 50/50 Chloras solution can then be poured on the wetted surfaces and gently brushed in. Allow to remain for ten to 15 minutes then hose off using normal water pressure. During this period the soft brush (which will bleach!) can be occasionally used to ‘reactivate’ the solution.

Notice how it foams readily

■ Devonshire Day at Lismore Castle takes place tomorrow. Enjoy afternoon tea in the Pugin Room and experience a unique preview of Lismore Castle Spring Gardens.

Tickets from the Immrama office and Lismore Heritage Centre €20.

Contact 058-53803or 058-54975.

■ The garden of Neil and Sonia Williams in Baneshane, Midleton, will be open on Saturday and Sunday next, 11am to 5pm.

■ Join Brian Cross for a spring morning at Lakemount Gardens Glanmire on Saturday, Apr 14. in aid of Cork Simon. Contact sarah@corksimon.ie or tel 0214929416.

■ A garden workshop with Susan Turner at the Ballymaloe Cookery School Shanagarry, Co Cork on Monday from 9am to 2pm. Contact cathriona@cookingisfun.ie.

■ Sunday’s Well Flower and Garden Club host Sheila Crean on Wednesday 8pm in St Vincent’s Parish Centre.

■ Conna and District Flower and Garden Club meet on Wednesday at 8pm.

■ Mallow Flower and Garden Club host a floral dem by Liz Fitzgerald in Mercy Centre on Tuesday at 8pm.

■ Macroom flower and Garden club host Eileen O’Brien in Coolcower House on Apr 19 at 8pm.

■ Fr James MacSweeney will speak at Cork Flower Club on Tuesday next in the Canon Packham Hall Douglas.

Patios like this one can be made safe, clean and attractive once more with the right application.

and spreads all the better.

This is normal.

Brickwork, concrete, paving slabs, even cobbles will regain their original colour, so too pebble-dashed pavers, garden walls, corrugated Perspex, and painted surfaces. Even before rinsing takes place the offending discolouration will begin to disappear and the treated areas will come back to their original colour.

WORK FOR THE WEEK ANEMONE: I cannot imagine spring at Villa Marie without Anemone ‘blanda’ growing in every sunny, open spot. These are cheerful little flowers, three inches tall, and they grow without fuss in the border, shrubbery, and rock garden. Under trees facing the sun, their flowers will delight from mid-February to disappear gently as the Easter festivities approach. The multi-petalled blooms, an inch across when open, come in a variety of colours, but the blue form is magnificent, and in isolation is simply sensational.

In sandy soil they will spread like

It is important you use plenty of water to disperse the ‘Chloras’ following treatment.

Health and safety is important, so use rubber boots and gloves, old clothing, safety goggles and headgear.

Avoid splashing skin and take particular precautions with your eyes. Accidental splashes on skin should be washed off immediately with water even though the

product does not ‘burn’ on contact. As a cleaning agent I have yet to use better around the garden. I can recommend it to gardeners and householders who suffer the scourge of winter algae and discolouration on paths, steps, concrete walls, brickwork, painted surfaces, even roof tiles. It can be used in the greenhouse on glass, timber and terra-cotta pots.

by Charlie Wilkins

ground elder and for this reason I add sand amid their modest leaves once blooming ceases. I get a better return from these than any other spring bulb, so invest in a few dozen come the autumn. These anemones only open their ray of petals in full sun so are not suitable for a shaded place.

WILLOW: A magnificent accompaniment to spring is the pussy willow and any old remnant pushed into damp soil will root and make a powerful plant in a short time! You only need a side shoot with a solid stem. Bury it to

about a third of its length in damp ground and it will almost certainly root in a few weeks.

DIERAMA: Angel’s fishing rods can look extremely untidy during March, especially following a winter of damp, mild conditions.

These should be better known but they’re looked upon as being too exacting. Being an untidy grower it sends up reedy-looking leaves, followed by wiry wands of magnificent pendulous blooms which dip and move in any breeze.

If you remove all the faded foliage it will look far more appealing.

■ Hosfords of Enniskeane will host Torc in concert today at 2pm and on tomorrow present Nancy Long on harp, and Miriam Long on flute again at 2pm.

■ Coachford Flower and Garden Club host DJ Murphy as guest speaker at their meeting on Wednesday in the Village Inn at 8pm.

■ Griffins free talks at noon next Monday, Wednesday and Friday on cottage gardening Irish style. Lunch for €10.

■ The Pavilion Garden Centre, Ballygarvan continue their lectures on Wednesday at 10.30am with planning and sowing vegetables.

Tel 021-4888134. www.thepavilion.ie

No. 1 Lawnmower Man

• • • • • • •

Craftsman Sit-On Mowers 14.5 h/p to 23 h/p Twin-Cut Sit-On Mowers 10.5 h/p to 17/.5 h/p Stiga Articulator Out Front Dedicated Mulching Mowers Push and Self-Propelled Mowers Honda Lawnmowers, Oleo-Mac Strimmers & Hedge Cutters Grasshopper Zero Turn Mowers Lawn, Landscaping, Golf and Sportsfield machinery also available

PAT G E A N E Y

Brooklodge, Glanmire, Co. Cork Tel. 021-4822465 or 021-4821409 West St., Tallow, Co. Waterford Tel. 058-55970 OPEN 6 DAYS • Mon-Thurs 9am-8pm • Fri-Sat 9am-6pm

www.thelawnmowerman.ie

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

21

TERAPROOF:User:noelcroninDate:15/03/2012Time:12:50:12Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:20

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

WISH LIST

WISH LIST

Cleaning up your patios

The multi-petalled Bloom pendant light is finished in green, white and gold, but is suitably subtle for all year round use (from Objekt, Limerick €540)

The all-Irish Bunbury Board comes with a unique report detailing the location of the tree from which it was hewn.

Now it’s offered in a limited edition from trees felled in the grounds below St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, believed to be the burial place of St Patrick (from €25.95 at www.irishwoods.com)

The delicious My Kiwi chair and footstool by Fama offers comfort and style and a touch of the eclectic to your interiors (from New Furniture Centre €1,195).

The Harlequin rug combines 70’s patterning with contemporary colour combination for a fresh and modern aesthetic (from Casey’s Furniture €135)

Hate limescale?

Amazing Water Softener SALE others don’t want you to find out about!

WAS €1,296

NOW €674

HURRY LIMITED OFFER! ENDS 5PM WEDNESDAY 21ST MARCH

SAVE UP TO €800 A YEAR WITH EWT SOFTENED WATER ������ �������� ��� �� ��������� �������� ����� ��� ������ ����� ��� ����� �� � ������� ���� �� ���� ���������

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SAVE €300+ yearly. Limefree water can reduce hot water costs by 25%

Less cleaning time on bathrooms.

Save on cleaning products and elbow grease

Cleaner clothes 50% reduction in washing powder.

Stop damage to your appliances.

Reduce shampoos, moisturisers, cleaners etc by 30%

Cleaner dishes 6 times more effective at reducing spotting and filming.

Great drinking water No need to buy expensive bottled water with an EWT S2000 Water filter!

Enjoy invigorating soft water showers.

Prevent Limescale damage to appliances.

LO-CALL 1850 39 28 37

Email: info@ewtechnologies.ie / www.ewtechnologies.ie 20

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

IN THE GARDEN

GARDENNOTES

by Charlie Wilkins

■ Ballyseedy Cork will host a talk on growing vegetables for Midleton GIY on Wednesday at 7pm at their premises in Fota Business Park Carrigtwohill. Fee €2. Raffle in aid of CUH cancer ward. All welcome.

E

In honour of our dear saint who gives us an annual day off Carol O’Callaghan parades a Wish List of home interiors goodies in patriotic hues

Ensure your dried goods stay that way with the Orla Kiely storage jar (€52.95 at Kilkenny shops, Cork and Cobh; Hamish Hawkins, Kinsale; Shoe Baloo, Waterford; Jupiter, Ennis; Brown Thomas Cork and Limerick)

XP1 - V1

€260 EXTRA VALUE FREE!

when you order before 5pm Wednesday 21st March

very year requests on how to clean paths and paving of slippery, green algae arrive in great numbers on my desk. These crop up in all seasons, but particularly during early spring when the foul-looking deposits are more likely to be noticed. All can cause falls and injury if left untreated.

Getting rid of these is not a hard job, but up to now it entailed quite a bit of scrubbing coupled to highpressure water washing and copious rinsing. A number of products were recommended as suitable for eliminating the most common types of algae, chief among these being household bleach, tar-oil wash (now banned and withdrawn) and Jeyes Fluid (now newly formulated). Today I can suggest something stronger and better; an extra staple, sodium hypochlorate solution called ‘Chloras’.

In Munster, ‘Chloras’ is generally sold through Co-Op Superstore outlets. Elsewhere it’s available as ‘Sterichlor’ or ‘Unichlor’. You can have five litres for around €6 or 25 litres for €20. The latter is far more economical, and because it does not have a shelf life unused quantities can be stored for long periods. The product is normally used for sterilising dairy parlours, milking equipment, as a detergent solution in food outlets, and as a sterilisation additive to swimming-pools.

Areas to be treated should be drenched with water to begin. A small amount of undiluted or 50/50 Chloras solution can then be poured on the wetted surfaces and gently brushed in. Allow to remain for ten to 15 minutes then hose off using normal water pressure. During this period the soft brush (which will bleach!) can be occasionally used to ‘reactivate’ the solution.

Notice how it foams readily

■ Devonshire Day at Lismore Castle takes place tomorrow. Enjoy afternoon tea in the Pugin Room and experience a unique preview of Lismore Castle Spring Gardens.

Tickets from the Immrama office and Lismore Heritage Centre €20.

Contact 058-53803or 058-54975.

■ The garden of Neil and Sonia Williams in Baneshane, Midleton, will be open on Saturday and Sunday next, 11am to 5pm.

■ Join Brian Cross for a spring morning at Lakemount Gardens Glanmire on Saturday, Apr 14. in aid of Cork Simon. Contact sarah@corksimon.ie or tel 0214929416.

■ A garden workshop with Susan Turner at the Ballymaloe Cookery School Shanagarry, Co Cork on Monday from 9am to 2pm. Contact cathriona@cookingisfun.ie.

■ Sunday’s Well Flower and Garden Club host Sheila Crean on Wednesday 8pm in St Vincent’s Parish Centre.

■ Conna and District Flower and Garden Club meet on Wednesday at 8pm.

■ Mallow Flower and Garden Club host a floral dem by Liz Fitzgerald in Mercy Centre on Tuesday at 8pm.

■ Macroom flower and Garden club host Eileen O’Brien in Coolcower House on Apr 19 at 8pm.

■ Fr James MacSweeney will speak at Cork Flower Club on Tuesday next in the Canon Packham Hall Douglas.

Patios like this one can be made safe, clean and attractive once more with the right application.

and spreads all the better.

This is normal.

Brickwork, concrete, paving slabs, even cobbles will regain their original colour, so too pebble-dashed pavers, garden walls, corrugated Perspex, and painted surfaces. Even before rinsing takes place the offending discolouration will begin to disappear and the treated areas will come back to their original colour.

WORK FOR THE WEEK ANEMONE: I cannot imagine spring at Villa Marie without Anemone ‘blanda’ growing in every sunny, open spot. These are cheerful little flowers, three inches tall, and they grow without fuss in the border, shrubbery, and rock garden. Under trees facing the sun, their flowers will delight from mid-February to disappear gently as the Easter festivities approach. The multi-petalled blooms, an inch across when open, come in a variety of colours, but the blue form is magnificent, and in isolation is simply sensational.

In sandy soil they will spread like

It is important you use plenty of water to disperse the ‘Chloras’ following treatment.

Health and safety is important, so use rubber boots and gloves, old clothing, safety goggles and headgear.

Avoid splashing skin and take particular precautions with your eyes. Accidental splashes on skin should be washed off immediately with water even though the

product does not ‘burn’ on contact. As a cleaning agent I have yet to use better around the garden. I can recommend it to gardeners and householders who suffer the scourge of winter algae and discolouration on paths, steps, concrete walls, brickwork, painted surfaces, even roof tiles. It can be used in the greenhouse on glass, timber and terra-cotta pots.

by Charlie Wilkins

ground elder and for this reason I add sand amid their modest leaves once blooming ceases. I get a better return from these than any other spring bulb, so invest in a few dozen come the autumn. These anemones only open their ray of petals in full sun so are not suitable for a shaded place.

WILLOW: A magnificent accompaniment to spring is the pussy willow and any old remnant pushed into damp soil will root and make a powerful plant in a short time! You only need a side shoot with a solid stem. Bury it to

about a third of its length in damp ground and it will almost certainly root in a few weeks.

DIERAMA: Angel’s fishing rods can look extremely untidy during March, especially following a winter of damp, mild conditions.

These should be better known but they’re looked upon as being too exacting. Being an untidy grower it sends up reedy-looking leaves, followed by wiry wands of magnificent pendulous blooms which dip and move in any breeze.

If you remove all the faded foliage it will look far more appealing.

■ Hosfords of Enniskeane will host Torc in concert today at 2pm and on tomorrow present Nancy Long on harp, and Miriam Long on flute again at 2pm.

■ Coachford Flower and Garden Club host DJ Murphy as guest speaker at their meeting on Wednesday in the Village Inn at 8pm.

■ Griffins free talks at noon next Monday, Wednesday and Friday on cottage gardening Irish style. Lunch for €10.

■ The Pavilion Garden Centre, Ballygarvan continue their lectures on Wednesday at 10.30am with planning and sowing vegetables.

Tel 021-4888134. www.thepavilion.ie

No. 1 Lawnmower Man

• • • • • • •

Craftsman Sit-On Mowers 14.5 h/p to 23 h/p Twin-Cut Sit-On Mowers 10.5 h/p to 17/.5 h/p Stiga Articulator Out Front Dedicated Mulching Mowers Push and Self-Propelled Mowers Honda Lawnmowers, Oleo-Mac Strimmers & Hedge Cutters Grasshopper Zero Turn Mowers Lawn, Landscaping, Golf and Sportsfield machinery also available

PAT G E A N E Y

Brooklodge, Glanmire, Co. Cork Tel. 021-4822465 or 021-4821409 West St., Tallow, Co. Waterford Tel. 058-55970 OPEN 6 DAYS • Mon-Thurs 9am-8pm • Fri-Sat 9am-6pm

www.thelawnmowerman.ie

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

21

TERAPROOF:User:noelcroninDate:15/03/2012Time:13:46:13Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:22

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

XP1 - V1

ANTIQUES & FINE ART

ADVERTISING

Freedom Box gem to glisten at antique fair

IN BRIEF

Rare treasures, writes Des O’Sullivan, will feature at Limerick Fine Art Fair

A

George III Gold Cork Freedom Box is one of many treasures at the two day National Antiques and Fine Art Fair at the South Court Hotel in Limerick tomorrow and Monday.

The fair will feature antique furniture, art, jewellery, silver, lighting, porcelain, coins, watches, books and vintage items.

There will be 70 dealers in attendance from all around Ireland and Northern Ireland, including 15 members of the Irish Antique Dealers Association.

The rarity of the Cork gold Freedom Box at Weldons stand is reflected in an asking price of €50,000. Made by Cork silversmiths Carden Terry and Jane Williams circa 1795, it was presented to William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord

Lieutenant of Ireland 1794-1795. The oval box is designed with chased foliage and bright-cut borders and the cover is engraved with the Arms of the City of Cork.

Though it is just over three inches wide and weighs just five ounces the base is engraved: ‘The Freedom of the Corporation of The City of Cork presented in this Box. To his Excellency Earle Fitzwilliam. Lord Lieut.. Genl.. & Genl..

Governor of Ireland this 24th.. day of January.

1795. John Thompson Mayor David Perrier Heny.. Bagnel Sheriffs’.

This is the largest fair so far by Robin O’Donnell of Hibernian Antique Fairs, who has organised Sunday fairs around Ireland on a regular basis for the past 22 years. The fair runs from 11am to 6pm tomorrow and again on Monday.

ONLINE IRISH ART SALE Over 150 works representing well known Irish artists to be sold online only

‘Kilkee on a wild day’ is the title of this oil on canvas by the Limerick artist Henry Morgan. It is on offer at Dolan’s Irish art auction at Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick on Mar 25 and is estimated at €300-400.

This Irish Regency library chair made €2,600 at Lynes and Lynes auction in Carrigtwohill.

Paper collection

W

ORKS on paper from the collection of Sir William Orpen’s mistress and confidante Mrs Evelyn St. George come up at Christie’s in South Kensington, London, next Wednesday.

The Dublin-born artist married Grace Knewstub in 1901 and they had three children. As the marriage deteriorated he painted a portrait of wealthy socialite Evelyn St. George in 1912. It was the first of many such paintings and the start of a long affair. The most expensive Orpen ever sold at auction is his portrait of

Evelyn’s daughter Gardenia with riding crop, which made £1,983,500 at Sotheby’s in London in 2001.

The 13 works on paper at Christie’s next week have estimates of £1,000 to £6,000. They are from the collection of Vivien St. George, daughter of Orpen and Evelyn St. George, who inherited the works on paper and donated over 200 to the National Gallery in Dublin.

These are the last of her collection of her father’s letters. Orpen, who trained at the Slade, became an official war artist.

EDWARD WALSH SALES Mitchelstown Phone 025 84107 or 086 2540645

Preliminary Announcement Auction of Antiques and High Class Furniture at the Kilcoran Lodge Hotel on Sunday, March 25 at 2.30pm being the contents of a period house in Tipperary and Cashel.

Full details on next weeks issue.

Auction Times: Starts: 5th Mar 2012 at 9am Ends: 26th Mar 2012 at 7pm Patrick Copperwhite

AUCTION OF FURNITURE & EFFECTS, ANTIQUES, SILVER & ART Now accepting for next auction

WOODWARDS AUCTION ROOMS 26 COOK ST CORK ∙ 021-4273327 ∙ www.woodward.ie

Graham Knuttel

Kenneth Webb

ANTIQUES & GENERAL AUCTION Sunday 25th March @ 12noon

F u l l c a t a l o gu e c a n b e v i e w ed o n w w w . m o r g a n o d r i s c o l l . c o m or on view at our offices in Skibbereen

Viewing: Fri. 23rd 10am to 8pm Sat. 24th 10am to 8pm & morning of sale from 9am

Ilen Street, Skibbereen, Co. Cork; Tel: 028 22338 · Mob: 086 2472425 email: info@morganodriscoll.com

12 South Link Park, Ballycurreen Road, Cork Tel: 021 4847689 086 8165329 Web: www.corkauctionrooms.com

22

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

CORK AUCTION ROOMS

Above: Rare Cork gold freedom box. Below: This Georgian wine cooler sold for €540 at Woodward’s recent sale.

On the Courthouse Steps

by Jack B. Yeats was the top lot at Whyte’s art auction in Dublin on Monday. It sold for €88,000, just below the low estimate of €90,000.

Lovers in a Garden by Charles Edward Perugini, which featured on this page last week, made €48,000. The 271 lot auction was over 70% sold and a number of works went under active negotiation afterwards. ...............................................................

Viewing gets underway in Limerick next Friday for the Dolan’s Irish art sale at Castletroy Park Hotel on Sunday, Mar 25 at 3pm. Viewing 10am to 9pm next Friday and again on this day week, and 10am to the start of the auction. ...............................................................

Lynes and Lynes had a successful sale in Carrigtwohill last week.

The top lot was an Irish Regency library chair, which made €2,600. A Victorian walnut credenza sold for €850, an Irish Georgian circular table on pod made €900, a pair of bronze marley horses made €650, a Cork side table made €600, an Irish Georgian linen press made €850 and a George III marble fireplace tablet made €2,400.

There will be an auction at Limerick Auction Rooms at 1pm tomorrow with 460 lots, including collectibles, antiques and art. ...............................................................

The framed 1785 ship’s bill of lading or manifest detailing the export of 50 firkins of butter from Cork to London sold for €500 at the Marshs sale in Cork last Saturday. It was signed by the exporter, William Crawford and Sam Seldon, skipper of the ship Thomas.

The auction at Hegarty’s in Bandon on Mar 25 at 3pm features a pair of William IV library chairs among over 100 lots of furniture. English and Irish silver, collectibles and Irish, British art are in the sale of over 300 lots.

Viewing 11am next Friday. ...............................................................

Antique furniture, jewellery, vintage costume and accessories, and collectibles feature at the Bank Holiday fair at the Kingston Hotel, Adelaide St., Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin on Mar 19 from 11am to 6 p.m

TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL

Ger Duggan Tel: 021-4802192 email: interiorads@examiner.ie

S! N I E rs!

D owe A nm R e-O T d i R rs & R T! owe nm OU YOU

WE

Law on NeT als

Aic d ON’T W tast D Fan

S MIS

Casey Tiles & Wooden Floors Ltd. March Promotion NOW ON

• Ireland’s largest stockist of Tiles, Laminates and Wood Floors • All wall & floors tiles greatly reduced • Open Mon-Sat 10am - 6pm

Lawnmowers, Ride-On Mowers & Tractors from as little as

€16 per week!

99 59 m €1, €1,59 Fro From

Flexible Finance Available

199 m €2 €21 Fro om Fr

Toss Bryan

Courthouse Road, Fermoy, Co. Cork Tel. 025 31833 Web. www.tossbryangarden.ie

Hand Crafted Finest Irish Furniture AT REALISTIC PRICES • Corner Groups • Sofas • Sofa Beds

Cahir Business Park, Cahir Abbey, Co. Tipperary.

Tel: 052-7441723 Fax: 052-7441048

Closed Lunch 1-2

CaseyTiles&WoodenFloorsLtd. Tile & Wood Importers & Wholesalers

ALL IRELAND DOORS Energy rated Composite Doors - Security with Style We don’t believe in compromising on quality.

We’ve brought together materials to give you the very best in strength, easy maintenance, security, and weather resistance.

FINLINE FURNITURE Making Irelands Finest Sofas & Chairs Since 1979

NEW FACTORY SHOWROOMS OPEN – 100% IRISH MADE 75 Models and 2,000 Exquisite Fabric Choices

10 YEAR FRAME GUARANTEE

• Curtains & Blinds • Re-upholstery service Cork Road, Carrigaline, Cork Tel: 021 4372343 Mob: 087 2405470

Suite Cottage •INTERIORS•

Est. 1970 “So far so Good”

ST. PATRICKS WEEKEND OPENING

Sat 17th March - CLOSED Sun 18th March - 2pm - 6pm Mon 19th March - 2pm - 6pm

New Furniture Centre

Watercourse Road, Blackpool, Cork. Telephone 021 4504366 Also Unit 1A | Lidl Retail Centre. Ballyvolane | Cork | Tel 021-4557693

SA N

LE

OW

ON off 50% EVERYTHING IN OUR CLEARANCE CENTRE

New Furniture Centre

Watercourse Road, Blackpool, Cork. Telephone 021 4504366 Also Unit 1A | Lidl Retail Centre. Ballyvolane | Cork | Tel 021-4557693

CALL US NOW FOR MORE DETAILS: 023 88 48799 email: roy@allirelanddoors.ie

Check out our unbeatable prices on www.allirelanddoors.ie

ADVERTISE HERE

90 mins from Cork in Emo, Co Laois. Open 6 Days 2 Minutes from Exit 15 off the M7 to Dublin Ph 05786 26219 - www.finlinefurniture.ie

Bathroom Moisture a Problem?

Simply fit a

SHOWERDOME to your shower unit

For information on advertising rates please contact Ger Duggan Tel: 021-4802192 Email ger.duggan@examiner.ie

Result: No more steam in your bathroom Just look at the Benefits...

• No Steam • No Condensation • No Mildew • Saves Electricity • No Mould • No Open Windows • Less Cleaning • Draught-Free

Mobile 087 6242600 Tel 021 4770683 www.showerdome.ie

ADANACK The Cedar Specialists • Premium Cedar Cladding • Specialists in machining and staining

• No.1 Grade Western Red Cedar K.D.

SPECIAL OFFER: Exceptional value on Short lengths.

Call for a quote

Adanack Ltd Tralee, Co. Kerry Tel: 066 7136802 www.adanack.com

SALE ENDS Monday 19th open 1 to 5pm Exciting range of gifts for all ages - brands include: • Orla Kiely • Max Benjamin • Jack O’ Patsy • Gruffalo!

Wide range of Solid Teak furniture - for immediate delivery or custom made

Rathealy Road, Fermoy, Co. Cork Mon-Sat 10am-6pm • Sun 2pm-6pm Tel. 025-32607 e: bataviashop@eircom.net

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

23

TERAPROOF:User:noelcroninDate:15/03/2012Time:13:46:13Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:22

Zone:XP1

XP1 - V1

XP1 - V1

ANTIQUES & FINE ART

ADVERTISING

Freedom Box gem to glisten at antique fair

IN BRIEF

Rare treasures, writes Des O’Sullivan, will feature at Limerick Fine Art Fair

A

George III Gold Cork Freedom Box is one of many treasures at the two day National Antiques and Fine Art Fair at the South Court Hotel in Limerick tomorrow and Monday.

The fair will feature antique furniture, art, jewellery, silver, lighting, porcelain, coins, watches, books and vintage items.

There will be 70 dealers in attendance from all around Ireland and Northern Ireland, including 15 members of the Irish Antique Dealers Association.

The rarity of the Cork gold Freedom Box at Weldons stand is reflected in an asking price of €50,000. Made by Cork silversmiths Carden Terry and Jane Williams circa 1795, it was presented to William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord

Lieutenant of Ireland 1794-1795. The oval box is designed with chased foliage and bright-cut borders and the cover is engraved with the Arms of the City of Cork.

Though it is just over three inches wide and weighs just five ounces the base is engraved: ‘The Freedom of the Corporation of The City of Cork presented in this Box. To his Excellency Earle Fitzwilliam. Lord Lieut.. Genl.. & Genl..

Governor of Ireland this 24th.. day of January.

1795. John Thompson Mayor David Perrier Heny.. Bagnel Sheriffs’.

This is the largest fair so far by Robin O’Donnell of Hibernian Antique Fairs, who has organised Sunday fairs around Ireland on a regular basis for the past 22 years. The fair runs from 11am to 6pm tomorrow and again on Monday.

ONLINE IRISH ART SALE Over 150 works representing well known Irish artists to be sold online only

‘Kilkee on a wild day’ is the title of this oil on canvas by the Limerick artist Henry Morgan. It is on offer at Dolan’s Irish art auction at Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick on Mar 25 and is estimated at €300-400.

This Irish Regency library chair made €2,600 at Lynes and Lynes auction in Carrigtwohill.

Paper collection

W

ORKS on paper from the collection of Sir William Orpen’s mistress and confidante Mrs Evelyn St. George come up at Christie’s in South Kensington, London, next Wednesday.

The Dublin-born artist married Grace Knewstub in 1901 and they had three children. As the marriage deteriorated he painted a portrait of wealthy socialite Evelyn St. George in 1912. It was the first of many such paintings and the start of a long affair. The most expensive Orpen ever sold at auction is his portrait of

Evelyn’s daughter Gardenia with riding crop, which made £1,983,500 at Sotheby’s in London in 2001.

The 13 works on paper at Christie’s next week have estimates of £1,000 to £6,000. They are from the collection of Vivien St. George, daughter of Orpen and Evelyn St. George, who inherited the works on paper and donated over 200 to the National Gallery in Dublin.

These are the last of her collection of her father’s letters. Orpen, who trained at the Slade, became an official war artist.

EDWARD WALSH SALES Mitchelstown Phone 025 84107 or 086 2540645

Preliminary Announcement Auction of Antiques and High Class Furniture at the Kilcoran Lodge Hotel on Sunday, March 25 at 2.30pm being the contents of a period house in Tipperary and Cashel.

Full details on next weeks issue.

Auction Times: Starts: 5th Mar 2012 at 9am Ends: 26th Mar 2012 at 7pm Patrick Copperwhite

AUCTION OF FURNITURE & EFFECTS, ANTIQUES, SILVER & ART Now accepting for next auction

WOODWARDS AUCTION ROOMS 26 COOK ST CORK ∙ 021-4273327 ∙ www.woodward.ie

Graham Knuttel

Kenneth Webb

ANTIQUES & GENERAL AUCTION Sunday 25th March @ 12noon

F u l l c a t a l o gu e c a n b e v i e w ed o n w w w . m o r g a n o d r i s c o l l . c o m or on view at our offices in Skibbereen

Viewing: Fri. 23rd 10am to 8pm Sat. 24th 10am to 8pm & morning of sale from 9am

Ilen Street, Skibbereen, Co. Cork; Tel: 028 22338 · Mob: 086 2472425 email: info@morganodriscoll.com

12 South Link Park, Ballycurreen Road, Cork Tel: 021 4847689 086 8165329 Web: www.corkauctionrooms.com

22

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

CORK AUCTION ROOMS

Above: Rare Cork gold freedom box. Below: This Georgian wine cooler sold for €540 at Woodward’s recent sale.

On the Courthouse Steps

by Jack B. Yeats was the top lot at Whyte’s art auction in Dublin on Monday. It sold for €88,000, just below the low estimate of €90,000.

Lovers in a Garden by Charles Edward Perugini, which featured on this page last week, made €48,000. The 271 lot auction was over 70% sold and a number of works went under active negotiation afterwards. ...............................................................

Viewing gets underway in Limerick next Friday for the Dolan’s Irish art sale at Castletroy Park Hotel on Sunday, Mar 25 at 3pm. Viewing 10am to 9pm next Friday and again on this day week, and 10am to the start of the auction. ...............................................................

Lynes and Lynes had a successful sale in Carrigtwohill last week.

The top lot was an Irish Regency library chair, which made €2,600. A Victorian walnut credenza sold for €850, an Irish Georgian circular table on pod made €900, a pair of bronze marley horses made €650, a Cork side table made €600, an Irish Georgian linen press made €850 and a George III marble fireplace tablet made €2,400.

There will be an auction at Limerick Auction Rooms at 1pm tomorrow with 460 lots, including collectibles, antiques and art. ...............................................................

The framed 1785 ship’s bill of lading or manifest detailing the export of 50 firkins of butter from Cork to London sold for €500 at the Marshs sale in Cork last Saturday. It was signed by the exporter, William Crawford and Sam Seldon, skipper of the ship Thomas.

The auction at Hegarty’s in Bandon on Mar 25 at 3pm features a pair of William IV library chairs among over 100 lots of furniture. English and Irish silver, collectibles and Irish, British art are in the sale of over 300 lots.

Viewing 11am next Friday. ...............................................................

Antique furniture, jewellery, vintage costume and accessories, and collectibles feature at the Bank Holiday fair at the Kingston Hotel, Adelaide St., Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin on Mar 19 from 11am to 6 p.m

TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL

Ger Duggan Tel: 021-4802192 email: interiorads@examiner.ie

S! N I E rs!

D owe A nm R e-O T d i R rs & R T! owe nm OU YOU

WE

Law on NeT als

Aic d ON’T W tast D Fan

S MIS

Casey Tiles & Wooden Floors Ltd. March Promotion NOW ON

• Ireland’s largest stockist of Tiles, Laminates and Wood Floors • All wall & floors tiles greatly reduced • Open Mon-Sat 10am - 6pm

Lawnmowers, Ride-On Mowers & Tractors from as little as

€16 per week!

99 59 m €1, €1,59 Fro From

Flexible Finance Available

199 m €2 €21 Fro om Fr

Toss Bryan

Courthouse Road, Fermoy, Co. Cork Tel. 025 31833 Web. www.tossbryangarden.ie

Hand Crafted Finest Irish Furniture AT REALISTIC PRICES • Corner Groups • Sofas • Sofa Beds

Cahir Business Park, Cahir Abbey, Co. Tipperary.

Tel: 052-7441723 Fax: 052-7441048

Closed Lunch 1-2

CaseyTiles&WoodenFloorsLtd. Tile & Wood Importers & Wholesalers

ALL IRELAND DOORS Energy rated Composite Doors - Security with Style We don’t believe in compromising on quality.

We’ve brought together materials to give you the very best in strength, easy maintenance, security, and weather resistance.

FINLINE FURNITURE Making Irelands Finest Sofas & Chairs Since 1979

NEW FACTORY SHOWROOMS OPEN – 100% IRISH MADE 75 Models and 2,000 Exquisite Fabric Choices

10 YEAR FRAME GUARANTEE

• Curtains & Blinds • Re-upholstery service Cork Road, Carrigaline, Cork Tel: 021 4372343 Mob: 087 2405470

Suite Cottage •INTERIORS•

Est. 1970 “So far so Good”

ST. PATRICKS WEEKEND OPENING

Sat 17th March - CLOSED Sun 18th March - 2pm - 6pm Mon 19th March - 2pm - 6pm

New Furniture Centre

Watercourse Road, Blackpool, Cork. Telephone 021 4504366 Also Unit 1A | Lidl Retail Centre. Ballyvolane | Cork | Tel 021-4557693

SA N

LE

OW

ON off 50% EVERYTHING IN OUR CLEARANCE CENTRE

New Furniture Centre

Watercourse Road, Blackpool, Cork. Telephone 021 4504366 Also Unit 1A | Lidl Retail Centre. Ballyvolane | Cork | Tel 021-4557693

CALL US NOW FOR MORE DETAILS: 023 88 48799 email: roy@allirelanddoors.ie

Check out our unbeatable prices on www.allirelanddoors.ie

ADVERTISE HERE

90 mins from Cork in Emo, Co Laois. Open 6 Days 2 Minutes from Exit 15 off the M7 to Dublin Ph 05786 26219 - www.finlinefurniture.ie

Bathroom Moisture a Problem?

Simply fit a

SHOWERDOME to your shower unit

For information on advertising rates please contact Ger Duggan Tel: 021-4802192 Email ger.duggan@examiner.ie

Result: No more steam in your bathroom Just look at the Benefits...

• No Steam • No Condensation • No Mildew • Saves Electricity • No Mould • No Open Windows • Less Cleaning • Draught-Free

Mobile 087 6242600 Tel 021 4770683 www.showerdome.ie

ADANACK The Cedar Specialists • Premium Cedar Cladding • Specialists in machining and staining

• No.1 Grade Western Red Cedar K.D.

SPECIAL OFFER: Exceptional value on Short lengths.

Call for a quote

Adanack Ltd Tralee, Co. Kerry Tel: 066 7136802 www.adanack.com

SALE ENDS Monday 19th open 1 to 5pm Exciting range of gifts for all ages - brands include: • Orla Kiely • Max Benjamin • Jack O’ Patsy • Gruffalo!

Wide range of Solid Teak furniture - for immediate delivery or custom made

Rathealy Road, Fermoy, Co. Cork Mon-Sat 10am-6pm • Sun 2pm-6pm Tel. 025-32607 e: bataviashop@eircom.net

IRISH EXAMINER Property&Interiors | 17.03.2012

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TERAPROOF:User:noelcroninDate:15/03/2012Time:12:39:07Edition:17/03/2012PropertyXP1703Page:24

Zone:XP1

Jeremy Murphy & Associates

XP1 - V1

15 South Mall, Cork. 021 4270020

15 SOUTH MALL CORK

www.jeremymurphy.ie

7 Abbotswood Downs, Rochestown, Cork Asking price: €475,000

Immaculately presented large family home situated on an elevated site with beautiful water and country side views. The property is bright and spacious throughout with a host of quality extras. This property benefits from a South Westerly facing rear garden and is in turn key condition.

Acc: Hallway, living room, dining/lounge, kitchen/ dining room, playroom, utility, guest w.c., 6 bedrooms, en suite and 2 family bathrooms.

Features: Immaculately presented. Spacious accommodation throughout. C. 2600 sq. ft.

Host of quality extras.10’ ceilings throughout the property. Fully alarmed.

L’Arche Wood, Waterfall, Cork Asking price: €420,000

This is a beautifully presented c. 2,750 sq. ft.

5 bed detached dormer style dwelling situated on a c. 0.5 acre landscaped mature site. This property is in excellent order with a host of quality extras.

Acc: Entrance porch, reception hallway, living room, family room, dining room, kitchen/dining room, playroom, utility, guest w.c., 5 bedrooms, main en suite, family bathroom and garage.

Features: Excellent condition. Less than 10 minutes drive from Bishopstown. Oil fired zoned central heating. Beautifully landscaped c. 0.5 acre site. Stone entrance with electric gates. BER = C1.

“The Cedars”, Nadrid, Coachford, Co. Cork Asking price: €295,000

This is a superb 6 bed detached residence set on c. 0.7 acre. This property is located in the beautiful Lee Valley and is within walking distance of Coachford village. The property itself is c. 2700 sq. ft. and has been finished to an exceptional standard.

Acc: Entrance porch, Reception hallway, sitting room, living room, lounge, large kitchen, dining room, family room, utility, 6 bedrooms, 4 en suites, 2 family bathrooms and detached garage.

Features: 6 Bed detached residence. C. 2,700 sq. ft. Situated on landscaped site c. 0.7 acre. Fully alarmed. Pumped shower system. Walking distance of Coachford Village. BER = C1

UNDER OFFER

27 Wheatridge, Maryborough Woods, Douglas, Cork

13 The Fairways, Bracken Court, Donnybrook, Douglas

38 West Avenue, Parkgate, Frankfield, Douglas, Cork

Asking price: €295,000

Asking price: €209,000

Asking price: €220,000

This is a well maintained 4 bed semi detached family home. The property is situated in a lovely quiet cul-de-sac setting and would be ideally suited as an up grader family home.

The rear garden is not overlooked and boasts and south westerly aspect.

Acc: Hallway, living room, separate lounge, kitchen/ dining room with utility and guest w.c., 4 spacious bedrooms, en suite and a bathroom.

Features: Attractive 4 bed semi. Private south west facing rear garden. Gas fired central heating. Fully alarmed. Walking distance to Douglas Village. BER = C2.

64 Castlemeadows, Blackrock, Cork

43 Somerton Park, Ballinlough, Cork Asking price: €195,000

Asking price: €265,000

Deceptively spacious 4 bed semi detached property which benefits from a large up and down extension.

The property is in excellent condition and boasts a spacious rear garden.

Acc: Entrance hallway, living room, large open plan kitchen/dining room, large lounge, guest w.c., 4 bedrooms, office/store room, 2 en suites and main bathroom.

Features: Deceptively spacious.

Large extension. Well maintained. Spacious rear garden. Sought after location.

44 Brookvale, Ballyvolane, Cork Asking price: €200,000

This is an exceptionally well presented and cared for family home. The property boasts a host of quality fixtures and fittings and it also benefits from a bright and well finished converted attic. The property benefits from a south facing rear garden and it is situated in a quiet cul de sac.

Acc: Entrance porch, hallway, living room, kitchen/dining room, guest w.c., 3 bedrooms, en suite, main bathroom and converted attic.

Features: Spacious family home. South facing rear garden. Gas fired central heating Cul de sac location. Converted Attic.

NEW TOT MARKE

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This is a deceptively spacious 4 bed detached residence with garage. The property has been recently upgraded to include new kitchen, new bathroom suite, new carpets, new tiling, new wooden floors and it also boasts a host of quality extras.

Acc: Hallway, living room, kitchen/dining room, lounge, 4 bedrooms, main bathroom and garage.

Features: Deceptively spacious. Southerly aspect to rear.

Recently upgraded Gas fired central heating. Popular location. Cul-de- sac setting.

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Three bedroom semi detached property that is in need of modernisation and renovation throughout.

Perched on a deceptively large corner site this property oozes potential and there is full planning permission for a two storey side extension.

Acc: Hallway, living room, dining/lounge, kitchen, 3 bedrooms and bathroom.

Features: Deceptively large corner site. Full planning permission for extension. Convenient location.

33 Greenwood Estate, Togher, Cork Asking price: €210,000

This is a spacious 3/4 bedroom semi detached property situated in this mature park close to all amenities. Situated on an extra large corner site with ample possibilities.

Acc: Hallway, living room, lounge, dining room, kitchen, bedroom 4/playroom, shower room, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.

Features: Extra large corner site. South/West facing rear garden. Gas fired central heating.

Excellent location. Spacious family home.

Joint Agent: Mr Anthony O’ Regan, Keane Mahony Smith.

Thinking of Selling...

This is a well maintained 3 bedroom semi detached property. This property is situated in a quiet cul-desac setting overlooking an extensive green area with views across the city.

Acc: Hallway, living room, kitchen/dining room, lounge, guest w.c., 3 bedrooms, en suite and main bathroom Features: C. 1025 sq. ft. Well maintained. South facing rear garden. Pressurised water system.

Cul-de-sac setting. Sought after location.

UNDER OFFER

11 Melbourne Mews, Bishopstown, Cork Asking price: €197,000

This is an immaculately presented 3 bed townhouse which has been completely modernised in the last number of years.

There is ample parking to the front and a beautiful west facing large garden to the rear.

Acc: Hallway, living room, kitchen/dining room, 3 bedrooms and main bathroom.

Features: Superbly finished 3 bed townhouse. West facing rear garden. Re Wired. Excellent location. Walking distance of CIT and CUH. BER = D1

7 Hettyfield Mews, Well Road, Douglas, Cork Asking price: €210,000

This is a 3 bedroomed townhouse situated in this niche development within walking distance of Douglas village. This property benefits from a south westerly aspect to rear and is not overlooked.

Acc: Hallway, living room, rear dining room/lounge, kitchen, sun room, guest w.c., 3 bedrooms, en suite and main bathroom.

Features: Walking distance of Douglas Village. Popular location. South westerly aspect to rear.

Master bedroom en suite. BER = C3

Please contact us for a FREE valuation on 021-4270020