Horsey home fit for family who like the country life

CO MEATH: €800,000:A HANDSOME PERIOD house going on sale this week near Summerhill, Co Meath, will be of particular interest to families involved in equestrian sports. The Old Parochial House at Moynalvey is not only a great family home but it comes with a stable block and 12 acres of paddocks.

Joint agents DNG Ronald Duff and Sherry FitzGerald Sherry are seeking offers in excess of €800,000 for the two-storey house. It is located a few hundred yards from the famous Dory’s Forge pub (alas, recently renamed The Shank’s Mare), a popular meeting place over the years for the Ward Union, Meath Hunt and Tara Harriers.

The Ward Union may be disenfranchised until the Green Party is turfed out of office, but the Meaths and the Taras are gearing up for the new hunting season which will get under way in the next few weeks. In the meantime many of the Ward’s roaming stags – known as “outliers” – continue to graze in the pastures of the neighbouring parishes of Dunsany, Summerhill and Batterstown. Locals keenly await word of the Ward’s “contingency plan”.

The Old Parochial House was built in the 1860s as a steward’s house by Lord Fingal of Killeen Castle whose vast estate, once a centre of horsebreeding and hunting, has now been transformed into a world-class golf venue.

The house passed into the ownership of the Catholic Church towards the end of the 19th century and was occupied by the parish priest until the 1940s or 1950s. Locals recall queuing in the hallway on Saturdays to have their confession heard by a priest who preferred the informality and warmth of his home to the austere and chilly atmosphere of the local church.

Today the house still has great charm and graciousness. There are three reception rooms and five bedrooms, making it a perfectly manageable home. Like all good country houses, it has an Aga to keep the kitchen cosy all day long. Otherwise, the kitchen has a modern fit-out and sufficient space to double as a breakfastroom.

Apart from the broad entrance hall with wooden flooring there is a second hallway at the rear of the house overlooking the back garden. The drawing room, sitting room and dining room all have attractive open fireplaces. Upstairs there are five good-sized bedrooms, the main one en suite, and a family bathroom. All of them are in tip top condition.

The yard at the side of the house has five stables and a range of back-up facilities as well as a dog kennels which accommodate 15 animals and can be run as a business. It’s an ideal property for families who like country life and horses.

Old Parochial House, Moynalvey, Summerhill, Co Meath

Five-bedroom house built in 1860s for €8000,000-plus

Agents: DNG Ronald Duff and Sherry FitzGerald Sherry