Stunning country castle steeped in history

Co Cork: €7.5m The room proportions in this extensive castle make it comfortable to live in Kate McMorrowand heat, writes

If such a large private residence could be called manageable, a historic Co Cork castle in the town of Mallow fits the bill. Long, low and richly decorated, no room in Mallow Castle is too vast to warm up with a log fire.

In excellent condition, the castle has central heating, with magnificent elm panelling in the formal rooms creating a cosy gentlemens' club feel.

The current owners are an American family who, having lived here for two decades, are returning home for family reasons. With 12 bedrooms, a three-bedroom staff apartment and around 30 acres of rolling parkland, this stately home would make a marvellous country house hotel or very special conference centre.

Considering the interest in Ballinatray House, another Co Cork property which sold for around €12 million in January 2004, there should be no shortage of buyers in the running for this truly stunning castle.

Joint agents Ganly Walters and Sherry FitzGerald O'Donovan are quoting excess €7.5 million, a price that includes the protected ruin of the original Desmond castle.

Also in the price is a herd of white deer descended from two white harts presented to the daughter of the house by Elizabeth 1, who was her godmother. On a practical note, a walled section of the land, which includes the mill house and stable yard, would lend itself to development, subject to planning restrictions.

While Mallow Castle is not finished to the degree of absolute luxury of Ballinatray, the fabric and interior has been kept to an impressive standard. Because its main entrance gate is right in the centre of Mallow, the McGinn family have become part of the community over the years, involving themselves in philanthropic causes and they are well-regarded in the locality. The story goes that Michael McGinn called into the pub by the castle gates to ask who was the owner of "the old wreck of a car" parked across the gates. Some wag piped up from the snug to "try your man up at the castle".

New owners will be buying into a property with a serious lineage. The imposing main castle ruins are believed to be Elizabethan in origin. In 1689, when it was the seat of General William Jephson, the castle was destroyed by fire on the orders of King James.

The present castle evolved from the stables and dates from the 16th century. Designed and built by the then incumbent Sir Thomas Norreys, additions were made by subsequent generations of the Norreys family. In 1954, Brigadier Maurice Jephson completed the entrance from cut stone to a design organised a century earlier by Sir Denham Jephson.

The McGinns have lived in the castle since 1985 as their family home and have spent a fortune in maintaining the property in excellent condition. The approach is via a sweeping tree-lined drive, past the ruins of the original castle - a historic monument and preserved by Duchas. The estate borders the banks of the Blackwater, which can be glimpsed from the bedroom windows.

A picturesque sight, the white deer graze in the parkland in front of the main entrance , mercifully prevented from entering the formal gardens by a man-made ravine or ha-ha. A heavy oak door opens into an oak-panelled hallway, with black and white chequered floor tiles and corniced ceiling. A carved oak staircase with extended finials curves to the upper floor.

Visitors will be intrigued by the full-size Irish and US flags which stand sentinel by the door to the drawingroom, echoes of the owners' attachment to both countries. Cigar smoking and a larger-than-life figure, Michael McGinn has close associations with The White House and photographs of former US presidents adorn the walls.

The drawingroom and diningroom are of similar proportions and interconnect through double oak doors, creating a very fine space for formal entertaining. Both are entirely panelled in rare Irish elm, with panelled ceilings painted in blue and green. Substantial carved chimneypieces with cherub and oak leaf relief incorporate the coat of arms of the Norreys family and the motto Loyalement Je Sers. The long dining table can seat 16 at dinner with ease.

Behind these rooms are a billiard room and a large butler's pantry for storing china and glassware. At the end of this corridor is a self-contained guest/staff apartment.

At the far end of the staircase hall are a bright morning room facing south-east and a baronial-style music room with a Bechstein concert grand piano.

A big country kitchen is usually at the heart of significant country houses and this is no exception, with its old pine cupboards, a sleek modern range on which the castle cat loves to snooze and a scrubbed pine table. Next door is a walk-in larder.

This working end of the house is clustered around a secluded courtyard with statuary. Another corridor behind the kitchen houses a laundry, a wine cellar, boot room with pretty fireplace and a large office where the owner catalogues the castle archives.

Upstairs, a shelved library gives way to a wonderful reading room hung with photos of Michael with Maureen O'Hara, Nicole Kidman and several former US presidents. All doubles, the numerous bedrooms are quirkily spread over two main corridors. The decor theme is country chinz, with some magnificent antique pieces in the principal rooms. Three of the largest rooms are actually suites, with a fireplace (in one room), dressingroom and bathroom.

An intricately carved bed in one of the bedrooms is reputed to have been used in the White House by Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln. One of the bathrooms houses a giant marble spa bath, from which you can view the original castle ruin beyond the window. A little tower bedroom has been commandeered by the owners' son.

The grounds are formally laid out, with a terrace running the length of the castle, sloping down to a lawn. An ornate fountain is positioned to be viewed by the main rooms in the house. There is an orchard and a cut stone mill house and granary which would be lovely if restored. The possibility of sensitively converting these buildings into a complex similar to the existing project at Headfort in Co Meath was suggested by the selling agents.