| Jewels of Connemara |
| Property of the month |
| Residential Properties |
| Sites/Land |
| Commercial Properties |
| Accommodation To Let |
| Living in the West of Ireland |
| Guide to buying a property |
| Home |
Eyrephort House, Sky Road, Clifden, Co. Galway.
Ref: R0311
Offers on 1,200,000
SOLDSet at the end of a private drive on a hilltop with spectacular marine and mountain views in every direction, this magnificent stone residence comprises entrance hall, living room, kitchen, master bedroom suite with ensuite bathroom and dressing room, 2nd bedroom / study, 3 further bedrooms bathroom and shower room. Large billiard room, utility room and cellar. Fuel store. In hilltop and hillside grounds, giving total privacy and extending to 5 acres, this historic residence has right of way giving direct private access to Kingstown Bay.
Eyrephort House is situated in a quiet location at the most scenic section of the much loved and visited Sky Road, famous for its panoramic marine and coastal views. The property is located on the road leading down to Eyrephort Beach, from which the property gets its name, and which is only half a mile away. Clifden, the nearest town and only 5 miles away, is regarded as the Capital of Connemara, with banks and a large selection of shops, pubs, and other leisure facilities. Clifden is noted for its many fine seafood restaurants, the famous Connemara Pony Show which takes place there each August in the showground close to the property, and the Clifden Arts Festival in September, all of which attract many Irish and foreign visitors. The area is well provided for a wide range of sporting and leisure facilities, with fishing, boating and water sports most popular using the many beaches and bays which comprise this convoluted coastline. Golf is available at the Connemara Golf Club whilst there are six other courses within an hour's drive of the property.
The property is 54 miles from the regional capital of the West, Galway City, with its mainline road, rail and air connections and extensive and substantial cultural, commercial and retail facilities. Shannon Airport is some 21/2 hours from the property. Galway Airport is just 70 minutes away with connections to Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Luton, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Leeds Bradford, Bristol, Southampton, Newcastle and L'Orient. Proposals have now been made for a new airport to serve Clifden, on the Cleggan road, which is just four miles from the property.
The house is approached through two pink granite stone pillars with green wrought iron gates onto a long driveway with ornamental hedging to the sides and culminating in a circular turning area and parking space. From the parking area Liscannor stone steps inside solid granite walls lead up to a large terrace also of Liscannor stone which extends around all four sides of the property.
The views from the property are simply astounding in every direction. From the front door of the property there are simply superb views over Inishturk and Turbot Island round to Slyne Head and Errisbeg to the south. To the north the property looks down on Kingston Bay while to the east there are fine views of the Twelve Pins.
Construction of the house for Peter O'Toole commenced in 1971 and was completed in 1974. The house is extensively referred to in the autobiography of Siān Phillips ( the former wife of Peter O'Toole) "Public Places" - see pages 280 to 290, where she includes details of her involvement in the construction of the house and also a photograph of the completed house. Inspired by the massive drystone walls of Cuzco, the capital of the Inca empire in the Peruvian Andes, the house with its 3 foot thick granite drystone walls, under a Bangor Welsh split slate roof sits on a plateau blasted with gelignite from the top of a hill of granite.
On the south gable is an inset polished pink marble plaque recording in relation to the property, in Ogam, the name of the owner (Peter O'Toole), the architect (Leo Mansfield) and the builder(local stonemason, John Cosgrove). At the northeast corner of the house is a foundation stone recording the laying of the foundation of the property by Kate and Pat O'Toole in August 1971 and there is a photograph of this occasion in Siān Phillips' book.
When inhabited by Peter O'Toole and Siān Phillips, the house welcomed many stars of stage and screen, including Katharine Hepburn, Robert Shaw, Richard Harris and Richard Burton to name but a few.
Solid wood has been used extensively throughout the property from the green painted traditional shutters which frame both sides of each teak window to the solid pine floors, doors, shutters and ceilings throughout the interior of the house. Fitted solid pine closets in every bedroom. Good quality solid cast iron door furniture and oil fired central heating throughout the house.
The house is being sold with some of the fine furniture and contents included.
A summary of the accommodation with room aspects and approximate room measurements are as follows:
Solid wood entrance door beneath a heavy copper ship's lantern leading to:
Entrance Hall: (N & S), 10'7 max. x 6'3 with Liscannor stone floor, radiator, good quality teak coat rack, door to main sitting room and entrance to bedroom suite 1.
Living Room: (W) 19'2 max. x 18' max. A superb light room with 15' high double volume pitch pine ceiling with large plastered fireplace, raised fire hearth with polished oak mantle, and matching bookshelves to the side. Liscannor stone floor. Twin radiators. Doors to kitchen and to bedrooms 3, 4 and 5. Solid pine staircase leading to a galleried balcony overlooking the living room with pine louvre doors opening into:
Study/Bedroom 2: (N), 16'11 x 12'7 with a polished pine floor, fully boarded polished pine ceiling and walls with a good range of bookshelves to one side. Access to roof void.
Kitchen: (S & E) 16'4 max. x 15'. Installed by the present owners, with quarry tiled floor, steps leading to the sitting room, pine panelled ceiling with exposed beams. Small gallery and a good range of fitted kitchen units, comprising red laminated work surfaces with inset Tricity Bendix electric double oven and four ring hob, stainless steel double sink with single drainer to the side. Solid wood storage cupboards and drawers below. Further range of solid wood storage cupboards with display units above. Radiator. Under stairs storage with cupboard and drawers. Heavy solid wooden door to the main terrace outside.
Bedroom Suite 1:
Dressing Room, 6'5 x 7'4 with polished pine floor, solid pine doors to bedroom and bathroom, full range of wardrobe and drawers with louvre doors to the side and full length mirror in between. Recessed lighting. Bathroom with tiled floor, partially tiled surround, polished pine ceiling with recessed lighting. Good quality enamel coated cast iron bath with shower above, toilet, wash hand basin in vanity unit, vanity mirror and bathroom cupboard above. Radiator.
Bedroom: (E & W), 15'11 x 10'3 with polished pine floor, fireplace (believed to be in working order), bookshelves to the side, exposed pine ceiling beams underneath polished pine planking. Indoor shutters, radiator.From the living room a solid pine door opens onto a landing with door to large hot press, stairs to bedroom 4 and to lower level, access to:
Bedroom 3: (W), 10' x 9', polished pine floor boards, polished pine exposed ceiling beams, solid wooden shutters, large fitted wardrobe, radiator.
Bedroom 4: (S), 18' x 12'6 with polished pine floor, painted pine ceiling and walls, double full height fitted wardrobe, radiator.
Steps lead down to second and lower landing, with door to:
Bathroom: (S) Fully tiled floor and polished pine ceiling. Enameled cast iron bath with three quarter tiling to the side. Toilet and wash hand basin. Radiator.
Further range of stairs down to the bottom landing with door to:
Bedroom 5: (W), 17'11 x 11'8. Originally designed as two rooms, but now combined by the present owners. Polished pine floor, exposed pine beams beneath close fitted pine ceiling. Large double wardrobe with sliding doors. Radiator.
Beside the steps leading from the main terrace to the kitchen is a door down into the lower hall with central heating boiler, doors to the utility room, shower room and to:
Billiard Room, 36'2 max. x 14'10 with steps leading down into:
Cellar 14'8 x 13' with restricted headroom.
Utility Room: 10'8 max. x 8'7 with a quarry tiled floor, inset Belfast sink with solid wood drainer to the side.
Shower Room, with quarry tiled floor, shower cubicle, pine panelled walls, toilet and wash basin.
OUTSIDE: The grounds are largely in a natural state of granite covered in brush and heather, that allow the purchaser plenty of opportunity to create more formal gardens in this most delightful setting. There has, however, been extensive planting along the driveway leading upto the house and beside the Liscannor stone terraces which surround the house including a number of palm trees.
Adjoining the parking area is a FUEL STORE 18' 5 x 7'8 of concrete block construction under a slate roof but faced with granite.
Below the parking area is a formal garden laid to lawn within protective ornamental hedging and invisibly incorporating the septic tank and percolation area for the residence. Beside this a path leads through wild roses to the remainder of the property and a number of outbuildings, including the PUMP HOUSE beside the artesian well which has been bored (see pages 284 & 285 in Siān Phillips' book for the effort taken to get this well). Below this is the GENERATOR SHED, which houses a standby generator ( as found) which is generally no longer required.
To the west of the property wide Liscannor stone steps and terraces enclosed within pink granite walls lead up to a further terraced area, past the main entrance to the house, and along a pathway to one of the loveliest vantage points in the West of Ireland. A garden bench awaits with a magical marine panorama laid out in front, with wide views from Errisbeg, above Roundstone, round to Inisturk in the north.
The remainder of the grounds of the property have largely been left in a natural state but would benefit from clearing.
The grounds are approximately rectangular and extend in total to 4.91 acres.
RIGHT OF WAY: There is a right of way for the benefit of the owner of the property from the north east corner of the property along side the high local stone wall to the shoreline of Kingstown Bay, thereby enabling the owner to have direct access from the residence to Kingstown Bay.
SERVICES: Mains electricity ( with backup generator), private water supply from artesian well on the property, septic tank drainage.
* Click on picture to view *
Front Door Terraces South South Elevation The Kitchen Living Room East Living Room West Study Bedroom 1 Bedroom 4 Bench With View East Elevation Eyrephort Beach Foundation Stone House From Bay House with view Twelve Pins Lawns Stone Detail View to Twelve Pins
Home | Map | Contact Us | Useful Information | Disclaimer |
Spencer Auctioneers, Main Street, Oughterard, Co. Galway, Ireland.
Tel: +353 91 552999 / Fax: +353 91 552990
Email: info@spencerauctioneers.com / Web: www.spencerauctioneers.com
