Heavenly showhome at a former convent

Convent Garden, Kinsale, Co Cork

NOW that the latest phase at Convent Garden — a scheme on the grounds of a former Mercy convent on Winter’s Hill, Kinsale — has almost all but sold out, the showhouse has been put on the market ahead of the end of the traditional property selling season.

Blarney-based Cumnor Construction built Convent Garden on a site that was once home to St Joseph’s Convent, founded by the Sisters of Mercy right before the Famine to educate and feed local schoolchildren.

The convent later fell into dereliction and, in the early

2000s, Cumnor was granted permission to convert the austere, grey buildings into apartments and to build houses on its grounds.

The project was left idle throughout the property downturn, but building work resumed in 2015.

A phase of eight four-bed detached homes, called Harvest Walk, was released at Convent Garden in May 2017. All but two of these narrow three-storey properties have since been sold, for prices of up to €595,000.

One of the remaining houses is the showhouse, which costs from €625,000, while the other is a property that sits on a larger site and is therefore selling for

€630,000.

The facades of the timberframed homes are finished in a combination of the slate common to many a traditional Kinsale home and monocouche self-coloured render, with hardwood double-glazed windows. Inside, the 2,067 sq ft of living space includes a balcony that leads from the first-floor living area and overlooks the back garden and paved patio.

The ground floor is home to the kitchen and another living room that looks out onto the front garden.

The A3-rated dwellings are just a few minutes’ walk from the centre of Kinsale, the town that marks the start of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Residents can avail of the nearby Blue Flag Beach at Garretstown and the worldfamous Old Head Golf Links and Kinsale Golf Club.

Cork City and Cork International Airport are within a half hour’s drive.

Viewings will take place tomorrow between 11am and

12pm.

Enquiries to: Savills Cork,

(021) 427 1371.