Sublime setting for Monatray House, near Youghal on the Cork/Waterford Blackwater country boundary. Agent Fiona Hennessy of Sherry FitzGerald Hennessy guides the entire at €1.8m

Kinsalebeg, Co Waterford/Youghal Bay

A NEW owner is needed to write the next chapter in the story of Monatray House, a substantial Georgian mansion which overlooks the West Waterford coast and is visible in the distance from the quayside in Youghal.

When it was built in 1830, it was in fact possible to travel the 400 metres across Youghal Bay by ferry, but these days viewers will have to travel the 11 km by road and go across Youghal bridge.

Built as a summer residence for Reverend Percy Smyth – a member of a wealthy landowning family which had arrived in Waterford in Elizabethan times, the house originally had eight bedrooms and servants quarters. Records show that it was owned by the Smyths until around 1910, having been leased over the years to tenants who had included several members of the clergy.

New owners turned it into Hotel Monatrea in 1922 which lasted until the 1940s when the Presentation nuns made it their summer home. In the late 1960s it sold again and became a country hotel with equestrian facilities. Locals and those who spent childhood holidays in the area will remember it as a popular party venue and a place to go for Sunday lunch.

When its current Swiss owner came upon it in the late 1980s it had been empty for two years and had over decades of catering for paying guests and holidaying nuns been extended, altered, had rooms divided and features taken out and a multitude of bathrooms put in.

“ At first I thought it was terrible , but a week later I bought it because of its fantastic energy and sea views,” says the owner who came to Ireland to buy a cottage in Tipperary but a year later found herself in possession of an almost 10,000 sq ft Georgian property on 12 acres of grounds which needed masses of TLC.

Turning it back into the elegant residence it was meant to be seven or eight years and a considerable amount of effort and money. Doing it in stages because of the expense involved, the owner brought in carpenters, stone masons and a whole variety of tradesmen. Fixing the roof, putting in new windows and central heating were the priorities and after that came repairs and redecoration.

The sweeping mahogany and wrought iron staircase and the intricate plasterwork on the ceiling above it are some of features which have survived the centuries best although the three main reception rooms have all retained their marble fireplaces.

The first of these reception rooms is a library, now lined with elm bookshelves, which has high shuttered windows with views across to Youghal. The music room alongside it, panelled in pitch pine which came from a 300-year-old house in the UK, also looks out on the bay as does the large drawing room at the end of the hallway. Along the rear the owner added on a lean to conservatory with redbrick features, a fountain and numerous plants.

Outside the conservatory is a disused swimming pool which was installed for hotel guests but has long since become a watering hole for ducks.

In a central hallway there’s a fireplace and a seating area, which visiting nuns revealed to the owner used to be their favourite spot when they came for holidays. Off the hallway is a long room with semi-exposed walls, a beamed ceiling and a tiered fireplace which is now a formal dining room but back in the 1970s was the hotel ballroom.

The tiled hotel kitchen has been taken out to make way for one with a huge redbrick fireplace, timber beamed ceilings, an oil fired aga and quite a noticeable Alpine flavour.

In a house of this size, there are a multitude of small rooms for a variety of uses including bathrooms and offices. In the early years of renovations the owner used one of these to put in a sauna.

On the upper floor there are six main bedrooms with high shuttered windows. The bedrooms on the side, like the reception rooms below them, have panoramic views of Youghal Bay.

In addition to the large main bedrooms there are two self-contained apartments with small kitchens, probably located in space which was originally used to house the servants. The upstairs fireplaces had been bricked up by the 1980s but the owner opened them up again, framed them with brick and timber and got them in working order.

In addition to restoring the house, she converted the 2,700 sq ft coach house complex. which now has three bedrooms, eight bathrooms, five kitchens and a variety of multifunctional rooms.

At the side of the house there are lawned gardens which run down to a stone wall by the foreshore. In the grounds there are extensive woodlands, a walled garden with apple trees as well as stables and outhouses. “We once had peacocks, chickens, ponies, goats and 40 deer in the grounds,’’ reveals the owner.

The house can be reached by taking a turnoff on the Waterford Road for Ferrypoint and, when reaching the coast, travelling along a private avenue which is in need of repair.

Thirty three years after purchasing the property, the owner is reluctantly contemplating handing over the care of Monatray House to another and finding somewhere smaller to live.

Guiding the property at €1.8 million, selling agents Sherry FitzGerald Hennessy say there are a number of possibilities open to a new owner.

Although the house and the grounds are now in need of work, its sea frontage, history and acreage could attract a wealthy buyer looking for a private estate. Pointing out that period houses with sea views are quite rare, auctioneer Fiona Hennessy says she has already booked a viewing with an American buyer.

The other option is for the property to once again be used as a hotel, which given its seafront location, sizable accommodation and grounds - could also be a runner.

VERDICT: Offers plenty of material for many more chapters.

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