My memories of Glandore are filled with gratitude to God for this beautiful peaceful spot.

Written by Aileen Cohalan, daughter of Judge Daniel F Cohalan, an Irish-American who owned Glandore House in the early 1900s.

It appears that life has come full circle for the majestic Glandore House, in the bay of Glandore, west Cork. When it was auctioned last August, locals expected it to be snapped up by a property developer and turned into a luxury hotel, such was the potential given its 26 acres and magnificent views.

Previously owned by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the 24-bedroom convent was spotted by an Irish-American couple, Sean and Alisanne Downes. Having visited the area over the last number of years, they realised that this was where they wanted to live. One visit to the convent on the hill convinced them that they had found the property of a lifetime.

For the US-based couple, the contrast in lifestyle could not be more extreme. It meant giving up a farm in New Jersey, a shore house also in New Jersey, and finally a Manhattan penthouse with lashings of space and Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon as neighbours.

When they bought the penthouse, it was little more than a shell and was a bargain at $410,000 for downtown Manhattan. Over the three years, Sean, who is a master woodworker among his many other talents, went about renovating the property, which had a private street lift to add to its charms. Four years later, they sold it for $2.5 million, allowing them a big budget for their Irish dream.

Born in Ireland on Dublin's northside, Sean emigrated with his family to the US at the age of 13 but always dreamed of returning home one day. Not even in his dreams had he imagined he would return to Ireland with his wife and their children to a property of such splendour.

Fighting off property speculators at the auction, they paid around £2 million for the convent. They were helped by the fact that Cork County Council took a stiff line on any development potential on the 26 acres, reportedly saying that they would allow change of use of the convent, but did not favour much other development on the land at present.

But there was still the possibility that businessman Tony O'Reilly, who has a large holiday home in Glandore, might have an interest in the convent, the gates of which are a stone's throw from his own. When the Downes arrived in Ireland on New Year's Eve to an empty bleak house, they found themselves all huddled together on mattresses in one room before succumbing to the flu which swept through Ireland last winter. A bad start to the new millennium but one which didn't daunt them. Now fighting fit and with their eldest child settled in the local national school, their time is spent poring over plans.

The convent needs extensive refurbishment and progress, they say, is likely to be slow. One major change they are going to make is demolishing the extension to the original house. The three-storey convent is huge for a family of four but they are determined to use it as a family home, not as a commercial venture. They will have three large reception rooms downstairs, plenty of bathrooms and a dining-room decorated with forest scenes painted on the walls. Upstairs, the main bedrooms, which have superb views of the bay, will be decorated, and they also plan to restore all the original plasterwork throughout the house.

Outside there are several outhouses scattered over the property one of which Alisanne, an artist, plans to convert as a studio. Another will be transformed into a workshop so that Sean can build boats.

Elsewhere on the land there is a guesthouse, which will be renovated, and a large gate lodge, which they plan to sell at a later stage. There are also two walled gardens and on one of them they plan to build a bar area for themselves and their friends for mid-summer parties.

For the future, Sean would like to focus on designing and making furniture carved in wood which earned him such a great reputation in the States and sold worldwide, but he would also like to act as a design consultant capitalising on his experience in refurbishment back home.

Alisanne intends to keep on painting, completing commissioned pieces, and to follow her other love - horse-riding - pending the delivery of her horse and the renovation of the existing stables.

It will take a lot of hard work and dedication, not to mention money - the heating costs alone stand at £600 per month. But they are both absolutely in love with their new home, and are prepared to give whatever it takes in order to restore it to its former glory.