Riverstown House, a five-bay Georgian property lies near the banks of the Little Brosna river, straddling the border between counties Tipperary and Offaly on the outskirts of Birr. It was constructed around 1760 as a presbytery for Richard Parsons, second Earl of Rosse of Birr Castle, whose father, Richard, was founder of the Hellfire Club in the Dublin Mountains in 1737.
The 471 sq m (5,070 sq ft) house operated as a presbytery until about 1814 when it came into the ownership of the Hackett family, and Thomas Bernard Hackett of Riverstown was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy for British forces, when he was just 21 years old. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, but died at the age of 45 when he was accidentally shot by his own gun at his Co Offaly home.
The house remained in the Hackett family until the early 20th century when it was sold to the Connolly family, who called Riverstown home for almost 90 years until it was purchased by its current owner Caragh Walsh in 2014 for €350,000.
“It had been on the market for a while and needed lots of work,” says Walsh. “As it is a listed building [protected structure] we used heritage architect Ken Hennessy, who specialises in Georgian properties. Tallis Construction of Freshford in Co Kilkenny won the tender for the refurbishment, and as planning permission was required for some of the modifications, conservation architect Michael O’Boyle was appointed by Tipperary County Council to oversee the project”.
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The list of works is lengthy and besides the usual rewiring, replumbing and refurbishing the old sash windows and replacing existing PVC with new ones, all six bathrooms were fully renovated.
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What were three old sculleries have now been replaced with a substantial eat-in kitchen by Kinane Kitchens in Toomevara, who also installed a pantry, bootroom and cabinets for the principal bedroom and livingroom. An Aga in the main kitchen was reconditioned and converted to electricity and the secondary staircase to the rear was completely replaced.
As previous owners had at some stage divided the house into three separate apartments, its legacy meant that the house now retains a separate one-bedroom unit on the first floor which has a kitchen and living space. Upstairs, over two floors, are nine good-sized bedrooms (including the apartment), all of which are bright thanks to the size of the splayed sash windows that give verdant views to the 1.2 hectares (three acres) surrounding the house.
Downstairs, in addition to the large kitchen and service rooms are three fine-sized reception rooms with refurbished period details.
Walsh renovated a large 185 sq m (1991 sq ft) adjacent barn, which has held two significant family functions with 120 guests attending each. It is fitted with a professional bar with glass washers and room for kegs, while gents’ and ladies’ loos are hidden behind a partition for privacy. A mezzanine was installed for extra storage and to accommodate a DJ space.
The only part of the Ber-exempt house that Walsh didn’t touch were the four stables, which have been used to store a boat.
She is placing her home on the market as she has opened an accommodation business at River Run House and Cottages at Terryglass in Co Tipperary. Joint agents Sherry FitzGerald Talbot and Donal Boyd Auctioneers are seeking €799,500 for the substantial Georgian pile.
