Just 10 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the ever-growing Galway city is an oasis of quiet repose and beauty just south of Oranmore village.
Here amid rolling green pastures and ancient stone walls, the imposing edifice of Renville House has stood for almost 200 years on a height that lords it over the Atlantic.
The beautiful house shrouded in deep-green ivy towers on the edge of the ocean commands a breath-taking view of Galway Bay. If, as in the song, you really want to watch the sun go down on Galway Bay, this is the place to be. History resides in the stones behind the ivy.
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Renville was built in 1820 by the Blakes, one of the most distinguished of the storied tribes of Galway. Successive generations of the Blake tribe inhabited this country residence right into the 20th century when it was sold to the Lydon family.
Now it is to be sold by public auction through Jordan Auctioneers with an AMV of €2 million. The house, set amid a panoramic sprawl of 135 acres of the finest limestone land, is redolent of another more gracious age, having changed little since the 1800s.
An avenue a half-mile long winds its way through the lush pastures to the front door of the two-storey house. Inside, the ambience of other times lingers in fine spacious rooms with elegant marble fireplaces and tall windows looking out on wondrous views of land and sea.
It is a house of spacious comfort and relaxed grandeur, with a stately entrance hall, diningroom and drawingroom, a study and library along with kitchen, laundry and rear hall. Upstairs there are five bedrooms, all with wonderful views, and three bathrooms.
At the rear, there’s a handsome limestone coach house that has been converted into an extra self-contained residence. Near it stands a derelict herd’s cottage that would be amenable to imaginative conversion too.
The yard at the back has traditional farm buildings including a two-storey limestone structure, milking parlour and hay shed. For anyone interested in horses or riding to the hunt, there are six roomy boxes for horses in the yard.
Renville House may be sequestered in rustic splendour, but it is handily accessible to the rest of the world. The motorway that speeds traffic to and from Dublin is only a stone’s throw from the house. Equally nearby are the roads to Limerick, Shannon, Cork and Sligo. All around the area are countless amenities, with Galway Bay Golf and Country Club almost next door and a sailing club close by.
Galway city, Ireland’s self-proclaimed festive and artistic centre, is also only seven kilometres away.
And from the verge of Renville’s fields, the shimmering waters of the Atlantic spread boundlessly across Galway Bay. Just the place to watch the sun go down.
