A large, early 19th-century house in Shankill has links to the early IRA, played host to a Nazi major, and now its owner – a film-set designer – has added another layer of colour
FLORENCEVILLE, ON Shanganagh Road in Shankill, Dublin 18, is a house fizzing with personality, colour and a sense of history.
The four- or five-bedroom Georgian property dates from 1826, with part of the house dating as far back as the late 1700s.
The outer hall leads into an open inner hall that looks directly into the dining room. There’s a large opening where the original dining room door once stood: this is one of the many interior flourishes made by the current owner. She is a former props buyer for film and advertising and has built the house around pieces that she acquired over the past 15 years. She also restored the arts and crafts fireplace, made by Dunnes of Dalkey, in the dining room.
The house also played a minor role in Irish history. In 1937 Jim O’Donovan, a veteran of the War of Independence also known as Séamus O’Donovan, bought it for £850 from a Mrs Henry. She was a sister-in-law of the Ulster botanist, Augustine Henry, a man responsible for bringing the previously unknown riches of central Chinese flora to the attention of the West.
On the surface, O’Donovan was a respectable civil servant with four young children. He was also the architect of the IRA’s S-Plan, a campaign to bomb mainland Britain, which began in 1938.
O’Donovan visited Nazi Germany on behalf of the IRA several times in 1939. The following year Maj Hermann Goertz, one of the Germans who parachuted into Ireland on an intelligence-gathering mission, spent eight days hiding out in Florenceville where, according to the Greystones Archaeological and Historical Society, he was “hidden in the garage at night while by day he was concealed behind a eucalyptus tree with his radio codebook hidden in the eaves of the house”.
It is a great story to regale guests with but the property is also aesthetically interesting. Set on many levels it is surrounded by deciduous trees with the remains of Shanganagh Castle framing the view from its front door. This is illuminated at night.
The drawing room is beautifully decorated featuring gorgeous period details and a bay window overlooking a water feature.
Set on approximately one acre, the property has an asking price of €1.375 million through agent Knight Frank.
Downstairs, at garden level, there are two big double bedrooms, used by the owners’ teenage children. One has French doors leading outside to a courtyard that overlooks a derelict mill on a neighbouring property. Those bedrooms share a shower room.
Continuing up the main staircase to the first floor return there is a large open room where light floods through. This is used as a pool room.
On the first floor there are two sizeable double bedrooms; a guest double and the main bedroom that is very simply laid out – the bamboo Cole and Son wallpaper does much of the talking. There is wood panelling to conceal the chimney breast, and it also hides several cupboards. Otherwise the room is storage free. With 1,331 sq m (14,368 sq ft) to play with, there’s plenty of room for his-and-hers dressing rooms instead.
Across the hall is the family bathroom located in an annexed bedroom. The sinks originally belonged to the Dorchester Hotel in London and the owner bought them from Architectural Salvage 15 years ago. The claw foot bath is original to the house and has been re-enamelled.
Through a door into what was once the property’s fourth bedroom is the new wing of the house, designed by Derek Tynan Architects. This has a small walk-in wardrobe for the main bedroom, and an adjacent shower room. Around the corner and down a few steps is a roomy bright dressing room that could easily become a fifth bedroom.
A glass balustraded staircase leads down to the kitchen, which can also be accessed via the open-plan dining room. Here a galley kitchen overlooks a vast Georgian-style window that fills the room with light. The kitchen is subdivided into several zones from the prep area to a dining area complete with wood stove. A set of steps leads up to a contemporary family lounge where the current owners spend much of their time. Another wood-burning stove occupies this space.
Leading off the lounge is a sophisticated study, and off this is a PVC conservatory with distressed barnwood-clad walls and flooring by Ebony and Co. Double doors at the top of the stairs lead through to a large boot room and utility room, and on out to the sheltered west-facing back garden.
Abutting the back of the house are the skeletal remains of an old mill that looks dramatic but doesn’t belong to the property.
