It’s difficult to imagine that this idyllically tranquil setting was once the place where lurked the infamous Collier the Robber. This former coaching inn, a popular stop on the road from Dublin city to the Hill of Tara, was one of the haunts of Michael Collier, who, in 1813, had risen to such notoriety as a highwayman that he had a price of £50 on his head.
For sale through Savills for €700,000, the inn has been restored as a family home and comes with three acres of mature gardens, including a small wooded paddock, and a charming patio, laid out by designer Jane McCorkell.
The current owners, John and Suzette Coleman, bought the house in 1999 and continued the previous owners’ labour of love in refurbishing the once derelict building, creating a home that is open to the sunshine at this time of year, but cosy all winter with its thick walls and deep windows, and open fire in the livingroom.
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It has been upgraded to a high standard and excellently maintained. A bright kitchen with an Aga, double oven and Belfast sink leads to a sunroom to one side and a drawingroom to the other. In all the living space is 223sq m (2,400 sq ft).
Three of the four bedrooms are upstairs; a guest bedroom downstairs, with an en suite and arched French windows leading out to a patio, would make a great master bedroom.
Nearby golf courses include Killeen Castle and Royal Tara. Dunshaughlin is the nearest town and it’s a 10-minute drive to Dunboyne, which has a train service to Dublin. The owners, who are selling because their adult children have moved away, are planning to stay in the vicinity. “It’s a very peaceful house, with a very positive vibe,” says John.
He’s right. The thick-cut stone walls shelter timber- frame windows, not one of which is the same size as its fellows. It doesn’t have the lofty high-ceilinged grandeur of the big square Georgian country houses that abound across Ireland, instead retaining a charming flavour of its own.
Collier the Robber was transported to South Carolina, but returned to this area in the 1820s. It’s easy to see what attracted him back.
