Address: Main Street, Athleague, Co Roscommon
Price: €595,000
Agent: DNG Ivan Connaghton
View this property on MyHome.ie
Historic shopfronts, primarily built from wood and plaster, often provide a window to the past, telling the stories of businesses that have traded for generations. Here, in the heritage village of Athleague, Co Roscommon, which was the crossing point between the kingdoms of the Uí Mháine and Uí Briúin – Connacht’s royal dynasties in the seventh and eighth centuries – a local award-winning shop front that retains its original Victorian interior, serves as a reminder to a business that once supported some of the largest estates in Co Roscommon.
Dating from 1863, the historic shop and its associated home – together termed a “mixed-use property” – tells the story of the Tiernan brothers who constructed the house, shop and local mill, the millstone of which lies in a cut-stone courtyard to the rear of the property. This home has been brought to the market through DNG Ivan Connaughton, seeking €595,000.
“When we bought the house, the old grain stores [to the rear of the house and shop] had three coffins stored there, as the business that operated here once had a bakers, drapers, cobblers and undertakers,” says its current owner, Aidan Donnelly, who, along with his wife Patricia, not only restored the house and shop, but also continued its heritage as a shop with their Town and Country Interiors business.
Old records indicate that the grand estates of Mote Park, Rookwood House and Castlestrange all used the shop, and at one time the property had accommodation to the rear to house apprentices, who came from all over the country to cut their teeth in the art of business.
Thirty years ago, the Donnelly’s – both engineers – spotted the then derelict house and shop, duly purchased the pile and set about restoring the 255sq m (2,750sq ft) late Georgian/early Victorian property.
The entire place was gutted; windows were restored and retrofitted with double glazing along with all necessary renovations. They also took up all the main floors and installed underfloor heating, which has been given a recent upgrade, as has the energy efficiency of the house with new solar panels.
After raising their family, the business expanded into the house, acting as a backdrop to showcase their wares of stripped pine furniture along with arts and crafts. They also expanded into the wonderful cut-stone grain houses to the rear of the property in a south facing courtyard that benefits from 10ft-15ft-high old walls and where the family herb garden now lies. Featuring original stone arches and openings, the couple used it as a further showroom for their furniture. It offers an additional 130sq m (1,400sq ft) of accommodation that could make wonderful guest/rental accommodation, subject to planning permission.
The period house, located in a prime location on the N63, just a five-minute drive from Roscommon town centre, has four spacious double bedrooms upstairs alongside a family bathroom.
Downstairs are two fine reception rooms along with a country-style kitchen, utility room, dining area and office. From the kitchen there is access to the shop: “It’s like it would have been a hundred years ago; you can sit in the kitchen and see someone coming into the shop,” says Aidan of the glass door linking the kitchen to the shop, which could be closed off if the retail unit was to be rented out.
Hall 
Reception room 
Reception room 
Kitchen 
Dining space 
The house has two bathrooms 
The house has four bedrooms 
The shop retains its Victorian interior 
Façade of the outbuildings 
Interior of the cut-stone outbuilding, once used as a grain store for the local mill
Features throughout include original coving, high ceilings, stained glass windows, pitch pine flooring and original sash windows with shutters.
It’s a most unique offering located about a 90-minute drive from Dublin and 50-minute drive from Galway, in a village that took the national award in the All-Ireland Pride of Place Competition 2019 (for communities with a population under 301).
The couple say they are in the first phase of their retirement – hence selling the house and shop – but new owners won’t have to travel far to furnish their new home, as the Donnellys have a second Town and Country Interiors shop in an adjacent property.
Its Ber is E2, but it’s an old house that could be a superb property for anyone wanting to run their business from home or indeed generate an income by renting the unit out.
Besides its iconic shopfront, the potential of the cut-stone outbuildings that have a separate arched entrance are endless.