{"id":116936,"date":"2025-10-12T07:12:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T07:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/116936\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T07:12:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T07:12:21","slug":"step-inside-glenmaris-the-coveney-familys-elegant-douglas-estate-built-with-shipwrecked-timber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/116936\/","title":{"rendered":"Step inside Glenmaris, the Coveney family\u2019s elegant Douglas estate built with shipwrecked timber"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a familiar pattern that when builders, architects, or other professionals develop a particular scheme, they often keep the best house for themselves.<\/p>\n

And why wouldn\u2019t they? Their families might not thank them for settling for second best.<\/p>\n

\"TakeTake the plunge<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what happened almost 100 years ago when builder and quantity surveyor Patrick F Coveney (PF) \u2014 father of the late Fine Gael TD Hugh and grandfather of former Fine Gael minister Simon Coveney, among other high-profile family members \u2014 built Glenmaris in a neo-Tudor style at Endsleigh Park, off Cork City\u2019s main Douglas Road, around 1933.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

PF, who was born near Tracton, studied building construction at Crawford Municipal Technical College in the 1920s before founding his firm, PF Coveney.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By the 1930s, he was constructing new homes in what is now Endsleigh Park on Douglas Road \u2014 then still a village-like area, but rapidly developing during the interwar years.<\/p>\n

\"HomeHome on the range<\/p>\n

PF Coveney built many of the substantial Tudoresque houses in Endsleigh Park for Cork\u2019s growing middle class, with architects Chillingworth & Levie likely responsible for a number of the designs. He kept Glenmaris, a property on 0.4 of an acre, for his own family.<\/p>\n

He owned it for more than four decades, from the 1930s to 1974, when it was sold to the current family of owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They still recall features such as a bomb shelter in the back garden (since removed), a butler\u2019s pantry, scullery, meat safe, gardener\u2019s WC, and maid\u2019s bells \u2014 one of which still works.<\/p>\n

\"ForFor whom the bells toll…one still works<\/p>\n

Some of those original features have been cleverly repurposed. The butler\u2019s pantry, for instance, is now whimsically named the \u201cloo-brary\u201d \u2014 a book-lined guest WC home to hundreds of books.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe loo-brary<\/p>\n

The standout feature, however, is the solid oak staircase and wood-panelled hall, crafted from timbers salvaged from the SS Celtic, a White Star liner that ran aground at the mouth of Cork Harbour in December 1928.<\/p>\n

\"StairsStairs from the SS Celtic<\/p>\n

Many homes \u2014 and even The Long Valley Bar on Winthrop Street \u2014 boast salvaged items from the SS Celtic, including doors, mirrors, bookcases, portholes, beams, furniture, and tables.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another property, Kilroan House in Glanmire, currently on the market with an AMV of \u20ac1.5m, also features extensive panelling from the ship.<\/p>\n

At Glenmaris, the staircase adds grandeur to a substantial build with 2.7m-high ceilings in the main reception rooms and period fireplaces in tile and stone, including sandstone. The kitchen centres on a crimson-red Royal Rayburn stove, offering both warmth and charm.<\/p>\n

\"RangeRange of options<\/p>\n

The house has remained with its current owners since 1974, home to the family of a leading neurosurgeon who raised five daughters here. It now comes to market for only the second time in nearly a century, offered as an executor\u2019s sale.<\/p>\n

Glenmaris is listed at \u20ac1.3m with agent Brian Olden of Cohalan Downing, who describes it as\u00a0\u201cthis is \u2018old Cork\u2019, it\u2019s a really lovely and substantial quality home. It\u2019s quite exceptional, and has a lovely timeless quality, and will make a superb home for another fortunate family for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MainMain reception room with sandstone fireplace<\/p>\n

Mr Olden believes it\u2019s one of 2025\u2019s standout listings, following the sale of Blair Glaisse in Endsleigh Park (AMV \u20ac1.3m via Patricia Stokes) and Glenesk, near the park\u2019s entrance, which went to market this summer at \u20ac1.1m and is now under offer below \u20ac1m.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite a cooler property market in 2025, several Douglas homes have still exceeded \u20ac1m, including Moyard at Woodview (\u20ac1.2m) and Ballincurrig House (over \u20ac1m) \u2014 both via Cohalan Downing.<\/p>\n

\"UpwardlyUpwardly mobile (note stained glass panel over the door)<\/p>\n

The same agents also handled Arts & Crafts gem Kendalsbrae, dating to the 1920s, on 2.25 acres at Woodview\/Well Road, with an AMV of \u20ac2.95m.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That sale was topped only by the \u20ac4m listing of Ravenscourt House on Well Road\/Skehard Road, offered by Lisney Sotheby\u2019s International Realty.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Glenmaris is in excellent condition, ready for immediate occupancy and minor updates over time. Drainage and underpinning work have already been completed.<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s a little dated \u2014 but charmingly so \u2014 with five bedrooms (up to three en suite, one a compact WC closet).<\/p>\n

\"VintageVintage tiling is top quality\"\"<\/p>\n

Notable original features include fireplaces, doors, floors, stained-glass transoms above several bedroom doors, and the deep-glazed white-and-green tiling in the main bathroom.<\/p>\n

The ground floor includes a living room, dining room, study, kitchen\/family dining area with sunroom, a large utility\/laundry room, the \u201cloo-brary,\u201d and access to a yard, outbuildings, an outdoor WC, and a glasshouse tucked behind mature apple trees \u2014 which have just dropped the last of this autumn\u2019s crop.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s even a garden pond which, when drained years ago, revealed several golf balls, likely hit there by junior Coveney golfers \u2014 perhaps the easiest \u2018hole in one\u2019 any budding Ryder Cup hopeful could dream of.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe berries<\/p>\n

\n VERDICT: The man who built much of Endsleigh Park clearly knew what he was doing when he kept Glenmaris for himself. Prospective buyers should move quickly \u2014 and renovate slowly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a familiar pattern that when builders, architects, or other professionals develop a particular scheme, they often keep…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[4488,365,362,363,364,366,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-116936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-irish-examiner-instagram","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}