{"id":464584,"date":"2026-05-24T09:24:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T09:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/464584\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T09:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T09:24:17","slug":"how-one-couple-brought-an-irish-country-house-back-from-the-brink-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/464584\/","title":{"rendered":"How one couple brought an Irish country house back from the brink \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Kingfishr\u2019s 2025 smash hit Killeagh<\/a>, the band sing about the span of the town, ranging from the woods of Glenbower to the river Dissour. Nestled just outside the east Cork<\/a> village, on top of a hill, is an 1830s Greek revival house, with sweeping views of both \u2013 the woods to the back and the mouth of the Dissour as it meets the sea. <\/p>\n

Dromdiah House had been deserted for almost eight decades when it caught the attention of Malcolm Sparrow and his wife, who hails from north Co Cork originally. As they were nearing retirement, the couple decided they wanted a project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are upsizing,\u201d jokes Malcolm, about the couples\u2019 decade-long restoration and renovation effort. <\/p>\n

The pair purchased Dromdiah House, built in the 1830s but vacant since 1941, in late 2016. There was no roof on the building at the time, and the abandoned structure was a popular spot with local teenagers to go binge-drinking. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who grew up in the village had a misspent youth in this house I think,\u201d says Malcolm.<\/p>\n

When Malcolm\u2019s sister in law went to view the collapsing property on behalf of the couple, she firmly warned them \u201cnot to go near it\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut we were seduced,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Originally built in 1833 by Roger Green Davis, the land agent to the absentee landlord Arthur de Capell Brooke, the home sits on 14 acres. <\/p>\n

Dromdiah also came with a walled garden and a coach house, where the previous owners, who were dairy farmers, lived. The coach house allowed the couple to live on site as the project was being completed over the last nine years.<\/p>\n

\"MalcolmMalcolm Sparrow in Dromdiah House. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"ExteriorExterior of Dromdiadh House. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"'It’s‘It\u2019s a very mad project,’ Malcolm Sparrow says. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

The original plan, according to Malcolm, was to do the main house first, then the walled garden, and finally the coach house \u2013 but it ended up being done in reverse order. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Romantic Georgian residence surrounded by natural beauty in Co CarlowOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very mad project,\u201d he says. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s taken probably three times as long and cost twice as much as we expected. We\u2019re both engineers, so we thought we knew what we were doing. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside, the country house is blush pink, with lime plaster containing cork for insulation, paper thin Fineo glass and neoclassical doric columns. <\/p>\n

Inside, Dromdiah is a stunning modern affair making use of tempered European oak floors, panels, and doors, as well as modern conveniences such as underfloor heating and a state-of-the-art air exchange system and heat pump.<\/p>\n

\"DromdiahDromdiah won the \u20ac5,000 Historic Houses of Ireland O\u2019Flynn Group Heritage award in 2025. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"TheThe original plan, according to Malcolm Sparrow, was to do the main house first, then the walled garden, and finally the coach house \u2013 but it ended up being done in reverse order. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"DromdiahDromdiah is a stunning modern affair making use of tempered European oak floors, panels, and doors. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

\u201cFor every one kilowatt of electricity you use, you get four kilowatts of heat,\u201d explains Malcolm. \u201cOne of the advantages of the way we have done the house is that there was absolutely nothing here, meaning we could put in all new systems.\u201d <\/p>\n

The heat pump isn\u2019t the only eco-conscious decision made by the couple, who also availed of the Native Area forestry grant to plant 7,000 indigenous trees on the estate, including hazel, oak, holly and birch. The grant covers the planting and maintenance of the trees for the first four years.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ballysallagh House is a rare example of an unspoilt Georgian home with gardens and stablesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Alongside this, Dromdiah won the \u20ac5,000 Historic Houses of Ireland O\u2019Flynn Group Heritage award in 2025, which recognises work by owners to preserve privately owned heritage properties.<\/p>\n

The couple also received a \u20ac4,000 grant from the Irish Georgian Society for the Fineo sash windows, which have tiny black dots allowing for a vacuum-seal, are thin, and yet are still thermally efficient. \u201cPeople tend to look through windows, not at them, so you wouldn\u2019t notice the dots at all,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Other details in line with the property\u2019s Georgian pedigree are found in the hallway, the only room in the house that still retains period features, with two panels of plasterwork and a salvaged fireplace in the style of the era from John Walsh\u2019s fireplaces in Cork. <\/p>\n

Otherwise, there had been only a shell of a the stately home remaining, meaning that, other than the exterior, the duo had carte blanche to make the house a home as they saw fit. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe couple received a \u20ac4,000 grant from the Irish Georgian Society for the Fineo sash windows. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"TheThe duo had carte blanche to make the house a home as they saw fit. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"TheThe layout is modern and spacious, but still with plenty of period charm. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"TheThe layout is modern and spacious, but still with plenty of period charm. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had no photographs and no drawings, so we couldn\u2019t actually reproduce what was there,\u201d Malcolm explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the house was configured for when you had servants, but that\u2019s not how we live. So basically, we really had the opportunity to reimagine the house and then reconfigure it to the way that we wanted it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI have to say, when we were going through the whole planning permission cycle, the planners were very helpful. They understood what we were trying to do here. Other than asking us to change the style of the window to traditional sash windows, they really didn\u2019t put any onerous conditions on us.\u201d <\/p>\n

The home renovation was designed by Dublin\u2019s Shaffrey architects, who have worked on other protected structures such as Wicklow Head Lighthouse and Ardfert Cathedral. <\/p>\n

The layout is modern and spacious, but still with plenty of period charm, such as an electric range in the kitchen, a television discreetly hidden behind panelling, and heat-efficient stoves installed in the period fireplace openings. <\/p>\n

Due to the cost that would be involved, the couple made a semicircular room at one end of the house into a secluded patio, where they can soak up the evening sun, rather than incorporate it into the house itself. The patio is a sheltered outdoor spot on the windy hilltop site, and is just off the open-plan dining-living room. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe couple made a semicircular room into a secluded patio, rather than incorporate it into the house itself. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"InsideInside the patio area. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

The couple employed local talent Susan Turner as landscape architect. Her many credentials include being head gardener at Ballymaloe, as well as her work on the five-star Castlemartyr resort. <\/p>\n

Turner developed their walled garden, now stocked with rhubarb, lettuce, chillies and cabbage, as well as fruit trees that line the stone walls. She also designed the rockery, using sandstone from a local quarry in east Cork. <\/p>\n

In spite of the proportions \u2013 the house measures 5002sq m (5,381 sq ft) in total living space \u2013 it is only a three-bed. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s actually another thing that really attracted us,\u201d says Malcolm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got quite a neat footprint. Some of these old houses would have had 50 rooms in them. We\u2019d never have gone for something like that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Dromdiah is a private home, but the couple may open it to public access, and potentially use the coach house as a short-term let. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe get a lot of interest, and we like showing people around, so we want to make it more accessible,\u201d says Malcolm, although he is firm that it is not a business endeavour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a showpiece; it\u2019s a home, and we can\u2019t wait to live here and enjoy it,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Indeed, after nine years of painstaking restoration, a house might be the good thing that comes to those who wait. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe couple employed local talent Susan Turner as landscape architect. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill \"InsideInside the walled garden. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill Biggest win<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest win is that the house has great bones; the architecture, stonework, aspect and location,\u201d says Malcolm. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a blank canvas to make it our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Biggest mistake<\/p>\n

\u201cNot quite a mistake, but Brexit and the pandemic increased costs and made it hard to find contractors,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had started the rebuild just before Covid struck, so not only did it obviously extend the time, but all the inflation afterwards made the cost so much higher,\u201d Malcolm adds. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe capacity in the industry is significantly reduced since then, so that was a constant issue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Kingfishr\u2019s 2025 smash hit Killeagh, the band sing about the span of the town, ranging from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,46,25664,61,12283,60,4310,21674],"class_list":["post-464584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cork","tag-country-homes","tag-ie","tag-interiors","tag-ireland","tag-property","tag-rural-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}