Last week, while on my travels through Cork, I had the pleasure of visiting Castle Park House, situated in Kanturk, Co Cork. As I drove towards the old market town, I came upon the striking Kanturk castle, which is just on the outskirts of the town.

This formidable structure almost acts as the gatehouse to Castle Park House as the entrance to the estate lies just 10 yards before it. In fact, Castle Park is set on some of the former grounds of the historic 17th century castle. Leaving the castle and the main road, you enter a long gravel avenue that skirts through mature woodland for almost half a kilometre. The road brings you right into the heart of the lands, where the impressive Georgian country house stands in front of two enormous copper beech trees.

Structurally the house is in excellent condition, however there is room for substantial refurbishment of the interior.

The house retains all of its original classic features, with large bay windows, marble fireplaces and intricate cornicing still in good condition.

The kitchen, in particular, offers any potential buyer the chance to put their own personal touch on the house. At present, it is small and dated, but there is room to extend it into a larger room with modern features.

In the drawing room, the present owners have a framed copy of the Cork Examiner newspaper report from December 1964 when they first bought the house.

The house has five bedrooms upstairs and a large cellar. As Georgian houses go, it is a nice size and easily manageable.

The yard

The farmyard is situated directly behind the house and offers huge potential for any buyer. A range of large stone buildings form a U-shape to make a spacious concrete courtyard. The yard would be ideal for modern stabling. Behind the courtyard and stone buildings is a four-column hay shed and a silage shed with a lean-to enclosed.

The lands surround the farmyard and are easily accessible by a gravel roadway running through the farm. The land is currently all in tillage and still a week or two from harvest. The farm is laid out in eight main divisions, with neat, well-maintained hedgerows dividing each field.

What Castle Park House offers potential buyers is privacy in a superb location and a real chance to put their mark on a manageable period home. The proximity of the house to the town of Kanturk also makes it an attractive buy, as it is right on the doorstep of Cork city and Killarney.

Cork racecourse, situated just outside Mallow, is also a short drive away. Although currently in tillage, the farm also offers potential as a dairy or stud farm. Castle Park House is for sale by private treaty at an asking price of €2.25m. The sale is being handled by Christy Buckley Auctioneers, Ballinhassig.