WALTON COURT HOUSE 

Location

c.4.55 Acres (1.83ha)

A superb original Georgian country house dating from 1776 in a unique waterfront location on Oysterhaven Bay, with magnificent views and direct access to the sea. Kinsale 6 miles, Cork International Airport 18 miles. Complete with Cottages, Swimming Pool,  Greenhouses and Outbuildings. Stunning Gardens and Orchard.

Walton Court is situated just 6 miles from the town of Kinsale which offers a range of shops, supermarkets, pubs and gourmet restaurants, numerous primary and secondary schools and provides all the requirements of everyday living. Walton Court is 20 minutes from Cork International Airport and Ringaskiddy ferry port, and 18 miles from Cork City centre.

Oysterhaven in Kinsale County Cork is a much sought location overlooking the bay and this beautiful residence occupies an idyllic position with unspoilt views of the area. The county of Cork is known for its rugged natural beauty, fine beaches and scenic landscape. Kinsale is widely regarded as the Gourmet Capital of Ireland and is famous for its majestic harbour location, gourmet restaurants, superb golf courses, narrow winding streets and historical attractions. It is renowned as a picturesque town in the south west of Ireland with one of the only remaining 17th Century star shaped forts in Europe. Kinsale is a haven for fans of outdoor pursuits, with a variety of heritage trails and scenic walks along the coast where you can enjoy the fresh air and beautiful landscapes.

The golf enthusiast is well catered for with excellent nearby golf clubs such as Kinsale Golf Club, Ringenane and the world class Old Head Golf Links nearby. Kinsale’s coast offers a multitude of water sports for the energetic such as sailing, windsurfing, snorkelling, surfing and boating. The keen angler can avail of the many fine spots for fishing along the coast and also the Bandon River. Walton Court is well placed for those who enjoy horse riding with many equestrian centres located in Kinsale and for hunting locally Kinsale lies in the centre of the South Union Country.

History

Walton Court is an Irish Georgian country house dating from 1776 and incorporating a fortified tower house from 1576. A unique historic property overlooking idyllic Oysterhaven Bay is steeped in three centuries of history and intrigue; it was home to the colourful Walton family for more than 200 years, followed by a tea planter from Ceylon, an eccentric Church of Ireland minister, and two retired Scottish priests.

The earliest recorded family history of Walton Court dates from 1576, when the original fortified Tower House, stable courtyard and 1000 acre farm estate were in the ownership of the Roche family of Norman origin, who first came to the area in 1167.

By 1642 James Oge Roche was charged with treason and disinherited, the ownership of the small castle overlooking Oysterhaven Bay and surrounding farm land passing to Captain Swithin Walton.

In 1776 his son and heir Thomas Walton remodeled the house in the Georgian style, with stonemason George Keane employing 100 local men to cut the distinctive ashlar stone blocks now facing the house.

His brother Robert emigrated to the United States, where he was one of the founders of the Rugby commune in Tennessee, building a wooden “replica” of Walton Court.

The Walton family archives and historical documents show that they were a colourful family, relying on smuggling brandy and silk from France to Ireland for their living, outrunning the English coastguard cutters in and out of the many local bays and inlets.

Archives show the Waltons involved in the relief effort during the Great Famine, distributing produce from the farm and bread from the estate bakery, now restored as a cottage in the old courtyard.

The house later passed to the Cork banking family of Sir Thomas Roberts through marriage, and then into the Knolles family of nearby Oatlands House, now sadly demolished.

Subsequent owners have included Church of Ireland minister Reverend Harold Hadden, whose obsession with the Walton legend of smugglers tunnels under the property led him to map and excavate the land in search buried treasure, a retired Irish tea planter from India, Andrew Carnegie, and two retired Catholic Priests, Fr. Richard O’Callaghan and his brother Paul, who ran the local pub here until the 1980’s.

The derelict property was bought by the present owners on their return from Kenya, and they embarked on a ten year restoration project of the house and stable courtyard.

Walton Court House is listed as a building of local and national historical importance, and is catalogued as one of the historic houses of Ireland, with the sympathetic and painstaking restoration attracting comment from the Irish Georgian Society, Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings and Cork County Council planners.

The distinctive stone frontage of the house carries the inscription “TW 1776”below the gable which was added by Thomas Walton following his Georgian improvement extension.

Building style: Georgian

x - Master Bedroom, Upper Level.