Award-winning tree farmer’s house for sale
The former home of award-winning tree farmer Matt Fogarty is on the market with an asking price of €825,000.
Drominagh Lodge, Ballinderry, dates from the early nineteenth century. Costing more than £1,000, it was built for the Biggs family of Castle Biggs.
The house has a rich and illustrious history, connecting it to the story of Ireland, as it passed into the hands of the Fogarty family, good friends of Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith, the first President of Dáil Éireann. Stories wrapping around the house include the tale of the fine and elegant gate posts at the top of the tree-lined avenue having been won by a member of the Biggs family at a particularly deep card game in Galway.
Owned by the same family since the 1880s, today that history sits peacefully within Drominagh’s stone walls, and rests gently in the woodlands that surround the property. Its last resident, Matt Fogarty with his late wife Mary began planting trees at the site in 1957, setting up a tree farm and nursery. Attracting visitors from near and far, the farm grew to feature over 200 different kinds of trees, including many rare and exotic species in an intriguing range of shapes and sizes.
Matt won several national awards for his work. He died last October in his 87th year.
Drominagh House is one of a string of classic Irish period country houses that are dotted along the lush landscapes of the shores of Lough Derg. It comes from an era when Victorian elements were lifting the heavier symmetry of the Georgian period. This gives touches such as a colonnaded veranda, arched stone steps leading to the front door, and lovely deeply-inset casement windows with panelled surrounds and shutters. The ceilings are high, and the proportions are good, making this a wonderful canvas from which to draw inspiration and make a true gem for the next generation.
The approximately 3.67 hectares (nine acres) that surround the house add a pond, millrace and working water wheel, and specimen trees including a classic monkey puzzle. There are well tended woodlands, and a farmyard with three barns and additional outbuildings. All these add to the potential of this remarkable and beautiful spot.
Reached via a charming arched flight of stone steps, and under a period fan-lit front door, the oldest part of Drominagh is a classic Victorian hunting box, with a symmetrical layout.
GARDENS AND GROUNDS
Elegant stone piers flank the gateway to Drominagh Lodge. Said to have been won at a card game in Galway back in the late 1800s, they set the tone for the gardens and grounds, as they lead to a lovely tree-lined avenue, curving to welcome you to the front of the house.
The nine acres of grounds include well-tended woodlands, specimen trees, and a separate farmyard housing three barns as well as plenty of other outbuildings, which add a total of c. 371.6 sq m / 3,999 sq ft of additional space. The gardens are dotted with seating areas, and pathways and the entire aspect of Drominagh is made even more charming by the pool and millrace, crossed by little bridges, and a working water wheel alongside the house. This is overlooked by the conservatory, which leads on to a pretty patio area.
The gardens and grounds have been beautifully considered and tended over the years, and include marvellous trees including a weeping ash, monkey puzzle, tree ferns, mature shrubs and more.