Mount Falcon, a Victorian Gothic house of considerable architectural distinction, and 93 acres of gardens and woodlands near Ballina, Co Mayo, is to be offered for sale by private treaty.
Joint agents Corry McMahon Auctioneers and Ganly Walters are seeking offers in excess of £2.5 million (€3.17m) for the property which has been run as a fishing lodge since the 1930s. The estate includes 1.5 miles of single bank fishing along the river Moy, one of the best salmon rivers in the country.
Mount Falcon opened earlier this month as a private country lodge after being extensively refurbished at a cost of over £1 million (€1.27m). It is currently available for letting at £1,500 (€1,904) per day for groups of up to 12. The price includes food (cooked by chef Michael French-Davis) and fishing on the Moy.
Mount Falcon has operated as a fishing lodge from 1932 when it was bought by Major Robert Aldridge and his wife Constance. She retired from the business two years ago at the age of 93. Her grand-daughter Caroline still has a quarter-share in the estate, the balance being held by the Dublin businessman Johnny McCarthy.
He says that they will consider selling a stake in the property "to a shareholder who can bring something to the table - someone who is familiar with the leisure or fishing business". McCarthy wants to devote more of his time to his property interests in Dublin and the UK. He has spent most of the past year overseeing the refurbishment of the 40-room house. The work included the installation of new central heating and plumbing and the re-roofing of the house.
The work was completed on July 6th in time to receive the first guest, a member of the American Ryder Cup team. He and two friends spent the best part of a week fishing on the Moy. "A lot of our guests tend to come in by helicopter," says McCarthy. For those who prefer to drive, the estate is three miles from Ballina and 95 miles from Shannon.
Mount Falcon has a prolific stretch of the Moy, two miles upstream from the famous Ridge Pool in Ballina. On average, more than 200 salmon are caught on the estate each year. On one particular day this month - Friday the 13th - 13 fish were caught. Two days later, nine fish were hooked.
Mount Falcon is a perfectly manageable home unlike some of the country piles that come on the market. Its 12,000 sq ft of floor space includes a number of handsome reception rooms. The most notable is the drawingroom which has a huge bay window overlooking the mature grounds and the woodlands.
Although the original estate had more than 2,200 acres, the 93 acres remaining ensure complete privacy. The woodlands have many specimen trees dating back hundreds of years.
Although part of the plantation will have to be removed to facilitate a road widening scheme - 6.5 acres are to be compulsorily acquired by the local authority - it will not affect the overall integrity of the estate.
The house itself was built as a hunting lodge for Utred Knox in 1876. It was designed by James Franklin Fuller whose other work included Ashford Castle, Kylemore Abbey, Annaghmore in Sligo and the Clock Tower in the newly opened State guest-house, Farmleigh, in Dublin.
Mount Falcon has seven principal bedrooms, all of them named after well-known pools on the Moy.
The main bedroom suite (The Wall Pool) is particularly luxurious with around 1,500 sq ft of space including its own sittingroom and dining area.
