THE first country house sale of the year has been clocked up by Colliers, which has just sold Mamree Lodge in Inistioge, Co Kilkenny. The Georgian house on 4.5 acres was first put up for sale in 2009, with an asking price of €1.9 million.

It’s sold for not far off that price, according to Edward Townsend of Colliers. It might seem a hefty price, but new owners are getting a near perfect country house set at the end of a tree-lined avenue which accounts for three-quarters of an acre of the grounds and lends great privacy to the property. There are terraced gardens leading down to the Nore and paddocks and grazing for a few ponies. Inside, the house is in excellent condition having been extensively and handsomely restored, re-roofed and re-wired in recent years.