Refurbished period home at the centre of Limerick’s sporting life

"I don't know what it's like to sit in traffic," says the owner of Clareville on the Ennis Road in Limerick.

And anyone who lives in the area and works in the city will understand why it is considered to be one of the most desirable areas to live.

With Ardscoil Rís, the second-level boys’ school that has tutored politicians, five rugby internationals, and a host of champion hurlers and footballers, a two-minute walk away, a local tennis club and two rowing clubs within five minutes’ walk, the notion of taxi parents is a thing lost on local residents, as kids – and indeed parents – with the exception of golf – can walk to their favourite activity.

The current owners purchased the house 23 years ago and are now downsizing from their 300sq m (3,229sq ft) property as their young have flown the coop. The house, which has five bedrooms – a sixth has changed over time from a nursery to a dressing room – lies over three levels, with two returns, and is well set back from the Ennis Road itself.

Interiors are just lovely, and the pared-back décor marries very well with period features as it allows them to take centre stage.

The front hallway retains its original floor tiles which were installed when the property was constructed in 1910. It is credited to architect William Clifford Smith, the young designer who won a competition for one of the city's best known landmarks, the Shannon Rowing Club, which sits on an island on Wellesley Bridge (a five-minute walk away).

Other features are the fine bay windows framed by solid shutters and panelling, overlooking the front garden.

One of the pure luxuries of the property, and something the owner says that clinched the deal when they came to view the house more than two decades ago, is the bathroom for the principal bedroom which lies on the second return.

Completed by previous owners (it was more than likely a bedroom at one stage, given its size) it is a huge wallop of luxury with a freestanding bath and an open fireplace for pure decadence on chilly winter evenings.

The property is one of the very few to retain its full rear garden as many along this side of the road were cut and sold off for houses along Farranshone Road, which runs to the rear.

Because of this, the house has electric gates and off-street parking for lots of cars, which the owner says are always full with friends’ vehicles on match days at nearby Thomond Park.

Clareville, which is Ber-exempt, is now on the market through Sherry FitzGerald Limerick seeking €895,000.