Richard Harris’s Limerick childhood home for €785k

In the 1930s actor Richard Harris swung Tarzan-like from the trees in the gardens of Overdale, a tall, elegant, early 19th-century redbrick on Limerick's Ennis Road. He went to Crescent College from there, played a lot of rugby and left the house that was his home for worldly fame and fortune in 1952.

And now that childhood home, Overdale, is on the market. The current owners have lived in Overdale for 20 years and, during the 1990s when they ran a retreat house, they carried out renovations. The result is nine en suite bedrooms. Semi-detached, Overdale has three storeys, a substantial 325sq m (3,500sq ft) floor space and a layout that, bedroom floors aside, is elegantly traditional with high ceilings, a great deal of light and fine original features all awaiting the next phase in its interesting life.

Agent REA O'Connor Murphy is seeking €785,000 for the house set well back from one of Limerick city's most distinguished roads. It would make a fine family home, or work well as a guesthouse. A copper beech stands guard by the entrance gate and the long garden to the front has hedging and lawn. The rear garden is in lawn and with planted flower beds, a block shed and gated access to off-street parking.

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Kitchen

The wide entrance hallway is every much of its time with an ornate tiled floor, dado rail, cornicing and soaring ceiling. The formal drawing and sittingrooms on this ground floor take light from the front-facing bay window, have sliding, glass-panelled doors between them, cornicing and, in both rooms, impressive black marble fireplaces. A kitchen with pantry, a laundry, guest WC and diningroom to the rear are relatively new additions. The kitchen and diningroom have polished timber floors and garden views.

A couple of large bedrooms and a dressingroom off the first floor landing could convert to a showpiece main bedroom.