Run the rule over riverside ruin

A Co Wicklow ruin that was once the home of Irish patriot Henry Grattan is expected to make over £1 million at a Jackson-Stops auction on December 1st. Tinnehinch, in Enniskerry, was demolished without permission in the 1950s by an English property developer, David Harris, who sold off its fixtures at an open-air auction.

Home to the Grattan-Bellew family for over a century, it had been gifted to Henry Grattan by the Irish parliament.

Once an imposing two-storey mansion with wings on either side, it is now no more than four walls with wisteria and roses climbing through the front door and manicured lawns rolling down to the Dargle river. The current owners, the Duff family, bought Tinnehinch on around 70 acres in 1977 and have lived there in two restored cottages, one of which was the former laundry of the big house.

The Duffs are now selling both houses along with the ruin and three acres of wooded grounds that include a stretch of the River Dargle. They plan to retain the rest of the land and will live in another portion of the estate.

Planning permission has been granted to rebuild the original house, although architectural plans have not been drawn up. What potential buyers will find is a delightful, single-storey ruin that has become a walled garden. The original tall windows, facing south and east, frame a stunning view of manicured lawns descending to the river and ringed by 40-ft pines and redwoods.

Built in the 18th century by Lord Powerscourt, Tinnehinch lies between two large estates - Powerscourt Demesne and Charleville, which is owned by property developer Ken Rohan.

It was once an important coaching inn, but in 1782, the Irish parliament presented it to Henry Grattan in gratitude for the part he played in obtaining its freedom from English control. His family lived there until earlier this century.

It was bought in 1950 by David Harris, who, having failed to secure funding to run the house, demolished it, despite opposition from locals and from Wicklow County Council. Timbers, fireplaces and roof slates were sold off on the lawn. An ornate glass porch fetched £7 while a magnificent stained-glass window that once lit the staircase was unsold at £20, according to a newspaper report of the time. Today, Tinnehinch is a spectacularly beautiful and romantic property that is bounded on one side by the Dargle and on the other by a high wall dividing it from the main road.

A long, gravelled driveway sweeps past the ruin to the cottages, the main one of which backs on to the boundary wall.

A two-storey house which is now in need of some refurbishment, it has a long, beamed sittingroom and a kitchen downstairs and three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Two adjoining outbuildings could be restored and incorporated to make a large cottage, or, alternatively, developed as separate units.

The second house has two reception rooms and two bedrooms and a small enclosed garden.

The three-acre site incorporates one side of the river only. It offers excellent fishing and has held the Irish record for sea-trout fishing for many years.

The far bank of the river can be bought for an additional 10 per cent of the purchase price.