In the mid 1960s, the Clarke family from Atlanta, Georgia, in the US, were travelling throughout Ireland on holiday when they stopped in Kilkenny. While taking the time to stretch their legs around the marble city, Hal Clarke, a solicitor and veteran of World War II, came across the offices of Peter McCreery, a local auctioneer.

Like any shrewd auctioneer, McCreery showed to Clarke a picture of the nearby Kilfane House at Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, and told him how the historic house was part of a contested estate and was in danger of demolition. Taking an interest in the old house, Clarke asked to be shown the property.

Kilfane House dates from the late 1700s when it was constructed by Col John Bushe who was granted the lands following the Cromwellian settlement. By the time Hal Clarke came to view the house in the mid-1960s, the estate was dilapidated and in need of major renovation works.

A number of years later in 1971, Kilfane House eventually came for public auction and Hal Clarke took the opportunity to return to Ireland, buy the property and set about an intensive restoration process that took many years. Kilfane House and estate was saved and restored to order by the Clarke family, who have spent the summer months at the Thomastown property ever since.

The family even became ingrained with the local community over the years, with Hal Clarke particularly involved in the local handball club. However, at the age of 99, Hal Clarke passed away late last year and his family are now selling Kilfane House.

In a nice circling of the story, Peter McCreery of Sherry Fitzgerald McCreery in Kilkenny and son of the same Peter McCreery who first sold Kilfane House to the Clarke family, is handling the sale of the estate along with joint selling agent Roseanne DeVere Hunt of Sherry Fitzgerald Country Homes, Farms and Estates, Dublin.

Albeit not in the same state of decay as when Hal Clarke first purchased it in 1971, Kilfane House is once again in need of restoration from a new buyer. Set on 79 acres, the house is a three-storey Georgian property with more than 10 bedrooms and a host of additional rooms on the second and third floors that can be put to any use.

The ground floor is similar to many period homes of this size, with a large entrance hall extending to spacious reception and drawing rooms on either side. Restoring a property of this scale is going to take significant investment and Roseanne DeVere Hunt of Sherry Fitzgerald believes it may be another American buyer who takes on the task.

She added that while there is some stables on the grounds, Kilfane House doesn’t have the required infrastructure for a working stud farm. For sale by private treaty, Kilfane House and estate is on the market at an asking price of €1.75m.