A converted school house in Skerries has a rich history – and the discovery of a note with a promise netted its current owners an old £5
Asking price: €535,000
Agent: DNG McKenna Healy (01) 849 1510
When Alec Davis, the owner of the Old School House, a converted period home in Skerries, was renovating it in 2010, he came across a hand-written note, attached to a wall behind a built-in wardrobe. Written in a child’s scrawled handwriting, the note read, “If anyone finds this note, I will give them £5”. It was signed ‘Breege’, but there was no date.
Carolanne and Alec Davis. Photo: Bryan Meade
Alec, who bought the now four-bedroom home in 2008, was intrigued and set about finding the girl who’d written it. “It wasn’t difficult,” he says. “The house was previously owned by the McNally family, who are still well known in the locality, and they were my first port of call.”
Through them, he found the girl, Breege McNally, who is now a retired school teacher. She’d grown up in the house and recalled as a little girl, sticking the note to the wall, as her father constructed a wardrobe by hand. The note was returned to her, and then one day, there was a ring on Alec’s doorbell. He opened it to see a box containing a framed old £5 note, on the doorstep. Written underneath it was: “A promise made is a promise kept.”
The £5 note given to Alec Davis by Breege McNally
That framed note now sits pride of place in the hallway of The Old School House, which, as its name suggests, was once the local primary school for the Loughshinny community. When the Irish Free State took over from the British administration, there were numerous small schools like these littered across the country.
Skerries primary school children in the early 1930s
Built circa 1908, it was in bad repair when Alec bought it. He was 25 and worked for the family’s heating and plumbing company, M.N. Davis in Skerries, and therefore planned to work on it himself. An extension had been added to the two-story house in the 1950s.
However, when the big snow of December 2010 caused the mains water to leak in the attic, flooding all of the rooms, he realised it was a bigger job than he’d originally thought.
The family room of the Old School House, Ballykea, Loughshinny, Skerries, Co Dublin
“There had been a 200-year-old roof, but it was completely destroyed and the water had destroyed the ceilings and even snapped some of the beams,” he recalls. He had to gut the interior as a result. Stripping it back to just four walls, he took the first floor out and removed the roof. He then insulated the walls and added a new roof, increasing the BER rating to B3.
In addition, he added heating and a boiler, and rewired the property. He also installed new double glazed windows in the deep-set recesses. “The only original features left were the external walls, which are approximately a metre thick,” he adds.
The bedroom of the Old School House, Ballykea, Loughshinny, Skerries, Co Dublin
Classes in the original schoolhouse had been taught downstairs and the teacher lived upstairs and so Alec opted to bring the house back to its original state, making the upstairs the living space.
He designed an open-plan kitchen/dining/sitting room upstairs, making the downstairs school house into three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a laundry room. He and his then girlfriend Carolanne, who’s now his wife and comes from Limerick, bought the house and moved in in 2012. The couple, who now have three children: James (9), Theodora (7) and Jack (6), set about re-decorating the property, with Carolanne making most of the decisions about the interior.
The dining area of the Old School House, Ballykea, Loughshinny, Skerries, Co Dublin
The house is less than 1km from the sheltered Loughshinny beach and harbour. The family like to sail in their free time, and keep a boat in nearby Howth harbour, and the house reflects their love of the water. The hallway, for example, has a compass in the tiles on the floor.
There are two ship-style round mirrors on the walls, and other paraphernalia like a boat-shaped shelf in the hallway and hanging lamps that have a distinctly nautical feel in the open-plan area.
A sea view from the Old School House, Ballykea, Loughshinny, Skerries, Co Dublin
“The coastal theme was not intentional,” says Carolanne. “The interior evolved over time. I’d simply pick up bits and pieces here and there that appealed to me.”
They added a new kitchen two years ago, which, in keeping with the general theme, is pristine white and navy. It combines well with the polished wooden floors, parts of which are original.
The kitchen area of the Old School House, Ballykea, Loughshinny, Skerries, Co Dublin
“We love the open-plan kitchen/dining/sitting room,” says Carolanne. “It means the kids can sit at the island and do their homework while I’m making dinner in the evening.” The couple like to entertain and find the open-plan room is ideal for it.
“You can see the sea from the windows on one side,” says Alec. “And the skylights in the roof let in a lot of light. It’s a very bright and airy room, which is cosy in the winter.”
A bedroom in the Old School House, Ballykea, Loughshinny, Skerries, Co Dublin
One of the bedrooms is upstairs, and could also be used as another reception room. The Old School House is located on a quiet road leading to the Loughshinny beach. It’s near the village of Loughshinny, which has approximately 700 residents.
“There are no shops, but there’s a pub and a primary school which the children can walk to,” says Carolanne. Despite its picturesque rural setting, the house is a seven-minute drive to Skerries and 40 minutes by car to Dublin city centre. There’s a strong sense of community in the area and the couple have become close with their neighbours.
The garden of the Old School House, Ballykea, Loughshinny, Skerries, Co Dublin
“It’s not at all unusual for me to come home on a Friday evening and find that a couple of our neighbours have popped in unexpectedly for a glass of wine and they’re sitting around the island,” says Alec. “We all know, and look out for each other, and the area is very safe for children.”
In fact, they love the locality so much that they now intend to buy another property close by. After all the work they’ve put into the Old School House, they’re feeling sad about leaving it, however.
“We’re moving as we need more space, but it won’t be easy to say goodbye,” says Carolanne. “We’ve made some wonderful memories living here,” adds Alec. “It’s really a fantastic house and holds a special place in our hearts.”
DNG McKenna Healy is asking for €535,000.
