The many and varied lives of Firmount House, a Georgian gem in Co Kildare

Dating from the 1700s, Firmount House has been through many incarnations, including serving as a WWI military hospital and later as a safe house for Eamon de Valera. Its current owners have brought it back to its former glory and it is on the market for €1.6m

Firmount House near Clane, Co Kildare: lovingly restored by its current owners

We owe a debt of gratitude to the small cohort of property owners who have voluntarily become guardians of our built environment in order to preserve some of the nation’s most beautiful structures.

Perhaps bought for buttons, these owners must then dig deep – both financially and often at great personal sacrifice – to drag the derelict and crumbling bones of their hamstrung edifice from the edge of distinction back to life.