Myrtleville House is a Georgian House thought to have been built originally by the Daunt family in the 18th century and has passed down over the years through many families. It was bought from the Good family by my grandfather and grandmother, Bertie and Marie Bolster. My grandparents moved there from their home in Kanturk, North Cork and the house was once more inhabited by the Daunt family,
when Vera Bolster married William Daunt, and we their four children had the privlege of growing up there.

My grandparents arrived with all their belongings and a maid and gardener.My mother was only twelve then and attended as a weekly boarder in Rochelle in Cork. Her brother was four years older and was at boarding school in Midleton college.The house was not in great condition and over the years work was done both inside and out to improve it. There were four very large bedrooms and a large landing, a drawing room. dining room, breakfast room, kitchen, pantry, very large hall, scullery, bathroom and downstairs loo. Then there was the annexe at the side where the gardener and maid lived in my grandparents time.

There was a shop in a room in an outhouse but my grandparents moved it nearer the house where it was easier to manage. I remember as a child, hearing the bell ring in the scullery and my mum or grandma washing their hands and quickly taking off their apron to attend the 'customer in the shop'. Next to the shop was the oil-house where we sold methelated spirits and paraffin - people brought their own cans and it was measured out. - I can still smell it! The shop had a long counter with a big weighing scales (whitch is to be seen in Carrigaline Court Hotel). This was used to measure out all sorts of things; flour, sugar, tea, also fruit and vegetables (which we grew on the farm). There were large tins on the shelves; Jacobs biscuits, Foxs sweets, crates of glass bottles, Frys chocolate bars, cocoa powder, Irel Coffee, Bovril, large white candles, wicks for lamps, Epsom salts, Lifebuoy soap, 'Blue' for whitening clothes or royal icing, small little bottles of olive oil. The bread man, (Thompsons) used to call every day with fresh skulls, baskets and sometimes Battenbergs. (everytime my sister visits from England she takes one back).

Many people still remember calling to the shop to buy potatoes and vegetables in the summer months - lots of holidaymakers came to Myrtleville that time. Connnie Hayes's mother used sometimes help out with the shop even in Good's time. An old man from the area called Battie Noonan (he has since passed on) told me that during the war, my grandfather used to keep a packet of 'Woodbines' for him under the counter.(You could'nt get them very easily in those days - everyone had ration books.

My grandparents bought an 'AGA' cooker in 1939 and it is still in Myrtleville Housee, working on oil. My grandmother kept hundreds of laying hens in large houses in a small field known an the fowl-run. I still remember the crates of eggs stored in the annexe of the house. she used to preserve eggs for the house in winter time. These were put into a large preserving pot and covered in waterglass- a special liquid to preserve the eggs.

There was a large orchard and kitchen garden at the back of the house. Here grew dozens of apple trees, both eating and cooking, gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes. There were large frame glasshouses growing tomatoes and grapevines. My father grew acres of potatoes and lots of vegetables, selling to the local shops and to suppliers in Cork City. He used to deliver to the local shops on Saturday mornings and there were many of them then - There were two in Fennels Bay, Mary Long's and Mrs Motherways's, two in Church Bay and Weavers Point and Dunphys in Crosshaven. My sister and I used to go with him hoping to get something. People from Cork who sold potatoes and veg. used to come down and buy from us as well. My father kept horses and cattle, as does the present owner Sham Riordan. When my parents came here first they had a riding school for some time.

Our childhood was spent helping on the farm, picking potatoes during the summer, putting cabbages in bags, carrots in bunches. There were lettuices and onions too. In wintertime there were celery, sprouts, cauliflower and parsnips. We planted the potatoes in Feb and March and thinned fodder beet in early summer.We worked with bags tied around our knees to stop them getting sore or damp.

When I was growing up my grandmother did most of the Chtistmas baking, making five or six Christmas cakes. That was a big time for all of the family to get together. Just before Christmas we used to make a trip to Musgraves Cash and Carry. We used to buy lots of goodies - big boxes of potato crisps, Coca Cola and Fanta etc.

During the year she might make 60-80lbs of jam, blackberry, rhubarb or apple. I remember when we got our first deep freeze, my father used to grow lots of beans, runnerbeans, french beans and peas. The whole family used to set about picking them. Then we usd to sit around the table at night, cutting them , blanching them, and packing them for the freezer. In August then when the mackarel came in we used to freeze that as well.

My Mother told me that when she first came that their would be a dance for everybody at the end of the harvest.It took place in the hayloft where they used to keep the grain. Also there were lawn tennis courts in front of the house.
When my father died in 1987 my mother continued to run the farm with my brother Robin's help and eventually sold the house and farm in 1991. she had lived there over 53 years and it was a big move. So much old furniture and personal belongings. It took months of sorting and packing. The house and land now belong to Sham Riordan. Sadly his wife Marian passed away earlier this yesr. I live at the old Gate Lodge by the entrance to Myrtleville House. This was once the entrance Lodge to the house. In the early 70's my father restored it and put on an extension.I can still walk along the avenue of Myrtleville House, look at the fields and remember growing up.

There is also another Myrtleville House in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. It was built by the Good's who loved it so much when they used to stay here in the 1800's. The outside of the Canadian house is slightly different but the inside is much the same as here It can be found under 'Heritage, Canada', or http://www.myrtlevillehouse.ca/