The lockdown has made many of us take stock of our home lives and start dreaming of a simpler, more remote existence away from the crowds and within easy reach of stunning scenery and the office, broadband allowing. Here are 10 gear-changing homes where you’ll be surrounded by clean, fresh air and mega views.
Lakeside cool in Connemara
Carrie's Cottage, Dunloughan, Ballyconneely, Co Galway
Price: €180,000
Agent: Matt O'Sullivan Auctioneers
Ber rating: G
Link: https://iti.ms/35cJ4xk
Overlooking Dunloughan Lake and located less than a five-minute walk from the beach of the same name, one of several silica-fine crescent stretches in the area, Carrie’s Cottage could be a gorgeous place to which to escape.
Outside of its location, the stone-fronted, two-bedroom cottage doesn’t look like much and needs all kinds of upgrades from electrics to plumbing and insulation. The asbestos roof also needs to be tackled.
The nearest place to get a pint of milk or a pint of porter is the village of Ballyconneely, about a 10-minute drive, although a lot of the local bachelor farmers still use their bikes to make the journey. You can also stock up on supplies of locally smoked wild Atlantic salmon at the Connemara Smokehouse.
The property, which measures 45sq m/484sq ft, is about equidistant from Galway city and Westport town, journey times of about an hour and 40 minutes.
Co Wicklow wilderness
Whitebeam Cottage, Rocky Valley Drive, Kilmacanogue
Price: €525,000
Agent: SherryFitzGerald, Bray
Ber rating: F
Link: https://iti.ms/3bMkLJ5
Whitebeam Cottage, off Rocky Valley Drive, offers a chance to live a self-sufficient “good life” within commuting distance of the capital. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 96sq m/1,033sq ft cottage was designed in 1979 by architect Arthur Douglas. It is well laid out, has timber ceilings that are back in vogue but needs an insulation upgrade to withstand those wild Wicklow winters.
There is a vegetable patch already in situ, part of the property’s 0.4 acre gardens. There is also a 0.5 acre paddock adjoining it.
The cottage is situated on the far side of Rocky Valley Drive, so you can’t hear the hum of the N11 from the property so while it feels like the middle of the country you are less than two clicks from Avoca Handweavers shop, cafe and restaurant – a downhill downhill bike ride but uphill on the way back. You can go out for coffee and cake or pick up some tasty takeaway dinners if you don’t fancy cooking.
As well as being just minutes from the N11 with a peak journey time to the city centre of 40 minutes, there is also really good public transport connections. The number 145 takes you all the way to Heuston Station while the number 133 runs to and from Wicklow town to the city centre.
Architect-designed home
Corlummin, Foxford, Co Mayo
Price: €450,000
Agent: CK Properties & Auctioneers
Ber rating: B3
Link: https://iti.ms/3cXWDnk
If a sleek and modern abode is what you’re after, Corlummin, an architect-designed three-bedroom, three-bathroom home of over 233sq m/2,507sq ft, might just salve your soul.
It is located about 3km from the north Mayo town of Foxford, on the Pontoon Road. The house was built 10 years ago on almost an acre of grounds and has modern creature comforts such as underfloor heating, fantastic in a damp environment like the west of Ireland. The stone and render-fronted three-storey property is set over three levels with the bedrooms on the lower ground floor overlooking the grounds.
The kitchen and living rooms are situated on the top floor to take advantage of the setting, which boasts views of Nephin Mor and Nephin Beag and Lough Cullin, which neighbours Lough Conn, famed for its trout and salmon fishing, and is connected to the Atlantic by the Rover Moy. You can also see north to the Ox Mountains.
Picture perfect in Meath
Macville, Triton Road, Bettystown, Meath
Price: €215,000
Agent: Bohan Hyland & Associates
Ber rating: G
Link: https://iti.ms/3bQC2Be
Macville is picture perfect pretty. The 1930s built, three-bedroom detached cottage is just 78sq m/839sq ft in size and needs complete modernisation, including rewiring, replumbing and insulation. The terracotta tiled roof also needs looking at and may need to be redone. But it is charmingly laid out and has good ceiling heights, as well as lawns to the front south-facing in aspect.
The real lure here is its proximity to the beach, a gem of a stretch where a woman found the Tara Brooch in 1850, buried in a box in the sand. It is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland. The beach is about 300 metres up the road from the house.
It’s a great place to decompress from the daily commute, whether you take the car via the M1 motorway, or the bus from the triangle – Matthews to and from Dublin and Bus Éireann to and from Drogheda. Both service Laytown, where you can travel by train north to Belfast or south to the capital.
The secret side of the Cooley peninsula
Arrows Retreat, Monksland, Cooley, Co Louth
Price: €260,000
Agent: Mallon Property
Ber rating: F
Link: https://iti.ms/2yMkXtx
When looking to get away from it all, most of us turn up our noses at homes situated on the side of the road. But there’s a lot to be said for a charming property with scenic views and regular public transport on its doorstep.
Arrows Retreat has views of the Cooley Mountains to the rear as well as bus stops to the front that will take you north to Newry (via Omeath and Carlingford), where you can journey on to Belfast, or south to Dundalk, where you can bus or train it to Dublin. It means you can work from home, attend meetings elsewhere and partake in village life, all without having to spend all your time in a car.
Inside this three-bedroom, one-bathroom, detached house of 103sq m/1,115sq ft, the rooms are darkly decorated in fashionable shades and boast high ceilings, furnished in a mix of vintage and shabby chic finds.
Situated on the side of the R175, the property is less than a five-minute walk from Grange village, where the local shop doubles as a post office and the local hostelry is Long’s pub.
Templetown beach is just a five-minute drive away, the bustle of medieval Carlingford, its restaurants and nightlife a similar distance, and you can cross the ferry to Greenore to play golf at the 18-hole course. The M1 is a 15-minute drive.
Traditional thatch farmhouse
Larkfield, Ballyshaun, Camolin, Co Wexford
Price: €169,000
Agent: SherryFitzGerald O'Leary Kinsella
Ber rating: G
Link: https://iti.ms/2yQ7sZP
If a traditional thatch farmhouse, some 200 years old, complete with half door, timber beams under its vaulted roof, stone floors and outhouses that you could convert, makes you weak at the knees, then this gem, situated in the pastoral splendour of west Wexford’s patchwork fields of farmland, might work its charms.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom house was recently rewired and has oil fired central heating but, with a G Ber rating, will need some upgrading. Just off the Limerick Road Upper with the river Bann running nearby, the house is 3km from the nearest shop, a landmark Great Gas garage, owned by Patrick Lambert.
In the village of Camolin there are a couple of shops and pubs and a connection to Rosslare or Dublin on the Wexford Bus. It’s a similar distance to Caanford, a more off-the-beaten-track village, with its own thatched pub, Mary Anne Doyle’s.
Fine country living
Robin Hill, Loch Gowna, Co Cavan
Price: €395,000
Agent: Savills
Ber rating: D2
Link: https://iti.ms/3aLJNaa
For parents of small kids, Robin Hill, a finely proportioned, six-bedroom country house of 240sq m, feels like it is located in the middle of the country but the village national school is on its back doorstep. It also means you can pop to the shop or pub in Loch Gowna, situated on the Co Longford border, without having to take the car.
The house was built as a steward’s house in 1860 by Augusta Leviscount Stuart Richardson, the Countess of Castlestewart in Tyrone. She later gifted it to the Church of Ireland to be used as a rectory and it remained in that use until 1952 when the last rector moved out.
Through the 1960s and 1970s it became known as one of Ireland’s fine dining establishments, set up by New Yorker Benjamin Rosset and Ida Stephenson. The house has been well maintained and is on 2.4 acres of land – room enough for a pony. While it doesn’t adjoin the lake, Lough Gowna, you can see it from some of the upstairs bedrooms, four of which are doubles.
Originally asking €475,000, the house and lands is now reduced to €395,000.
RIC house near Lough Derg
Newtown, Killaloe, Co Clare
Price: €250,000
Agent: Harry Brann Auctioneers & Valuers
Ber rating: None provided
Link: myhome.ie
Situated on Lough Derg’s west bank, the village of Killaloe was once considered the capital of Ireland – it is the birthplace of Brian Boru who, while High King of Ireland, he ruled from this lakeside setting at the south neck of this lake, one of the three sizeable loughs on the River Shannon.
This property is an old RIC house dating from the 1920s that was extended to the side and to the rear sometime in the 1990s and now measures about 155sq m/1,668sq ft. The place needs plumbing, electrics and a certain amount of insulation to make it habitable.
Set on over an acre of ground, the house is a few minutes’ walk from the town’s many marinas where you can rent a berth from about €50 or €60 per linear foot. From here you travel by boat through the heart of Ireland’s interior, all the way to Enniskillen. Limerick city is about a 25-minute drive, Shannon Airport a 45-minute drive and, via the M7, you can be at Dublin’s Red Cow roundabout in two hours.
Victorian house with gold coast views
Asgard House, 7 Tivoli Terrace, Tramore, Co Waterford
Price: €425,00
Agent: Property Partners Barry Herterich
Ber rating: D1
Link: https://iti.ms/3cSW2D3
If you want to be able to escape the everyday in seconds, this Victorian property, Asgard House, which extends to 178sq m/1,915sq ft, has a terrace atop its garden level that gives glorious views of the town’s gold coast, its beach. On sunny days you can watch the crowds gather and on overcast days the surfers have the place to themselves.
The sizeable family home has four bedrooms and four bathrooms and is situated on the Lower Branch Road. It has been completely renovated by its current owners, making the two-storey to the front and three-storey to the back property in walk-in condition.
There is train access to Dublin from nearby Waterford city, about 12km away, as well as one hour and 40 minutes to Cork international airport.
Town house with river views
Rafeenan, The Mall, Ramelton, Co Donegal
Price: €300,000
Agent: Property Partners Paul Reynolds & Co
Ber rating: D2
Link: myhome.ie
Anyone who’s had the pleasure of driving through Ramelton at sundown in summer will fully appreciate the russet and amber colours reflected in the river Lennon as the ball of fire sinks below the western horizon.
It’s a sight you can enjoy from the comfort of Rafeenan, a three-storey townhouse on The Mall. The gently renovated three-bedroom, two-bathroom period home overlooks the water to the front and has a south-facing tiered yard to its rear. It measures over 110sq m/1184sq ft, with its master bedroom on the first floor where there is also a second sitting room.
To the rear is an outbuilding that has been reroofed and its stonewalls repointed. It measures about 22sq m.
