Co Galway: €300,000: A cottage on an island with a bridge to the mainland near Roundstone in Connemara has views to savour. Kate McMorrow reports.

The best kinds of islands are those close enough to civilisation to have a connecting bridge, giving the feeling of seclusion without actually being cut off from the mainland.

A west of Ireland cottage which Ganly Walters will auction on 1st February 1st next has all these attributes and its just over a mile from Roundstone in Co Galway.

With a setting worthy of a Paul Henry painting, the 51 sq m (550 sq ft) cottage on the island of Inishnee is expected to fetch around €300,000, despite its semi-derelict state.

The draw is the location, sitting proud on a good parcel of land (around two acres, not yet measured) which runs down to the shore.

Quite a few houses are now on the island and the two-bedroom cottage is by no means isolated.

It has, however, a very private setting at the end of a lane.

No beach, but a run-down slipway on the shore might be resurrected and the views over the sea and mountains are quite superb.

The roof seems in reasonably sound condition, says the selling agent.

The sittingroom is quite spacious, with an old-fashioned country fireplace, a loft space and a fabulous outlook over the sea and the Twelve Bens.

A buyer will want to replace the kitchen, which is in need of a serious upgrade and bedrooms are fairly compact.

The best thing about this cottage is its unbeatable location, within a mile of the buzz of Roundstone and just off the Recess-to-Roundstone road.

Clean Atlantic beaches at Dog's Bay and Gorteen are within a few minute's drive. On an island, yet not quite.