NOT yet 10 years old, and just being vacated by its second owners, Claragh is a family home in the hinterland of Glounthaune in Cork.

Tommy Barker contends that you can’t beat period-style character.

IF your New Year starts with the best of intentions, how about joining The Monks in 2007?

DONE up during last year for ultimate re-sale, no 13 Military Road is none the worse for this: in fact, it has been re-done with a professional approach to appeal to a wide cross section of buyers looking for contemporary comforts in an older house. And, in a settled, older area too.

TWO-bed penthouses with roof gardens in the grandly-titled Eden scheme in Cork’s Blackrock are priced at €500,000, and four-bed townhouses of 1,750 sq ft are €577,500; so, what price an original three-storey Victorian home across the way?

Tommy Barker reports that interest is high in a Co Cork property.

TUCKED away at the end of a wooded cul de sac, number 11, Manor Lawn, in Cork’s Thornbury estate on the Rochestown Road, offers country living in the city.

YOU mightn’t be able to park a car outside your front door at Green Cottage, but you will have nearby access to a ferry and the chance of a boat mooring within a few hundred yards.

THERE are copies and there are copies, but Ballyduff House in Cloyne, Co Cork, is almost the genuine Georgian article.

NOT too many detached houses have been built around the Lough in Cork in the past few decades, and the chances of more coming along any time soon are slim indeed.

RIGHT out by the ocean’s edge and the mouth of Cork Harbour at Weaver’s Point, this house is a new market arrival with a €800,000 price guide.....and a tail-wind of local interest.

THERE’S a touch of “here’s one we prepared earlier” about Athlo, a Rochestown home built 30 years ago on a site that is now more valuable than the house itself as ‘deja viewings’ commence in earnest.

Tommy Barker says Belmount House is set on a lovely two-and-half acres.

THE CREST is well-named. You climb up a hill at Upper Cloghroe, near Tower in Co Cork and, as the road levels, amid a string of bungalows, you find a property which with views over the valley.

CLOSE the gate, go down the steps, and the bustling world is a remove away from Vista Villa — a Montenotte, Cork, home with an apt name.

And on a more operatic note, number 72, The Sonata is one of the first re-sales to come up in the Harty’s Quay development in Rochestown, Cork.

Rose Martin is impressed by this large residence at Weaver’s Lane, Rathcooney.

THE name of this Glounthaune, Co Cork property could have a Suzanne Vega song ringing around in your ears.

CITY convenience, south-facing views a touch of period features — expect a queue of viewers up the steps to see No. 1, Upper Panorama Terrace in Cork city.

Tommy Barker

THE sea is seconds away and can be viewed from the Alpine-style balcony of the master bedroom, as it can from almost all of the rooms in this cute dormer at Inch Bay in Whitegate, Co Cork.

NEVER judge a book by its cover, and never assume the outside of a house looks anything like the inside.

IT’s big, it’s private, it’s only an uphill trek from Cork city centre — and it has got a site alongside with outline planing permission for a detached bungalow as a bonus.