Squarely on the property ladder

YOU’d barely know that Coyle Square exists but, in fact, the little cul de sac is a diminutive off-beat, off-street, central city gem.

Tucked away off Evergreen Street in Cork city and near Douglas Street and the South Gate Bridge, it is a shoehorn location, home to eight small cottages.

Jackie Healy Rae famously quipped about growth in the ditches of West Cork, that they were shaking hands with one another across the narrow roads.

Well, in Coyle Square, inhabitants could shake hands with one another across the laneway, so narrow is it.

Think of the city streets described by author Frank O'Connor and you get a picture of what awaits you here: the lanes around Shandon and the North Cathedral in Cork, now far more affluent than in O'Connor's day, still have plenty of that unique Cork character.

Up for sale at the end of Coyle Square (although "square" is rather too grand a title for the yard-sized space) is no 8, a renovated one-bedroom cottage, the ultimate pied-a-terre.

It carries a €160,000 price guide with agent Christy Ryan the sort of sum that would have ben a king's ransom in O'Connor's era, and which in today's inflated property market is a literal first step on the ladder for a first time buyer.

It has a hall, living room, kitchen, one bedroom and bathroom, double glazed windows, gas heating and a compact yard to the back.