Two offerings at right price

THOSE with an ear for a bit of the old gaeilge may realise where Taggart Park in west Cork’s Castletownshend got its name.

A former clergyman’s house in this coastal village, the name is an anglicisation of Teach an tSagart, the priest’s house.

A period home by the village’s boundary and close to the John Fleming development The Lawns, it is on 2.5 acres of grounds, which in previous sales raised the prospect of possible development potential.

Quietly offered for a while locally with a price guide up to €1.5 million, it has now been adjusted downwards on the appointment of a joint agency. Offers around €1m are canvassed by agent Dominic Daly in Cork city, with Charles McCarthy in Skibbereen, five miles from Castletownshend.

It has privacy, period status and original features (there are six bedrooms) great grounds with a long approach avenue, lawns, terraces and mature trees.

Apart from the main, two-storey ivy-clad dwelling, there’s a garage and a converted boathouse, now a comfortable guest apartment and overall condition of both this guest cottage (with balcony for views) and the main house is good.

MEANWHILE, if your budget doesn’t stretch that far and you are more into the west than the south west, how about the Old Parochial House at Rosscahill in Co Galway, for of €175,000?

Built in 1874, the 1,800 sq ft two-storey house has been partially refurbished, says selling agent Tony Kavanagh of Sherry FitzGerald Kavanagh.

On 0.3 of an acre, with some old stone outbuildings, the property offers purchasers the challenge to put their own stamp on a very interesting residence.

“If you want a residence that is a bit different – and if you’re up for a challenge – then this property is well worth considering,” says Mr Kavanagh.