Two houses in one offer

THE clachan and baile fearann are terms continually tossed about when the subject of rural one-off housing comes up.

Basically, both are old settlement patterns, the first being a huddle of farmsteads and outhouses in one location and the second, a long string of dwellings, but part of a defined parish and more akin to today’s ribbon development.

A fine example of a clachan settlement can be seen at Carrigroe, Castlefreke, where an old farmhouse makes an appearance on the market this autumn through Hodnett Forde Auctioneers.

It offers two houses in one, really, with a two-bed house on the left hand side and a cleared out, two-storey space on the other, both with their own doorways and a connecting ope inside.

What’s curious about both is they are probably a lot older than they appear. Internally, there’s an obvious extension of the roof height to create a second storey. This was built on top of what was probably a single-storey, rubble-stone cottage with a thatched roof and the original dwelling could possibly go a long way back.

But there’s an ancient feeling to the two-bed element of the co-joined properties and both will need considerable work.

And it’s why the guide price is €150,000 for the properties and an acre of land, which includes a fruitful orchard and some fairly rare varieties of apples.

The long farmhouse faces across a yard which it shares with a neighbouring farmstead with a network of roads leading to the secluded clachan.

The property is a minute’s drive to Rathbarry village and close to Long Strand, Red Strand and Owenahincha.