Trading up: Blackrock, Cork €495,000

Sq m: 190 (2,050 sq ft)

The large period house Drumcora (for many years the home of Dunlops Sports and Social Club) on Cork’s Blackrock Road, has just recently sold for a seemingly-modest €325,000, via Trish Stokes of Lisney. It had been on and off the market since 2008, and conserving and renovating that important double bowfronted 1820s house will take multiples of that sum, but it’s now found a brave and committed buyer.

Meanwhile, also back for sale after an on/off market dalliance is Marcot, directly across the Blackrock Road from Drumcora, in a cul de sac called Menloe Park.