Trading Up: Union Hall, West Cork €265,000

A five minute walk from this Skahana (or Skahanagh) Union Hall bungalow home will take you to the safe, shingle beach and boat slip at pretty Carrigillihy Strand, a West Cork spot much loved by locals and home to an appreciative permanent and holiday-home community.

Skibbereen estate agent Pat Maguire is now selling this three-bed detached bungalow on a half-acre site, within a walk of the beach to the south, and Union Hall’s only a mile or so away in the other direction, with schools, shops, bars and other services, as well as sports amenities.

Given its attributes, a buyer for this home could come from a cross-section, those on the hunt for holiday homes (and there’s talk of further sales releases soon in the up-market Union Hall scheme Páirc na Fana), local families, and those thinking of retiring and seeking a rural and coastal community to settle into.