Cast a warm eye on Kinsale's Ben Bulben

Named after Sligo’s majestic mountain, this Kinsale bungalow is a sight for sore eyes, writes Tommy Barker.

Thanks to its setting, it’s the site more than the house that will attract buyers to Ben Bulben, a Kinsale bungalow called after Sligo’s jutting table mountain, in the midst of Yeats Country.

This version of Ben Bulben is quite compact, a two-bedroomed bungalow of just under 1,200 sq ft, but its real worth is down to its hillside, half-acre site on the harbour town’s Compass Hill.

Compass Hill is one of Kinsale’s priciest and keenly viewed settings, up there on a height and every other elevated plane too with Ardbrack in terms of commanding positions — and prices.

Bandon-based agent David Busteed of Sherry FitzGerald Brennan Busteed guides this prime-set Kinsale home at €525,000, and has it under immediate offer. He dates the home to the early to mid 1970s and says it now reflects its age, and the design/build of that era 40 years ago.

It’s got a shared access with one other house off Compass Hill, and the adjoining home on the town side of its rectangular site shows what can be done in such a site, to maximise the views to be had over the inner and outer harbours, forts, and marine and pleasure boat traffic.

Rooms inside currently include a 17’ by 12’ living room, with bay window, dining room, hall, simple kitchen, large main bedroom with built-ins, smaller double bedroom, main bathroom, and guest WC.

VERDICT: A site for scoping eyes, Kinsale at its feet — under this Ben Bulben. yachtsmen pass by.

Compass Hill, Kinsale

Size: 525,000 sq m (1,175 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 2

Bathrooms: 2

BER: D1