Trading up: Harbour View, West Cork, €330,000

Thanks to a high up perch at Harbour View, near Kilbrittain above the Wild Atlantic Way between Kinsale and Clonakilty, there’s a wide spread of coastal views from this 1980s-built bungalow.

However, while the house’s name, Harbour Lodge, might suggest a bit of water proximity, this c1,500sq ft is well above any flood risks, and in fact its grounds would have been unperturbed by the tsunami the swept Cork’s coastline after an horrific 18th century earthquake in Lisbon. That seismic event formed sand dunes on the south coast, and also resulted in Timoleague Bay silting up with shipping activity moving as a result from Timoleague to Courtmac.

Harbour Lodge and its attractive half acre with palm trees surveys those waters and estuary inlet, and abundant migratory birdlife, and is now for sale with a €330,000 price tag quoted by estate agent Andy Donoghue of Hodnett Forde in nearby Clonakilty.

It has a front 27’ by 15’ living/dining room, rear kitchen/diner, bathroom, three bedrooms all with views, and is bookended at its far end by an attached garage, with solid wood doors, lots of storage, and conversion scope.

The gardens include a cute blue and white timber Wendy house, and a much larger garden room/timber pod suitable as a gym, home office etc.

VERDICT: Well-sized and with extension potential, on well-planted grounds, just an hour from Cork City and airport, and five to ten minutes from beaches.