Munster Eye: Six counties, six farmhouses
The stone-built cottage in Kilmihil, Co Clare.
WITH hybrid working likely to be the norm post-pandemic, house buyers are increasingly seeking more options. So say the estate agents, at any rate. If work no longer requires you to shoulder the expense and squeeze of city living — why not look to the countryside? And how about a farmhouse?
Munster Eye presents an assortment of farmhouses today, with no requirement for an agricultural background. They come in different shapes and sizes, and in varying states of repair, some with outbuildings, some with paddocks, one with an orchard. Most are keenly priced. One or two will require imagination, and in more than one case, a new roof.
TRADITIONAL stone-built, fully modernised, two-bed farm cottage, Knockmore, comes to market in Co Clare with a selection of outbuildings ripe for conversion.
Selling agent Jason Pyne of Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon held viewings prior to the current lockdown and says the typical would-be buyer is “looking for a getaway in West Clare without breaking the bank”.
The 78 sq ft €145,000 cottage in Kilmihil, on 0.72 of an acre, was built in the late 19th century; renovated in 2003 and “carefully maintained since” by the current owners who used it as a holiday home.
Mr Pyne says the cottage is steeped in character with original beams and vaulted ceilings.
It has one, recently renovated bathroom and a D2 energy rating.
There’s also scope for expansion — by adding to the side of the cottage or by converting some of the outbuildings. One outbuilding has functioned as a detached studio/workshop, with bathroom and kitchen.
Mr Pyne says Knockmore is just 1.4km from Kilmihil village, just off the N68 Ennis to Kilrush Road.
It’s a quiet location, with another home and working farm buildings nearby.
: Sweet, affordable West Clare getaway.
A HANDY bit of investment in this site outside Dungarvan could transform what is currently a somewhat motley collection of outhouses and barns, along with a previous farmhouse, into somewhere very nice to live.
The house and outbuildings are grouped in a manner that creates a central open square, and with a bit of imagination, this could be transformed into a natural courtyard and the outbuildings into studios/home offices/workshops. The 700 sq ft three-bed farmhouse also needs a complete overhaul and would benefit from improvements to its G energy rating, says auctioneer Denise Radley, who is a joint selling agent with Munster Property.
Currabaha, in Colligan, is at pre-auction stage, and Ms Radley says the AMV is €81,000.
“I’d say it will tip €100,000,” she says. “A good few want to see it although the lockdown is making things difficult.” Currabaha is just a 10-minute drive from Dungarvan while Colligan itself has a “lovely community”, Ms Radley says, and plenty of nearby amenities, with Colligan Woods and schools in the area.
On a 1.2 acre site, the sale includes a haybarn (in the far right of the picture, not the structure with the green roof).
: Vision and investment essential.
AFTER what selling agent Pat Maguire of Pat Maguire Properties describes as “decent” pre-lockdown viewings, Dunmow farmhouse in Lahana, Drimoleague, is under offer.
All the interest has come from Irish quarters (normally they’d also have interest from the UK, the current owners are UK-based and selling up after 20 years) and it’s largely been youngish couples (30+) for whom remote working has opened up new living possibilities.
“We’ve had Irish couples who just want out of cities like Cork or Dublin,” says Mr Maguire. “We’ve had the same experience in relation to a similarly priced farmhouse in Dromig in Skibbereen.” Dunmow, at 1,400 sq ft, is on the market for €280,000 (the offer is just below this) and comes with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an F energy rating.
It’s in walk-in condition and there’s a 126 sq m studio with it, as well as an acre across the road to grow your own or to keep an animal. It’s just an hour from Cork City “and 25 minutes from everywhere in West Cork”.
: A nice spot to ride out a pandemic.
IT is mostly members of the building community or DIYers with an appetite for refurbishment showing interest in Hawthorn Cottage, a house with significant fire damage to its roof.
“The roof needs replacement but the stone walls are in good order,” says Sherry FitzGerald selling agent Paul Stack.
Set in agricultural land on 0.25 of an acre, the three-bed was refurbished by its overseas owner in the 1990s, but he has returned home. Mr Stack says whoever buys the €69,000 cottage, in Dromtrasna Collins, Abbeyfeale, “can restore it without the need for planning permission and they could also put on a 40 sq m extension to the rear”.
It is about 700m from the town of Abbeyfeale, and the N21 (Limerick/Dublin) route is a two-minute drive.
: A ‘ready to go’ project.
A LATE 19th-century farmhouse with fine thick walls and a range of farm buildings is for sale in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, with David Shee of Shee & Hawe, who says the €220,000 property is in good repair.
“But like most houses its age, it needs a bit of modernisation,” he adds.
The 163 sq m two-storey farmhouse is on an elevated 2.4-acre site in Clashnasmuth, Ahenny, with fine views over the adjoining valley. Farm buildings include traditional stone barns in varying states of repair, a hay barn and feed storage shed. To the rear of the four-bed, one-bathroom house, with a C3 energy rating thanks to internal insulation, is an orchard. A paddock adjoins the yard.
Ahenny village is 1km away, while Carrick-on-Suir is 10kms. Ahenny Crosses and the Knockroe passage tomb can be seen from the property.
: In an era of lockdown, a home with orchard, paddock, and outbuildings, with scope for keeping ponies, is a bonus.
There’s something enchanting about it,” says the owner of this old stone farmhouse in Killurly, Ballinskelligs, and to be sure, it has many charms.
There’s the view (Ballinskelligs Bay); the three beaches (Reenroe, St Finian’s over the mountain, home to a chocolate factory, and Ballinskelligs Blue Flag Beach, two miles away); and there’s the mountainside setting.
“The person that buys will have great tranquillity,” says the owner. “You can see Waterville across the bay, and on a clear day, Macgillycuddy’s Reeks.” He bought the 1820s property in the 1990s and used it as a store. It’s in need of a good overhaul, including a new roof, but the old stone walls are sound and as it is roofed, with windows, planning permission should not be a major problem, says selling agent James Hillis of Property Partners, who says the site has “excellent development potential”.
The 1100 sq ft property, on about an acre and bounded by a stream, comes with an old stone outbuilding (home office anyone?). It’s on the market for €68,000 and is BER Exempt. It has two original fireplaces.
Dungeagan Village (post office, shop, pub) is a 5km drive away.
: Unbeatable location.
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