Four for €285,000 and under: homes in Louth, Kildare and Cork

White Mountain Cottage, Smarmore, Ardee, Co Louth

This charming three-bedroom cottage comes to the market offering unique original features in a rural setting outside the village of Smarmore in Co Louth. It is located just a 10-minute drive from Ardee town.

The livingroom is a small space but benefits from a beautiful arched window with a stained-glass surround as well as an exposed-brick fireplace. This leads on to the diningroom, where an exposed-brick wall adds interest. The kitchen is fully functional but could be modernised by replacing the tiles. There is also a utility space.

The rest of the accommodation consists of three double bedrooms and the main bathroom. There is elevated paving to the front of the house for a small table and chairs and an expansive elevated lawn to the rear with a patio from which you can enjoy views of the rolling countryside hills. This handsome home, extending to 107sq m (1,152sq ft) with a D2 Ber, is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald Lannon, seeking €285,000.

[ Four for €325,000 and under: homes in Tipperary, Wicklow, Kerry and Dublin ]

9 Killeagh Gardens, Killeagh, Co Cork

This detached three-bedroom home comes to the market with a pristine, contemporary interior in Killeagh, Co Cork, a 15-minute drive outside the seaside town of Youghal.

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The property, extending to 107sq m (1,152 sq ft) with a C1 Ber, has a cobblelock driveway to the front beyond a roller entrance gate. The ground floor accommodation is open plan with a good-sized livingroom leading into the dining space and a bright kitchen with sleek white units and a breakfast bar. There is attractive wood-effect flooring throughout and a downstairs loo. There is also a separate plumbed office/utility room to the rear as well as a barbecue area.

There are two double bedrooms, the main is en suite, and a single bedroom plus a great walk-in wardrobe space upstairs, kitted out with built-in drawers and clothing racks. This property is on the market through Colbert & Co estate agents, seeking €285,000.

160 Marian Park, Drogheda, Co Louth

This three-bed terraced home in the bustling town of Drogheda has been given a lovely interior renovation. Extending to 86sq m (926sq ft) with a C1 Ber, it is on the market through Ray White Property, seeking €275,000. It benefits from being a 10-minute walk from the town centre and there are regular trains from the local station taking you into Dublin city centre in about an hour.

Beyond the pink façade, the ground floor consists of a living/diningroom off which is a step up to the kitchen, which has fresh units and a large window out to the back garden. Beyond that is a small lobby area which leads on to the back garden through French doors. The garden is low maintenance with paving and contains a modern garden room with a broadband connection for working from home. There is also a bathroom and a study downstairs – however, units have been removed from the walls of the study meaning it will need a cosmetic retouch.

There are two double bedrooms upstairs and the main has a modern en suite. The pink wallpaper is far from restful in the second double and is likely to be the first thing a new owner would look to change. The single bedroom is used as a dressingroom.

58 Preston Brook, Rathangan, Co Kildare

This three-bedroom semidetached home, extending to 120sq m (1,292sq ft) with a C1 Ber, comes to the market in the small town of Rathangan. The town’s residential market offers keener prices than others in the county and is just a 10-minute drive from Kildare town, which has Kildare Village shopping centre, the National Stud and Japanese Gardens, and a train station for commuters to Dublin city.

This property has a familiar semi-D layout with a livingroom, kitchen/diningroom and guest loo on the ground floor and two double bedrooms (the main is en suite), a single bedroom and the main bathroom upstairs. It has a large garden to the rear with decking and a lawn. It is on the market through Duffy Property, seeking €275,000.