Halfdoor heaven at Donegal double cottage delight for €375,000

Sometimes it takes two to make a dream come true. The Cottages at Fintra – about 3km from the fishing port of Killybegs in south Donegal – is a kookily laid-out stone house that was once a pair of semidetached cottages for workers on the local Hamilton estate. Listed in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, its interior has retained two front doors, two hallways and two staircases.

The owners, John and Marianne Shine, run Killybegs Catch and produce Wild Irish Tuna, a fresh albacore tuna caught in Irish waters and preserved in olive oil, stocked in more than 600 outlets nationwide.

They bought the property in 2017 and set about refurbishing it, installing a new painted kitchen from a stockist in Donegal town in a new single-storey extension that linked the outhouses to the rear with the main house and allowed them to make a feature of the cut sandstone exterior walls inside.

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This stone originally came from the original local big house, nearby Fintra House, now demolished. The quartz countertops were sourced from Mountcharles-based McMonagle Stone and make a feature of the Belfast-style sink.

The outhouses now include a pantry, a utility room, complete with a Donegal-style curtain in gingham check to hide under-the-sink shelving, and a guest toilet with a workshop to the side. The pink half door is the back door of the house, the owners’ everyday entrance.

In the main house the original timber panelled ceilings are painted and the rooms all feature wainscot panelling.

Upstairs there are three bedrooms, two on one side of the house and accessed by one of the staircases. The master, which has an en suite with sky blue-painted barn-style sliding doors, is accessed via the other stairs.

The nearest shop is in Killybegs, while the nearest national school is just over 1km away. A big attraction will be Fintra blue flag beach located just a five-minute walk from the property.

The property, which measures 189sq m/2,035sq ft, is seeking €375,000 through agent DNG Dorrian.