The front garden of a property on the Wild Atlantic Way is the Atlantic Ocean, the back garden is Mount Brandon, says Sheelagh Gorman, who with her husband Vincent owns Clifftop House, a four-star guesthouse-cum-restaurant in Ballydavid, Dingle, Co Kerry.

The land on which the couple built their home and business in 1980 was a wedding present from Vincent’s parents. Sheelagh, from Dublin, and Kerryman Vincent started first a cafe, then a 40-seater restaurant in 1988. They had a three-room guesthouse up to 2000, when they expanded, building nine en suite guestrooms and a four-bedroom apartment for themselves and their three children.

Now they're selling Clifftop as a going concern – new owners might want to keep it as a guesthouse, run it as a wedding venue, cookery school or other kind of small business – or even use it simply as a large family home, suggest agents DNG WH Giles. At 354sq m (3,810sq ft), the house isn't, after all, much bigger than some large Dublin houses.

DNG WH Giles is seeking €1.2 million for Clifftop House, the guesthouse on 2.93 acres with extensive sea views next to Smerwick Harbour. The award-winning guesthouse/restaurant is 14km from Dingle town. Awards include the AA Ireland Best Guest House Award, Georgina Campbell Best Host Award and McKennas’ Best in Ireland 2014.

The guest bedrooms include six double and twin rooms and three family rooms, all en suite. The 40-seat restaurant looks over the sea, has a bar and an open fire. There is also a fully-fitted commercial kitchen, a large reception area and a library.

Upstairs, in the Gormans’ own living quarters, there is a kitchen, diningroom, lounge and four bedrooms, one en suite.

Ballydavid draws visitors from all over the world and the guesthouse and restaurant are busy, says Sheelagh: it's a popular venue for events such as family birthdays and weddings, for New Year's and Valentine's, as well as for tourists. Guests can include people coming to Dingle for RTÉ2's Other Voices broadcasts or hillwalkers walking the Dingle Way – the guesthouse is on the route, at the foot of Mount Brandon.

Why sell? Sheelagh says she turned 60 this year, and so the couple decided to prepare their business for sale. They plan to stay in the Dingle area and she hopes to go on working, “doing something with people – I’ve been doing this for 38 years, and had a great journey”.

Since the Wild Atlantic Way was launched, things have become very busy, she adds. “It would be nice to see young fresh energy coming in and taking it over.”