TOWN
Address Apartment 408, Talbot Hall, Irish Life Centre, Dublin 1
Agent DNG
Fourth-floor one-bedroom apartment in a monumental 1970s block originally planned as a live, work and shop development. The shopping mall dwindled and is now mostly used as a walkway between Abbey Street and Talbot Street. The apartments are solidly built and spacious: this one has 54 sq of living space with both living room and bedroom opening on to a solid paved balcony. The annual service charge of just over €2,200 includes heating.
Plus Peaceful perch in the city centre with Luas just outside.
Minus Kitchen and bathroom are small.
COUNTRY
Address The Olive Grove, Main Street, Blacklion, Co Cavan
Agent DNG O'Dwyer
Substantial three-storey house currently run as a guesthouse and restaurant. The handsome Victorian townhouse adjoins a cookery school run by celebrity chef Nevan Maguire, whose restaurant, McNeans, attracts a steady stream of visitors to the north Cavan town. The 280sq m house has eight bedrooms decorated in a quirky, colourful style. Behind the house is a large walled garden, with separate access to a laneway at the side of the house. There is an old coachhouse at the end of the garden that could also be developed. Blacklion is twinned with the town of Belcoo, Co Fermanagh, just 200m away across a dividing bridge that marks the the North-South Border.
Plus Pretty town with a good tourist trade.
Minus A lot of stairs to to navigate.
