THREE ON THE MARKET

THE School House, Carlow, is on the market priced at €275,000, with a private residence at €180,000; and the entire property at €455,000. Currently a B&B, the premises, owned by John Doyle, incorporated a well-known restaurant until recently. It was like a child learning to walk, he says of his first months. “The first week brought in less than €50 and many more weeks were like that. I was backed by my father for six months, then it was a case of sink or swim,” he says. “Over the next few years, I used what we had. In the ’80s, I added a total of five extra bedrooms and two self-contained flats.”

Agent: REA Dawson, Carlow (059) 915 1142

FOR the last five years, Derry Clarke, of Michelin-starred L’Ecrivan, has hosted a barbecue at the Sherkin Island Hotel as part of the West Cork Food Festival. Now the 21-bedroom property is on the market at €1.5m along with a 30-berth marina and a 15th century ruined castle.

Owner Mark Murphy grew up in Sherkin Island, and worked in construction before redeveloping the hotel in 2000, adding 21 en suite bedrooms.

Agent: Charles McCarthy Estate Agents, West Cork (028) 21533

MILL Cove House and Gallery in Castletownbere, West Cork, is on the market priced at €790,000.

The property includes a two-bedroom house and separate 150-year-old immaculately restored guesthouse which has been run as both a restaurant and a gallery, on four acres, with private cove and boathouse.

The gardens are part of the West Cork Garden Trail, and the sculptures are included in the sale.

Agent: Hodnett Forde Estate Agents: (023) 883 3367 or full details from owner John Goode 087 2436502