Where would you get a three-bed period villa for €300,000 just a short commute from Dublin?

Asking price: €295,000

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald Hyland Keating (057) 8620044

House prices are surging twice as fast in many of Ireland’s cheapest counties, according to the most recent Irish Independent/Real Estate Alliance (REA) Average House Price Index published two weeks ago.

It cites lingering remote-working practices post-Covid-19 as the main reason for priced-out city slickers roaming further afield in search of value in towns and competing with locals in the process.

Working entirely from home or going to the office for just two or three days a week, buyers who can’t afford to take on a home in cities like Dublin, Cork or Limerick are opting for more distant commuter towns instead.

The widespread availability of fibre broadband and the fact that there’s better value to be had in rural locations are also factors in this trend.

Lecturer Mary Cosgrove was well ahead of the trend when she opted to move from Dublin in search of value for money and acquire a period property in the town of Portlaoise.

Her villa-style house at 19 Coote Street is a case in point. Where would you get a three-bedroom period house in Dublin for under €300,000?

The Victorian house, built circa 1865, is located two minutes’ walk from the train station and from there, 80 minutes by rail to the capital.

The tax and accounting lecturer from Galway bought the house back in 2006 when prices in both Dublin and Galway were peaking.

Portlaoise has long been a commuter town, with 23,494 residents according to the 2022 census, and approximately one-third of them commuting every day.

“After I’d finished college, I lived in a period house off South Circular Road in Dublin and fell in love with that type of architecture — the high ceilings, the wooden floors and the coving.

"I’d been pining after something like that, and then this house came up,” she says.

“I can’t help but wonder about the different generations and families that have lived there over the course of 160 years. The changes that this house has seen must be incredible.”

But she had doubts, at first, about buying the split-level 1,500 sq ft townhouse with its limestone steps and cast-iron railings, given that the kitchen, on the lower level, was dark and the house needed work.

Encouragement came, however, from her brother Colm, who promised to help her repair it.

While No19 was structurally sound, the interior was patchy.

“The previous owners didn’t seem to appreciate the period elements,” she says.

“There were carpets over the original wooden floors; what is now a fireplace in the main bedroom had been a gas fire that was removed and not replaced.”

Its period features included high ceilings, sash windows and shutters, and a chandelier.

There was cornicing in the upstairs living room and two bedrooms — one of which is the master bedroom — all of which was uncovered by their work.

The main sitting room retains an air of bygone grandeur and is Cosgrove’s favourite room.

“It’s perfect for Christmas,” she says. “When you have the Christmas tree up in the window and the fire lit, it’s just gorgeous. People walk by and look in.

"You’ve got big windows which let in lots of light, but no one can see in from outside, unless you’re right up against the window sill.”

Colm took up all the carpets and sanded down the original floorboards. Downstairs is more modern looking and has lower ceilings. Another sitting room here is more casual, with an open fireplace and brown leather couches.

The kitchen is located off it, and here he took down a couple of wall units and painted some of the existing presses dark blue. There’s a pantry off the kitchen, which Cosgrove had always wanted.

“I find I don’t buy as much food because I can see exactly what I already have,” she says.

“When my children were young, I’d be making dinner in the kitchen, and they would be playing in the downstairs sitting room. When they went to bed, I’d go upstairs and relax in the main sitting room.”

Originally, there was a shed off the kitchen, which had originally been a carriageway passage, accessed from the front, and there’s an iron ring attached to the wall in the back garden, which was used at one stage to tie up a horse.

“In later years, it housed a flower shop,” says Cosgrove.

This was converted into two separate rooms — one an office and the other a utility room. Black and white tiles were laid on the floors, and a Belfast sink was installed in the utility room.

Cosgrove has fond memories of washing her two daughters, Róisín, now 15, and Doireann, now 14, in the sink.

“I was surprised how much I liked living in Portlaoise,” she says. “It’s so handy living centrally. You can nip out and get a pint of milk.

"There are lots of comedy and music gigs, bars and nice restaurants, and you never have to worry about getting home on a night out, as you can walk. What’s more, people are friendly.

“You really don’t hear anything save for a distant rumble from the train, because of the thick stone walls, and the back of the house is even more peaceful,” she says.

Cosgrove had the concreted garden paved, put in a hammock and added a hanging chair, a pond and some flowers.

It’s south-west-facing and gets sunlight most of the day — when the back door is open, this streams into the kitchen.

Number 19 has been rented out in recent years, as the family had been living in Offaly.

While Cosgrove is emotionally attached to it and was hoping to one day return, she now finds herself working in Galway and has decided to let No19 go.

“I always felt like a custodian of the house because it’s so old. I’m hoping to find a buyer that appreciates it,” she says.

Sherry FitzGerald Hyland Keating seeks €295,000 on her behalf.