The commuter town of Dunshaughlin, on the edge of the Boyne Valley, is about 35km from Dublin’s city centre, and just a 10-minute drive to the Hill of Tara. The area is heritage-rich and the town offers househunters a chance to buy affordable family homes.
The latest scheme to appeal is a brick and render-fronted A-rated scheme comprising 142 three- and four-bed homes by housebuilder Castlethorn located about a half a mile outside the village on the Drumree Road.
The estate will span both sides of the road when complete, but building works have commenced on the side adjacent to Dunshaughlin GAA club and its abundance of pitches. Gaelscoil na Ríthe and the community college secondary school are both within a five-minute walk.
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The properties have been designed by O’Mahony Pike, and kudos to the architectural practice for managing to draw in light and a good sense of flow to the different styles that are on offer for launch.
There are several three-bed styles, giving buyers a lot of choice. These are almost six metres wide, two storeys in height and come with a partially floored attic, accessed by a Stira.
Traditional
For launch there are both semi- and detached options available, with a choice of three different styles of semi. The traditional, a home of 106sq m (1141 sq ft) in size, has a livingroom to the front and a kitchen to the rear. You can opt for a utility room or in its place choose a more open-plan layout that will include glass patio doors opening directly into the garden. Prices for this style start from €300,000.
There’s a double-fronted semi, 103sq m (1,109sq ft), with prices from €320,000, and a three-bed semi with garage, 116sq m (1,249sq ft), from €350,000. Some three-bed properties are detached. Measuring 116sq m (1,249sq ft), these come with an additional recreational room to the rear of the kitchen. Prices for this style start from €350,000.
An archaeological site, a large ringfort on the edge of the estate, is also being preserved as part of the development
The showhomes are by Ventura Design and include kitchens by Seamus McElroy’s Ballybay-based Mountlodge Furniture that come with an Indesit appliance package.
There are also a small number of four-bed semis within this phase – seven in total. These measure 131sq m (1,410sq ft) and, with prices from €355,000, offer a lot of house to growing families.
‘Sideways’ buyers
Those who have expressed an interest in the development include first-time buyers and what agent Colm Byrne, director of new homes at selling agent SherryFitzGerald, describes as “sideways” buyers: those living in the area who already own a house of a similar size, but which is 20 or 30 years old, and may have good equity in the property and want to upgrade their living arrangements.
An archaeological site, a large ringfort on the edge of the estate, is also being preserved as part of the development. Dating to between AD 450 and AD 900, it is thought to have been home to a branch of the ruling family of the kingdom of Brega, the capital of which was at Lagore Crannóg just to the east of Dunshaughlin, says Steve McGlade of Archaeology Plan heritage solutions.
Just off the M3, Dunshaughlin has relatively good public transport links. Bus Éireann’s number 109 services the town and it is just an eight-minute drive from the train station at Dunboyne where the journey time to Connolly Station is 41 minutes, with some changes at Clonsilla.
