Recommendation of towns

Would you consider Northern Ireland? The value to be had is incredible compared to the 26. I've 2 friends who (separately) moved up recently. Both to seaside areas between Belfast and Carrickfergus. There are some lovely areas there and basically they are Belfast suburbs with good connections into the city which is gorgeous, bustling and full of interesting museums etc.

There aren't really any issues in terms of it technically being the UK. Both commute to Dublin 1 or 2 days a week on the train for work. The other days wfh. They're both very close to lovely places in Antrim, not far from the Mournes. One bought an ex council house in a beautiful setting for 70k sterling, would sell for about 135k now, the other bought a brand new a rated house for 200k. One of the locations is more Unionist but he's had absolutely no issues - people are just getting on with their lives, they both consider themselves to be in Ireland and just get on with it. Both had despaired of home ownership and are happy out. Other parts of the north would be even cheaper.

I was in a similar situation last year (house buying, not bereavement) with a budget of €250K….. not a lot of money these days. West Cork would be out of the question. Anywhere near the coast is at a premium. I wanted to be near the sea but affordability was an issue. Near the end I was in almost panic mode as I could see prices going up and up and up…………and this was LAST year!

There are a huge amount of international buyers and investors also looking at anything in Ireland that is near the coast, particularly Cork , Kerry and Connemara. I finally got a nice 3 bed semi, in a 12 house estate in a small town. I am 15 mins from Tralee, 15 mins from Killarney and its perfect. I swim most days and the closest beaches are both 20 minutes away, well worth the drive for the scenery alone! I feel lucky I was to get this house as the garden is decent…. 2 shops, 2 pubs, a butcher in the town but Lidl, Aldi etc about 15 minutes from me.

I would be stressed out trying to find a house this year!

My daughter lives in Limerick and I go up there regularly . Limerick is great, a lovely city with great connectivity, transport links and Shannon airport closeby (but personally I felt it was too far from the sea to buy there).

Good luck OP, its a difficult time to be buying

nice, but with an asking price of €245 it will go for more than €250 I'd say. I bought last year for €250K and the original asking price was €230K ….. a year ago…. in Kerry.

Also - moving forward, if you decide against NI (although the prices really are good) I'd try as hard as I could to go East Coast. I'm in Wicklow and the weather really is genuinely sunnier, milder, drier and less stormy. It makes a huge difference to outdoor life.

This is in Kealkill which is just outside Bantry

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/semi-detached-house-3-mountain-view-kealkill-bantry-co-cork/5645612