Cottage on the banks of the Shannon comes with a storied history

Asking price: €210,000

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald Farrell (071) 962 0976

Lauded by The New York Times as “the finest playwright of his generation,” Conor McPherson grew up in Dublin, but in his teenage years, he spent weekends and holidays at his grandfather’s cottage on the outskirts of Jamestown in Leitrim.

In the evenings, sitting by the fire, he would listen to his grandfather tell him tales about the house and some of the colourful characters in the neighbourhood.

McPherson drew inspiration from the yarns and the locale for his breakthrough play, The Weir, a story of five lost souls set in a rural Leitrim pub.

First staged in 1997, it went on to win an Olivier Award, while its author is now a celebrated screenwriter and director, as well as a playwright.

The house is currently on the market with period features intact. At 915 sq ft, it’s a good size for a traditional cottage, but it also comes with planning permission for a rear extension, including two en suite bedrooms and an open-plan kitchen/living area, which would increase the overall living space to 2,690 sq ft.

Off the entrance porch is a side hall with a shower/utility room. The main open-plan living/dining/kitchen opens out to a garden leading down to the river.

An adjoining sitting room/bedroom has a cast-iron fireplace, while upstairs, there’s a sitting room and a double bedroom.

Set on half an acre by the shores of the River Shannon, the house is near the award-winning The Cottage restaurant and 4km from Carrick-on-Shannon.