Roscommon Town’s newest residential development, Abbey View, will officially launch on Saturday, October 3rd, with viewings running from 12 pm to 4 pm and a four-bed showhouse open to the public for the first time.
Located off Abbey Street in Abbeytown, the 19-home scheme offers a mix of two, three and four-bedroom properties – including bungalows, semi-detached and terraced homes – all finished to an A energy rating.
The development has been built by Roscommon Building Company, which has approximately four decades of house-building experience in the area, working alongside architects and designers MCROM of Tullamore, County Offaly, who drew up the scheme’s layout and house designs.
‘What you see is what you get’
Speaking ahead of the launch, auctioneer Padraig Burke of Sherry FitzGerald P. Burke said the finish and location would be the development’s greatest key features.
“The whole estate is fully finished and ready to move into,” he said. “It’s not a case of a couple of houses built out of a site – the whole lot is done: the roads, the green areas, the lawns, everything. There’s no further work to be done. What you see is what you get, and that’s a huge advantage for anyone moving in.”
Each home comes with a fully fitted kitchen – units and quartz worktops included, though appliances are not – along with fully-tiled bathrooms, air-to-water heating, floor-to-ceiling windows and a generous utility, in addition to a private rear garden that includes a concrete base and electrical wiring already in place for a garden shed.
A prime location
Abbey View sits within easy walking distance of Roscommon Railway Station, local schools, the Abbey Hotel, Molloy’s Bakery, the Railway Bar, Brennan’s Centra and the town’s supermarkets – a factor Burke says is drawing strong early interest.
“Location is the big thing,” he said. “It’s beside the train, beside the supermarket, beside the Abbey Hotel – walking distance to everything. That’s really attracting everyone, from first-time buyers to people downsizing.”
Enquiries to date span a broad range of buyers: professionals working remotely with occasional commutes to Dublin, families drawn by nearby schools, older buyers looking to downsize into a low-maintenance home, and a number of Roscommon natives who are looking to move back.
Bringing people home
Burke believes developments like Abbey View have a role to play beyond the individual sale, in helping retain young people in the county and drawing back those who left for the likes of Dublin.
“Developments like this are a big advantage – not just to the people living in them, but to the town,” he said. “More people in, more people using the local facilities. It’s good to see the town stay vibrant.”
He pointed to a broader shift toward hybrid working as a factor: buyers who can work from home a few days a week and commute by train when needed are increasingly choosing to relocate to towns like Roscommon rather than stay in the city.
That fits with a wider push, he noted, toward cutting commuting time and carbon emissions by living within walking distance of work, transport and amenities – something seen in grant schemes for town-centre living and in the county development plan’s focus on building close to existing services rather than further out.
Burke also drew a contrast with much of Roscommon’s older housing stock. “Some of that housing is dated, and it’s often harder to sell, because of the cost of bringing it up to standard,” he said.
Energy efficiency and mortgage appeal
With air-to-water heating and full insulation throughout, Burke says the homes’ A rating is also proving attractive from a lending perspective.
“Banks are very quick to lend on these because they’re rated properly,” he said. “There’s also a green rate mortgage for homes with heat pumps installed, so they’re very mortgageable.”
Selected properties may also qualify for the First Home Scheme and Help to Buy, subject to eligibility.
Registering interest
Burke said prospective buyers can register their interest directly through Sherry FitzGerald P. Burke, either at the launch itself or via My Sherry FitzGerald, where viewings and bids can be arranged.
Given the level of interest already shown, he advised that buyers have their finances in order – whether mortgage approval or cash – before proceeding.
Local build, local benefit
Burke said Roscommon Building Company had kept the project largely in local hands, from groundworks and services through to electrical fit-out.
“They’ve worked as much as they can to use local people to do the work, right from the start – the services, the ESB, the electricians, all of it run themselves,” he said.
Burke also confirmed a second site is in planning close by, near the Abbey Hotel, suggesting further development in the area in the coming years. There is, he added, clear demand to support it: “There is definitely a shortage from the amount of enquiries we’ve had.”
For buyers, Abbey View also offers the chance to make the house their own – with space to add the personal touches that turn a new build into a home.
