Waterside cottage rare opportunity in right place

PLANNING permissions along west Cork’s Ilen river estuary are rare as waterhen’s teeth — and having a house as close to the water as Downriver Cottage is rarer still.

A local architect once remarked that the area’s planners have been so tight “you wouldn’t get permission for a flagpole” — though masts in this case, were part of the reason for a few rare grants of approval to build here near Skibbereen’s Church Cross.

A highly regarded and competent boat-builder, Mike Williams, who has regenerated a class of Hare Island Sloops, sought approval for a couple of waterside cottage to serve a demand for water-based tourism, and 10 years of so ago built two traditional-style cottage for rental to sailors.