Cover Story: Design done to a tee in West Cork’s Toe Head

Rose Martin winds her way past quirky cul de sacs, hidden roads and huddled houses to uncover a gem, minutes from the sea.

There are still hidden places in West Cork, tiny peninsulas where through traffic is minimal and where locals form a close, but respectfully private group.

Toe Head is a bit like that — out of the main drag, (although it’s very close to Castletownshend) and full of quirky cul de sacs, hidden roads and huddled houses all within minutes of the sea. It’s a wild, windswept place in winter and warm and bright in summer when its collection of little white houses bask under a high sun.