This Ballycotton beauty is a gem in East Cork

A whole new wave of folks now realise what a gem we have in coastal East Cork, writes Tommy Barker.

THE wider world has cottoned on: East Cork’s Ballycotton village is having a second coming, and it’s all under local steam this time.

For years, Ballycotton was associated with the ill-fated 1995 movie Divine Rapture, which brought the likes of Marlon Brando and Johnny Depp, John Hurt, and Debra Winger to its shores, albeit for just two short lived weeks of Hollywood razzmatazz and filming — before funding woes sounded its death knell.

The fishing and holiday village of Ballycotton sort of went back to sleep then for a while, rousing mostly for summer festivities and seaside activities. But, right now it is witnessing a rising tide of appreciation, and investment.

National Geographic recently rated it as one of Europe’s ‘secret villages’ worth visiting.

Its tourism is finding a new gear too, with local boy made good, multi-millionaire Pearse Flynn, funding the new Ballycotton Sea Adventures boat and marine activities, including island tours and fun activities.

Mr Flynn, who has built a stunning private home overlooking Ballycotton Island and lighthouse at what’s likely to have been a multi-million euro cost, has also bought the village’s Pier 26 restaurant/bar, as well the local St Colman’s Church from American vendors.

He aims to turn it into a gallery, craft shop, and community arts venue, promising to make Ballycotton — which he describes as a hidden jewel — a significant coastal tourist destination.

Most recently, Ballycotton Island and its 19th century lighthouse had stand-out roles in the four-part RTÉ series Great Lighthouses of Ireland, and that exposure is likely also to see a fresh wave of visitors to the village and indeed, to the island’s signal lighthouse, in coming years.

And, as further evidence of Ballycotton’s time in the sun is the rapid sale of a contemporary, glass box home called Innisfree, which featured extensively here on its summer sales launch at a heady €850,000 via Hegarty Properties, and its swift purchase for close to that sum, being bought by a Midleton town business family.

That modernist house, Innisfree on Church Hill, combined strong design and high-end finishes with some superb coast and beach views. And, now, into the locale’s upper property market echelons comes this offer, Coolfree, with a €630,000 asking price, and trading as strongly on its views.

Auctioneer John Hornibrook of Sherry FitzGerald O’Donovan’s Midleton offices says of it “if you are in the market for a coastal property with amazing sea views, then this is a dream home that has to be viewed.”

On an elevated site above Main Street, amid a cluster of bungalows plus one or two two-storey builds (just before the scenically set Bayview Hotel which hovers over the harbour and pier), Coolfree is a 2,280 sq ft four-bed family home, on a gently sloping mature site, which has a corner window in its main living space, ideally placed for scene-soaking, and beach and coast watching.

That living/dining room is L-shaped, about 26’ by 25’, with part-vaulted pine-clad high ceilings, and links to a rear kitchen, with marble-topped oak units. The main, expansive room also pushes back into a rear sun-room, about 13’ square and, again with a pitched roof.

It’s one of two projecting sections to the back of the modern build Coolfree, with a further, larger one used as a games room, and both ‘wings’ effectively frame a sheltered rear cobble paved patio.

Across the front of the house are three of the four bedrooms, none of them particularly large, and one which is about 13’ by 10’ has an en suite plus walk-in robe.

SFOD agent Mr Hornibrook says its overall condition is excellent, with oak floors, high-spec kitchen, well-specced bathrooms, zoned heating, all in a village setting, with a coastal vista on its doorstep, which he describes as, “one of the finest views of the bay that I have seen in a while.”

VERDICT: Cotton on to Ballycotton.

Main Street, Ballycotton, Co Cork €630,000

Size: 213 sq m (2,280 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 2

BER: C1

Best Feature: Ballycotton’s on a rising tide of appreciation