House of the Week: A coastal gem in the rocky rough
Tralispean, West Cork
900 sq ft/43 acres
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You don’t have to be a bachelor farmer, or a neighbour with a yen for a bit more land, to fall for the (somewhat currently hidden) charms of this West Cork small holding, up for sale in a rather lovely location.
We’re looking here at Tralispean, by the way, said to be one of West Cork’s safest beaches, sheltered from prevailing winds and waves which may pound the rocky Atlantic coastline a kilometre away in any direction. But here, tucked away in a crook in a bay facing east towards Tragumna, all’s serene in most weather conditions.
Tralispean is one of those lesser-known sandy coves in the area: locals in Skibbereen will know of it, but other than savvy townies and some more clued-in holiday homers, you’d have to know the back roads and cul de sacs to find it.
Ironically, Tralispean is close to one of West Cork’s most admired coastal settings, Lough Hyne, perhaps a kilometre or less to the west of this cove, around a small headland.
You could easily kayak from one to the other, passing at least one other stony cove, or Bullock Island and its tidal sandbar link.
This is countryside and coastline for lovers of the sea, and of scenery, in the main, but there’s a bit more on the hook with this property offer: we’re talking 43 acres of land (well, about 30 of those acres are rock), a 900 sq ft damp old farmhouse, attached lofted outbuildings, some with galvanised roofs, milking shed and a haybarn. All within 400 metres of the beach at Tralispean.
Yes, its quite the total package, all wrapped up with a bow saying ’Potential!’ Estate agent Sean Carmody of Charles P McCarthy & Co is offering now, guiding €300,000, and that’s an average of ‘just’ €7,000 per acre overall, or €23,000 per quality acre of the 13 or so that might give some sort of return, or sustenance.
If the buyer’s very local, well it’s possible he or she could walk the land and check the rooms and still stay safely within the current Covid-19 two kilometre lockdown radius.
Any other buyer cohort might have to wait to visit until travel restrictions ease a bit in May, or thereabouts, but there’s enough to see from photographs and a Google Earth overview to decide if it is a contender or not.
One way or another, there’s more money to be spent, but there’s quite a bit of scope.
A further €100,000 would go quite a bit towards improvements; €200,000 would transform it and allow extensions/conversion. €300,000 is probably a bit too much for what it would be at the end, as it’s still close to the beach’s access road.
But, there’s the beauty and boast of owning by a beach and the lure of land, with Skibbereen about four or five miles away by road, and the marine lake of Lough Hyne accessible by water, along the rapids which control its connection to the sea like dual action sluice gates.
The Price Register shows a 2016 Tralispean residential sale, near Ballyalla Lake, at €375,000.
And, the year before, agents Charles P McCarthy also sold Drishane Point, a 25-year-old modern 3,000 sq ft home on 30 acres back in 2015 at €1.35 million.
However, in marked contrast to this quite run down residential 43-acre farm sale, Drishane Point was a walk-in entity, and while 20 of its 30 acres also was rocky, it was headland land, the full package, right next to Tralisepan Cove. It was bought from a UK couple by another UK couple, with Irish roots.
A coastal gem in the rocky rough.
