Bantry Bay meets 'Botany Bay' at West Cork's €349,000 church conversion Seahaven

West Cork seaside bolthole has worshipful links to acclaimed botanist Ellen Hutchins who knew every inch of this scenic shoreline
Bantry Bay meets 'Botany Bay' at West Cork's €349,000 church conversion Seahaven

Aerial drone view of Bantry Bay and Whiddy Island.  with Seahaven,  Ballylickey at bottom of pic on 2.2 acres

Bantry Bay, West Cork

€349,000

Size

118 sq m (1,260 sq ft)

Bedrooms

Bathrooms

2

BER

Exempt

COVID-19 is throwing quite some curveballs – will one of them land with good fortune for the owner of this one-time church, dating to the late 1700s and which in its time has seen the eras of cholera, smallpox, a few other pandemics, and of course Ireland’s Great Famine?

Set in a much-photographed Beara, Bantry Bay, West Cork and Wild Atlantic Way beauty spot by Snave Pier, the winsome 1,260 sq ft home itself is often snapped by passers-by too, such is its charm, gardens and rambling roses by the door/chocolate box appeal.

Exterior view of  immaculate late 1700s former church, now called Seahaven
Exterior view of  immaculate late 1700s former church, now called Seahaven

Lofty interiors
Lofty interiors

Now appropriately called Seahaven, it served for many years as a place of worship for the region’s Church of Ireland. Among this community lived one Ellen Hutchins, a noted and talented early Irish botanist born in 1785, and who found, identified, described and drew many hundreds, if not thousands of plants, algae and seaweeds from this locale.

A retrospective appreciation of Hutchins’ work was held in the UK’s Kew Gardens just this time last year; she’s also been heralded in TCD, and is recalled with a botany-based festival in her name in Bantry.

Increasingly celebrated, and acknowledged not just as Ireland’s first female botanists but one of considerable talent, importance, scientific and artistic rigour, Miss Hutchins was born at Ballylickey House, later lived at Ardnagashel and died in 1815, aged just 30 years.

When visited 1809 by two eminent British, they described her as “a very sensible, pleasing, square made and tolerably good looking woman.” Might they have found more Christian charity when similarly rating the aesthetics of her local chapel?

Returning to the market in the latter half of 2020 after sales flirtations in 2016/2017, one could be forgiven for thinking that a launch of this Bantry Bay/Botany Bay retreat after the glow of summer has faded might mean little pick up in interest.

Interior view at Seahaven
Interior view at Seahaven

Not so, not so at all. With its first fortnight for sale, and as the second Corona virus came into force, it had attracted a quite massive 17,000 hits on one property website alone, after it gave this sensitive old Church of Ireland church conversion special placing and exposure.

Admittedly, looking online is different than physical viewings and - as people increasingly ‘work from home’ on screens with maybe some extra browsing time on their hands – there can be a deal of virtual tyre-kicking, for sure.

In any case, the interest seems to come from well beyond the West Cork location with a pick-up in inquiries here noted by estate agent Olivia Hanafin of Sherry FitzGerald O’Neill, some of it put down to Covid-19’s impact, and people’s desire to change their work-life balance.

“Interest to date has been exceptional, from both overseas and Irish buyers alike, many searching for a second home with originality and character.

"Seahaven’s a rare opportunity to acquire such a unique property in impeccable condition throughout which still retains character and charm, post-conversion,” says Ms Hanafin of this true one-off.

The private home, on a coastal site along the N71 between Ballylickey and Glengarriff, featured previously in these pages back in 2016/2017 when last for sale, but was taken off the market by its owner who has Bantry family roots and who’d relocated from Dublin, and London.

Lattice-pray
Lattice-pray

Although it had been converted to residential use before his time from its use as a ‘chapel of ease,’ around 1999 and also served as an art gallery for a period, he did further improving works, and a lot of serious work on the two+ acres of grounds just across the N71 from Dromkeal and Snave Pier, an hour or so from Cork city via the Bantry line.

Roadside, it’s in a lovely spot for a dip, or to launch a boat or kayak, with views out along Bantry Bay towards Whiddy Island and the Beara Peninsula and its Caha and Mish Kish mountain ranges, while the Coomhola river finds its way to the sea close-by too.

Mezzanine bedroom
Mezzanine bedroom

Right now, Seahaven has got three first floor bedrooms (one’s on an open mezzanine behind quatrefoil pitch pine feature carvings) and while it retains the character of a former church, it does so without being overly ornate or ‘church-y,’ with a nice balance of high ceilinged open plan main area, with snug/altar, and more cosy evening reception rooms, with feature half door, and lattice windows.

Sherry FitzGerald’s Ms Hanafin guides at €349,000, and that’s about the price region it was on in 2017, too, before Covid-19 drove demand for seaside boltholes, holiday retreats and relaxation options well up the price scale during 2020.

Cosy living room
Cosy living room

And, that's not to mind too much this autumn’s c €800,000 purchase by 26-year old Hollywood A-list actor Saoirse Ronan’s c €800,00 purchase of a West Cork home near Ballydehob and Schull, likely to focus renewed and further interest in the area.

The property had planning granted for a guest cottage and garage back in 2005, now lapsed, and according to Olivia Hanafain “there’s further potential to gain extra accommodation, in one of West Cork’s most scenic coastal regions, and it’s convenient to all the area has to offer.”

VERDICT:Not only has Seahaven a scenic seaside Beary location in spades, it also trails historical links, oozes romance - and is in blessedly good health for a 240-year old building.

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