More by the Shore in lovely Ardnahinch, near Ballymaloe

Quality home and quality lifestyle on offer in East Cork 

7 Ardnahinch Bay, Shanagarry

Shanagarry, East Cork
€395,000
Size	163 sq m (1750 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	B3

2020 will go down in history as the year handshakes died, face-masks came to stay, all but token-sized church celebrations were proscribed, remote working became the norm and house hunters’ preferences changed, with auctioneers reporting a shift in preferences from urban to more peripheral locations, particularly coastal areas.

Demand for properties in parts of Kerry and West Cork was predictably high, but also in more understated East Cork, where homes are generally more affordable than their western counterparts.

One man with his finger on the pulse in East Cork is local house builder Tom Beausang. He has just completed a 22-house scheme of detached four-beds in Shanagarry called Sea Field, and all are already sale agreed with agent Adrianna Hegarty of Hegarty Properties, the first going for €375,000, with a top price of €450,000.

Sea Field

“There’s big demand in the area and no problem selling. Working from home has really upped the demand around here,” Mr Beausang says. In fact he has plans to start another development, of nine detached homes in Garryvoe by the end of the year, just 500m from the beach.

Mr Beausang also developed Ardnahinch Bay, a scheme of 13 detached four-bed homes, starting in 2007, just before the property crash, with one selling at the time for €590,000, before everything went pear-shaped.

The house featured here is No 7 Ardnahinch Bay, 150m from the beach, and it’s had just one set of owners, who, even though they used it as a holiday home, gave it plenty of TLC, keeping indoors and outdoors immaculate. Selling agent in this case is also Ms Hegarty and she is guiding the 1,750 sq ft home at €395,000.

“It’s a walk-in, clean as a whistle,” she says “and no expense has been spared on the fit-out, with top quality carpets, solid walnut flooring and marble worktops.”

Ms Hegarty describes the internal living accommodation as “ideal for any growing family, with a large open-plan kitchen/dining/living space and a separate cosy sitting”.

There’s also a utility and a guest WC on the ground floor, and overhead, four bedrooms, one with ensuite, and a family bathroom.

The gardens are large, colourful and well cared for, with plenty of mature planting, and there’s a decent patio to the rear, accessed via French doors off the open-plan living area.

Ms Hegarty says she has a list of people looking for houses in East Cork and that the majority interested in No 7 are families from Cork city looking to live in the general area.

“I think people really got to know the area during the pandemic, they got to know the beaches and they’ve been looking out for the right house. Covid-19 really opened up the coast and the demand for coastal homes,” she says.

Proximity to beach aside, Shanagarry has plenty other attractions such as the Kilkenny Design Centre, Stephen Pearce Pottery and nearby, Ballymaloe Cook School. And while Ballymaloe poster girl, celebrity chef Rachel Allen has just reached ‘Sale Agreed’ on her Shanagarry home for an undisclosed sum (guide price was €795,000), she is planning to remain in the area, in a new build, on family land.

VERDICT:  Family-friendly home in pretty coastal setting, just a 15 minute drive to Midleton.