From wandering whales to Disney castles, Kilbrittain rolls out a West Cork welcome

€670k high-end home at under-the-radar coastal community is  within commute of Cork city and airport

Kilbrittain and Coolmain beaches on doorstep of this family home, for sale with Majella Galvin of DNG Galvin who guides at €670,000

Kilbrittain, West Cork
€670,000
Size	344 sq m (3,600 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4/5
Bathrooms	5
BER	B2

ALL sorts find their way to Cork’s Kilbrittain, from wandering whales to members of Disney dynasties in their coastal castles.

Fin whale at  Kilbrittain. 2014 picture: Denis Minihane.

The compact seaside community has deep historic links, and even is home to two castles — one dating to the 11th century. It was where the Book of Lismore was inked on vellum back in the 15th century and, yet, seems to stay under the wider West Cork brand radar.

Family entertainment: Keeping up with the neighbours is hard when Coolmain Castle, Kilbrittain is owned by the Disney family

Kilbrittain is also where a large, 60’ long fin whale stranded and sadly died in January 2009 — its skeleton is now displayed in the locale, hinting at the wonders that lurk beneath the ocean beyond.

Bright interiors at this €670,000 offered family home

Whale watching is now a huge activity off the Cork and Irish coasts while, over a decade earlier, keen sailor Roy Disney also floated his boat at Kilbrittain when he bought a real castle, Coolmaine, right by one of the area’s several beaches.

The self-supporting but low-key Kilbrittain community — with a village core in a valley just a mile or two from the shoreline — is a short drive to Bandon, a 20-minute spin to Kinsale and Clonakilty, and within an hour’s drive to Cork city.

That was vital to the relocation decision of a Dublin-based family back in 2002, when they went home hunting in the wider West Cork catchment.

Space aplenty

Medical-related employment offers at UCC/CUH meant having to be within relatively easy reach of the city. Could the contrast in residential locations from the capital to Kilbrittain have been much more pointed?

Top floor multi-use rooms

Well actually, 22 years on, it could be even more pointed! Having fledged a family to adult years here in their home called “Clonkellure” (loosely translated as “a meadow where birds sing”), the now-retiring couple are selling up here to go even deeper into the island’s Wild Atlantic Way reaches — opting to live full-time in a holiday home they also have on Bere Island.

Sun-kissed at Kilbrittain

“It allows us the chance to fulfil a lifelong dream to move further west,” they say.

Back in ’02, they set up an acceptable radius to go home hunting, within what they say became a 40-minute daily work commute to CUH.

“We first saw this house on a beautiful spring day, after a frustrating few days looking at many properties in and around West Cork. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the view, particularly from the kitchen, was spectacular,” they said.

They bought this home with what was called a ‘builder’s finish’, improving it to the point that it’s now 3,600 sq ft of quality, and taming and planting its grounds of up to two acres over the ensuing work decades.

Their youngest child was born locally, and all of their children attended the small, three-teacher Gurraneasig National School, “where nature walks always included a walk to the beach at Howe Strand.”

Kilbrittain has another national school while secondary school options are at Bandon or Kinsale, along with life-learning and enriching experiences that include multiple water-based activities, horse riding, and hurling.

Set in the local townland of Clashavanna, the house has a good flow to all of its main rooms — with an excellent kitchen with solid timber tops and a sweeping view out towards the sea from the dining room.

Changes made to what they bought day one include colonising the attic space with an open plan TV room and hobby room via an oak staircase, along with creating a self-contained apartment/granny flat.

Coolmain Castle of old

In the large gardens, they created a sunken patio area to the south which gets the sun from early morning and is sheltered with glass balusters. The lower section has apple trees, fruits, seasonal rhubarb, three large raised vegetable beds, as well as a currently depopulated chicken run awaiting restocking: Easter eggs, anyone?

VERDICT: Constantly updated, including a new condenser boiler, new external doors, and triple glazing resulting in a B3 BER, Kilbrittain’s “Clonkellure” is being left in rude health by its even more westerly-bound, medic-minded vendors.