A genuine pearl overlooking Oysterhaven Bay for €2.4m

Spectacular property with incredible seaside views is just a short drive from Kinsale

Kinure House, Kinure, Oysterhaven, Co Cork

Oysterhaven, Co Cork
€2.4m
Size	345 sq m (3,713 sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	4
BER	C2

IF summer was a place, it could be here, at Kinure House, which looks south and west at headlands, hills, coves and beaches. Even the most rabid non-believer might balk at his god-denying thesis when drinking in this sublime piece of coastline. Star billing is a given for this Oysterhaven home, where little can come between you and the briny deep.

Kinure House lies low beneath the road and its gardens dip to the shore. A winding drive leads down to the house where the ground levels out. Beyond the expansive gravel driveway, the land drops away again, down through the gardens and on to the slipway, a launchpad for kayaks, windsurfers and keen sea-swimmers.

It’s probably the finest site between sheltered Oysterhaven Bay Beach and the tip of Kinure headland. It’s a generous one too, over 2.5 acres, with 150 m of glorious water frontage.

The house itself is perfectly positioned on the site, so that every sea-facing window has a beautiful bay view. A lighthouse in the distance signals the whereabouts of the Old Head of Kinsale. Idyllic Preghane headland is across the bay. High above the opposite shore, nestled in woodland, is the four-star Kinsale Hotel and Spa. Underpinning it all is the stunning indented shoreline.

Kinsale, just minutes away by car, is attracting overseas home buyers by the yachtload. In recent years, they’ve glided in on superyachts and corporate jets, snapping up multimillion euro coastal homes, occasionally making front page news. Some international buyers have cast their net a little wider, to Oysterhaven. One made headlines in recent years after swooping in on an Oysterhaven home that was already sale agreed to another overseas buyer. 

Chocolate box Annefield House, an 18th-century gem on 5.6 acres at Ballinclashet Creek was the scene of the killer bid. Having gone on the market in May 2023 for €1.5m, it was sold by year end to a buyer with US links who doubled the money, paying €3m, pulling the rug from under an agreed €1.85m deal. It was the talk of Oysterhaven.

Kinure House’s mesmerising setting is certain to attract overseas interest. It’s a fine house, just over 3,700 sq ft. Having started out as a modest bungalow in the ‘80s, it gained ground over the years, including, at the headland end, an enormous lounge with lofted ceiling and huge amounts of glazing taking in the best of the views – out towards the mouth of the harbour, past the Sovereign Islands and directly across Oysterhaven Bay. Glass sliding doors lead to a patio that surrounds the entire house. You could do most of your living in this room — there’s a dining table too and a stove — but you don’t have to, as there’s also a huge living room. Its seaward-facing wall is lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, so there’s no escaping the views — as if you’d want to. Sliding doors lead from here to a conservatory, another addition to the original house, and it’s like sitting in the foyer of a lovely maritime hotel where every window frames the bay.

Behind the main living space, a long kitchen — more like a corridor — runs down the rear of the house, but you are not cut off from the views because the dividing wall between kitchen and living room is a series of windows. (The kitchen was previously in another room, to the rear, which is now used as a home office).

Three of five bedrooms have sea views too. One bedroom is part of a self-contained unit at the far end of the house, where a large open plan kitchen/dining/lounge area has more expansive glazing and corresponding views. A small conservatory to the rear does not overlook the bay.

You could move into Kinure House and let well alone — you may have no choice, as the guide price is €2.4m. The likelihood, however, at this level, is a moneybags buyer, who can afford to do as they please.

“You could get someone who will either completely renovate it or even knock and re-build,” says selling agent Ron Krueger of Engel & Völkers.

The house with its five outbuildings could also appeal to someone familiar with the success of the nearby Oysterhaven Centre — which has been running outdoor and marine activities since 1981 — and who sees an opportunity to offer accommodation in the area, either in the main house or by converting (with planning consent) the five outbuildings that dot the long drive. Or an international buyer who wants a very private holiday home in an ace location could swoop. After all it’s just 20 minutes from Cork Airport and city and 10 minutes (8km) from Kinsale. And it is, as Mr Krueger says “a special find, a truly unique waterfront property, offering stunning views and fantastic living space”.

VERDICT: In this very special setting, the world is your oyster.