Bidding wars by the sea: the boathouse that sparked a €205k bidding frenzy in East Cork

Soaring demand from Dublin and overseas buyers is transforming Ballycotton’s property market — and surprising even seasoned locals

N0 5 Atlantic Terrace in Ballycotton is already €75k over its €350,000 asking price...par for the course it seems given demand for holiday homes from out of towners

Ballycotton, East Cork
Asking price: €350,000 (under higher offer)
Size	65 sq m (695 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	D1

IS Dublin, and Leinster, doing to East Cork’s Ballycotton what American buyers are doing to Kinsale, driving prices up a gear, or several?

Recent and just agreed sales would indicate an unqualified ‘yes.’ 

5 Atlantic Terrace is new to market with agent Adrianna Hegarty: it dates to the early 1800s

They include sale terms agreed after a swift and unrelenting bidding war at €1.1m for the refurbished Troy House, our May 10 Property & Home p1 and internal feature of a home done to the n-th degree by an interior designer owner

Troy House is sale agreed at €1.1m, the strongest price to date in East Cork's Ballycotton

: it soared past its €695,000 AMV, being bought by a Leinster purchaser, with a US bidder at the same €1.1 sum failing to get to view before the vendor accepted the Irish offer from within The Pale.

Interior of Troy House

Also just sale agreed is the diminutive boathouse, a wreck in stones on a tiny footprint by a secondary pier used by local fishermen: the old boathouse went for sale in April, guiding €70,0000 and is been bought by a Dulin bidder for €205k, to local amazement, with the buyer reportedly “loving a project,” says selling agent Adrianna Hegarty, who says he hasn’t disclosed if he plans a residential bolthole right by the water, or some commercial use.

Ballycotton's old boathouse sale agreed at €200,000

“The holiday home here has taken off, people have waited years for supply here,” says Ms Hegarty as her June 2025 launch of 5 Atlantic Terrace at €395,000 (it’s an executor sale) already has bidding on the c 700 sq ft quaint two-bed at €425,000 late this week, and is still climbing.

View from 5 Atlantic Terrace

With sea and pier views, and dual aspect/access, the compact early 19th century home has a wood-burning stove, double glazing and central heating, but still scores a F BER.

Living room at 5 Atlantic Terrace

Ms Hegarty notes sales on the charming terrace are uncommon, and attributes the current demand for the seaside village to a number of factors:

She includes the proximity of Ballymaloe House, its cookery school and the Castlemartyr Resort; the impact of local entrepreneur Pearse Flynn whose Sea Church music venue, and just repositioned Cush restaurant (ex Pier 26) as well as the Blackbird pub and café has massively broadened the profile and driven visitor numbers to new heights.

Daughter Niamh Hegarty of the same Midleton-based agency agrees: she says that relative proximity to Cork city and the airport also aids access — while parts of West Cork can be two or more hours from the city; she adds that online social media such as TikTok and Instagram reels are boosting Ballycotton’s profile, beaches and beauty even further, with a number of major UK and US influencers adding to the overall lifestyle picture.

“The surprise isn’t that it’s happening to Ballycotton, the surprise is it’s taken so long,” Niamh Hegarty says simply.