Cork's Ballycotton reaches €1m+ price league with Ocean Drive and Troy House sales

Ballycotton, East Cork
€900,000 - €1.1 million
Size	211/213 sq m (2,275/2,295 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	4
BER	A2

BALLYCOTTON’S ‘moment in the sun’ appears to be continuing to shine - despite the current inclement December weather - with property values dramatically up in 2025, now into the €1m+ league in cases, and heading into ’26 also.

The East Cork coastal village notched up its first €1m+ house sale in the case of end-of-terrace Troy House, sold to an Irish buyer for €1.1m in the summer, one of a handful of Midleton area homes to breach that psychological (and fiscal) price barrier in recent years.

But, that high price level for solo homes is also being breached by a development of 11 new builds in the fishing village called Ocean Drive, selling at prices from €900,000 to €1.1 million, being done by Cork developers/builders Bridgewater Homes.

They acquired an elevated three acre site on Ballycotton’s Barrack Hill and got planning for 12 detached houses on the challenging ground above the village, now excavated to provide for a curving chicane row of detached four-bed homes, including some split level/upside down layouts of c 211sq m/2,275 sq ft and A2 rated.

Developers Bridgewater formed in 2020, headed by directors Paul Barrett and David Walsh and has spread rapidly in Cork, doing the €125m Waterfall Heights mix of c 350 units (inc apartments) at Ardrostig; Arlington at Kerry Pike; and schemes in Fermoy and Rathcormac, as well as recently acquiring a site near Carrigaline.

At Ocean Drive, groundworks started in October 2024 and the first houses are now completed, with road surfaces going down this month, as the rapid-delivery development of 11 (one site of the 12 is being retained), is speed-assisted by off-site steel frame construction via the Cahir Tipperary-based company Remagin.

Design features include pressed metal detailing and part drystone facades, using stone sourced on site, and a number have an upside down layout, with vast open plan main living/dining areas, some 15 metres across, with large glazing sections from Munster Joinery.

Bridgewater Homes have private deals done on two, and estate agent Adrianna Hegarty who sold Troy House locally last summer was given nine to sell, with just three remaining; three others have sold for over €1 million, one at €1.1m.

Buyers include Irish, from places as diverse as Monaghan and Cork, and several are US-based, a mix of American and Irish living in the US, as well as UK-based purchasers, also with Irish heritage/links.

Views vary for each of the houses with slightly different aspects and layouts but primarily are across Ballycotton Bay, Ballynamona and Garryvoe beaches and over the picturesque village itself with the pier, cliff walk, Sea Church, bars and cafes all within a short walk.

Troy House, Ballycotton sold for €1.1 million

Agents Adrianna Hegarty and Niamh Hegarty said drivers were things like the coastal setting and lifestyle, beaches, the ripple effect from Ballymaloe and its cookery school, social media influencers and developments by local entrepreneur Pearse Flynn who pumped millions of euros into local attraction like Cush restaurant and Sea Church.

Interviewed in 2018 by the Irish Examiner after he built his own multi-million euro home overlooking the lighthouse at Ballycotton and the start of the Cliff Walk, Mr Flynn said “It’s a place worth investing in. My dream is to raise the tide. If the tide rises, everyone rises. If more people come into the village, everyone will benefit. If more people come into the village, everyone will benefit.”

VERDICT: It’s not just at the upper end of the scale that prices have so suddenly soared in Ballycotton: a tiny stone boathouse ruin launched at €70k last summer has sold for €170,000 after a deal to a Dublin buyer agreed at €205k fell through, and has been bought by a local fishing family……a rising tide, indeed.