Robert Sheehan joins Mescal and Ronan in West Cork 'Craic Pack' as he seeks planning for farmhouse extension

Robert Sheehan has sought permission to raise the roof as part of the extension of a farmhouse he bought three years ago. 

Will actor Robert Sheehan have better luck than fellow Irish actor Saoirse Ronan in West Cork’s strict planning process?

The leading Irish actor and star of Misfits, Love/Hate, and Netflix's The Umbrella Academy has sought permission to literally raise the roof as part of the extension of a farmhouse he bought three years ago.

Sheehan is also seeking permission to renovate, linking into an adjacent roofless stone ruin, and has just sought retention of demolition of a conservatory attached to the property for which he paid €545,000 in 2022/2023.

Sheehan’s homebase is Aughadown, between Skibbereen and Ballydehob, where Saoirse Ronan has a waterside home on Roaringwater Bay. A third fellow Irish thespian, Paul Mescal, has a home near Schull, making for a niche ‘Craic Pack’ of top talents.

Ronan and Mescal, who turned 30 last week, are to star in the 2028 release of The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, as Linda and Paul McCartney. As seasonal, near-neighbours in West Cork, perhaps Mescal and Ronan can rehearse their roles along the scenic N71?

The trio of thirtysomething thespians putting down West Cork roots are following in the footsteps of Jeremy Irons, who moved to West Cork in 1998 after buying and renovating Kilcoe Castle with a more private home nearby.

Robert Sheehan joins fellow actors Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan in West Cork. File picture: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Sheehan, 38, has employed Wexford's Stephen Carr Architects to upgrade and extend his character-filled property Stream Valley on two acres, according to a planning application. Some work, most notably the removal of a sun room facing a quiet rural road, behind a screening stone boundary wall, has already visibly taken place.

Having lived in London and Los Angeles while filming and acting across myriad roles, Sheehan has been living in a mobile home with a fitted stove on his sheltered and enclosed courtyard cluster by his farm dwelling. 

He has previously said he opted for West Cork with a partner and pet dog, Rory, noting it was a “yearning to move back to Ireland” after years abroad, keen on meditation, a slower pace of life, and a “community vibe” in the wider Ballydehob hinterland.

Given he paid €545,000 for the property and the scale of what’s in the planning application, a total investment in the region of €1m-plus is likely for the Laois-born actor and writer.

Stream Valley

Sheehan will hope to have a more positive planning experience than Ronan, who paid €650,000 for a 1,200sq ft dormer home near the sea by Ballydehob in 2020.

In 2024, Ronan sought planning approval to demolish it and replace it with a single-storey home three times the size.

In rejecting the star’s plans, senior West Cork planners said Ronan had not provided a sufficient justification for demolishing the original house, adding the proposed new design’s siting, scale, and massing would not fit appropriately into the rural coastal landscape and would detract from the area’s visual amenities.

No new planning application has yet been filed... The Beatles star's Long and Winding Road may continue for Ronan and husband Jack Lowden, who wed in a low-key ceremony in 2024 and who were reported to have had their first child last September.