€1.2m Fantastic four-house property on Beara peninsula for sale — just in time for 3,000-strong O'Sullivan clan gathering

West Cork coastal cluster could suit coming clan gatherings

The Haggarts, Beara, for sale with JJ O'Sullivan

Beara Peninsula, West Cork
€1.2m
Size	468sq m (5,000 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4X3
Bathrooms	4X1
BER	C2

Beara peninsula estate agent JJ O’Sullivan could be in trouble with coming bank-holiday weekend viewings of this four-house, 12-bedroomed property near Dursey Island — because 3,000 of his clan namesakes will descend on Castletownbere to set a new world record for the largest gathering of people with the same name.

The Sullivan/O’Sullivan name has been linked for centuries to the area, since the legendary, 14-day march undertaken by the last great West Cork and Kerry chieftain, Dónal Cam O’Sullivan Beare and his 1,000 supporters in 1603, from Dunboy Castle to Leitrim (now commemorated by the Beara-Breifne trail).

JJ O'Sullivan Beara clan gathering is within a short walk of the Dursey Island cable car

The clan is gathering in an attempt to smash the world record, which was set in 2007 in Letterkenny, in Donegal, when 1,488 assembled Gallaghers were counted for the Guinness Book of Records.

Now, the Sullivan and O’Sullivans, at the opposite county end of the Wild Atlantic Way, want to snatch the title and the record, and if over half of the 3,010 registered to date turn up Saturday at 3pm, they are home and hosed.

Hoping to find a locally-linked home, or several, for a Sullivan or O’Sullivan, is JJ O’Sullivan, a well-rooted local auctioneer, who has a list of possible places for his namesakes to put the Sullivan stamp on the dotted line.

JJ suggests The Haggarts, a niche cluster of two detached plus and two semi-detached, stone-faced, three-bed dormer houses (pic, left) built several decades ago as seasonal rentals and being sold fully-furnished for €1.2m all in, equivalent to €300k a pop each, could accommodate a fair few extended family/clan members.

The Haggarts is within a walk of the cable car link to Dursey Island (next stop America), and Dursey is one of the locations on the map for the clan gathering between May 30 and June 1.

Also on sale with JJ O’Sullivan is a 7.4-acre, residentially-zoned site at Foildarrig, in Castletownbere, priced at €395,00 “for a clannish O’Sullivan village”, the estate agent quips.

The Colt Rock with scaffolding around it in Castletownbere Harbour in 2009. In the backround is Dunboy Castle. Picture Denis Minihane.

VERDICT: Gallaghers need not apply?