Inside Lisaniska: Youghal home with sea views and five bedrooms for €530k

Distinctive five-bedroom home combines harbour views, mature gardens and flexible accommodation in one of Youghal's most sought-after locations

Lisaniska, Windmill Hill, Youghal, Co. Cork. Pictures: Lyne Media

Sat, 01 Aug, 2026 - 06:00

Caroline Delaney

Youghal, Co Cork
€530,000
Size	278 sq m (2992 sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	5
BER	E2

A fort might typically be designed to keep people out but this Youghal house was all about welcomes and family gatherings.

Lisaniska is an anglicised version of ‘lios an uisce’ which means water fort and this five-bed house on Windmill Hill has panoramic views of Youghal harbour and Ferry Point.

The house on 0.3 acres was built in 1977 by a local couple who had lived in the US for many years and who brought a taste for unusual (for Ireland) architecture.

The house was then bought by a couple from Limerick and Britain in 2000 and they added their own decor stamp and worked hard to enhance the multi-level gardens.

Laid out over three levels, Lisaniska has arches, alcoves, terraces, a self-contained section — and a spiral staircase. Small wonder then the property was so popular with the younger members of the extended family. Nieces, nephews and friends flocked to Youghal each summer to enjoy downtime, swims, and family barbecues, lunches and dinners.

The house with south-east facing gardens is now on the market as the husband and wife owners are sadly deceased.

“The garden was one of my sister’s greatest joys, lovingly created and nurtured over many years. It’s filled with an abundance of shrubs, climbers, and perennial plants... jasmine, solanum, clematis, lavender, agapanthus, montbretia, hollyhocks, rock roses and pink, blue and white hydrangeas.”

“This beautiful garden was the setting for creating happy memories for friends and family members, nieces and nephews and the house was a real gathering point for our family over the years as my sister was great with children and the beach and wider area was just brilliant with Perks and the cinema at the town in those years,” adds the former owner’s sister.

The house is ideally suited to accommodating a growing family, multi-generational living, or working from home, notes Adrianna Hegarty of Hegarty Properties.

“Youghal really does have the best of coastal living year-round. As well as swimming and walks, there’s the Midleton–Youghal Greenway on the doorstep and the famous Boardwalk gives you direct beach access. Ardmore and Ballycotton are within easy reach, and this house is basically midway between Cork and Waterford cities which makes commuting straightforward in either direction.”

You enter the main house on the mid level and there’s an attractive teak and wrought iron staircase in the foyer here. There’s also a dual-aspect sitting room with Youghal bay views, a formal dining room and a spacious kitchen/dining area at the back of this level. A walk-in pantry give handy clutter-free space back to the kitchen which has a redbrick open fireplace and french doors opening out on the patio.

There are two double bedrooms on this level too.

Upstairs, one of the three bedrooms on this level has an ensuite bathroom and a walk-in wardrobe. The other two bedrooms here have a shared jack-and-jill style bathroom.

The lower ground level is actually a self-contained area accessed through sliding doors on the ground level (and also via an internal staircase from the kitchen). This features a sitting room, a kitchenette, and a sitting room with an open fireplace.