€1.395m Georgian gem will see buyers steer a course to Kinsale's Compass Hill

Period home glory reigns at this tastefully upgraded slate-hung townhouse

No 2 Compass Hill, Kinsale has spectacular harbout views

Kinsale, Co Cork
€1.395m
Size	204 sq m (2200 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	3
BER	Exempt

WHERE is the best place to live in Kinsale? Fashionable Scilly, with its ravishing harbour views? In much the same vein, Ardback? Highly desirable, water-scanning Summercove, with its blockbuster military fort and getting-down-with-the-locals pub (The Bulman)? New entrant Ringfinnan, on everyone’s radar since it was revealed in this newspaper that U2’s Adam Clayton is planning to build and retire there? Or panoramically-endowed Compass Hill, down in the property annals as one of just two Kinsale locations — Constantia Farm, on Compass Hill, and Seaspray, in Scilly — where buyers paid in excess of €5m to get the home they wanted?

No 2 Compass Hill, Kinsale and in the background, top left, Constantia Farm, one of Kinsale's €5m-plus sales

Mind you, that price record is about to be shattered as James Berwind, US billionaire/coal-mining scion, (the buyer of Seaspray), has just acquired his fifth Kinsale property, Prospect Villa, above Scilly, for a figure believed in excess of €6m, in a deal brokered by Sherry FitzGerald and Sheehy Bros.

Prospect Villa, James Berwind's latest acquistion, in a deal believed to be in excess of €6m

It’s likely to be the top Cork house sale in 2026, with the Munster title going to US tech bro Mark Zuckerberg for €20m-€30m spent on Strancally Castle, in Co Waterford. Mr Berwind’s latest purchase will bring his overall investment in Kinsale to €23m, more than double what was spent by the buyer of Constantia Farm, who also bought additional land, bringing total outlay to about €10m.

With money being flung around Kinsale like confetti, it all gets a bit dizzying, but things are much more settled at No 2 Compass Hill, where a handsome Georgian townhouse — with an elevated, 20mx20m rear garden that runs up to the boundary of Constantia Farm — has just come up for sale. As it’s all agricultural land behind, there’s minimal danger of houses appearing over the garden wall.

Indeed, the only home likely to be built anywhere near No 2 would be in its own side garden, which has a positive planning history — but it would be entirely at a new owner’s discretion.

Prevoius owners, named as Barber in the planning files, were given consent a while back to build a 207sq m, detached, modern, three-bed, three-storey home with off-street parking for two cars (like gold dust in Kinsale), but planning lapsed in 2020.

Even so, there’s precedent, should the buyers of No 2 wish to resurrect the proposal and push ahead with a separate, second home. It’s certainly food for thought: A 0.43a site four doors up, with full planning permission for a 294sq m, three-storey home, recently sold via Engel & Völkers for €930,000.

The wide site at No 2 where planning was previously granted for a three-storey home

No 2 Compass Hill sold for that exact amount to the current owners in 2019 and they have spent the years since upgrading the house in a manner that chimes very nicely with its historic pedigree, while also shepherding it gently in to the 21st century.

Tasty outlook from No 2 Compass Hill

The owner says: “We rewired, replumbed, we stripped back flooring. We replaced the boiler and installed new windows (weighted sash) and doors, in keeping with the house’s Georgian character. We even sourced two marble fireplaces from an old country house in West Cork.”

A rickety staircase was fully refurbished, with some input from Kieran Lehane, of Creative Design Kitchens, who also designed and installed the kitchen, the utility, the library, and hall presses. The owner is fully justified in saying his workmanship was superb

Kitchen craftsmanship

More of Kieran Lynch's handiwork in the first floor library/drawing room

“He is a quality craftsman, with amazing attention to detail,” she adds. It shows. Quality is stamped all over the house.

UNIQUE PROPERTY

Mindful of the property’s past — Buildings of Ireland gives it a ‘regional’ rating in terms of architectural merit — the owners endeavoured at all times to call on local craftspeople for the renovations, with Watermans Consulting Engineers advising.

Built around 1780, it’s a notable, three-storey home with a distinctive, slate-hung façade on the upper two floors — a practical bit of engineering in a coastal town as an effective defence against driving rain. The same technique was deployed widely in Kinsale and is part of its historic streetscape.

Even though the semi-d at No 2 sits right onto Compass Hill, because it’s on a large site (0.21a), there’s great outdoor space and parking for at least three cars inside electric gates.

The site is wide as the owners acquired two plots when they bought the property: The one that the house is on and the adjoining plot, with now lapsed planning permission.

They chose not to extend or build, because the 204sq m house was more than adequate for their own needs. They concentrated, instead, on creating the elegant, yet comfortable, home that you see today, and also on landscaping the outdoor space where it made sense: Off the open-plan kitchen/dining room. Here, French doors open to an enclosed patio/terrace that faces south-west.

2 Compass Hill, Kinsale

As the house is almost 200 years old, the owners viewed themselves as custodians and took the job seriously.

“We feel so honoured to have contributed one small chapter in this beautiful building’s centuries-old story,” they say. Their next chapter involves downsizing in the pretty coastal town, where mini art galleries and hospitality venues abound; where you have a choice of two marinas to berth in and pristine beaches to swim off, not to the mention the world-famous, exclusive golf course on the Old Head. Is it any wonder Kinsale attracts buyers with deep pockets?

Michael O’Donovan, of Savills, brings No 2 to market with a guide price of €1.395m, which, if achieved, will be the tenth €1m-plus sale on Compass Hill since 2015. He notes the property’s many wonderful features: High ceilings, fabulous light levels, parquet floors, and spectacular views.

Window to the world

The first-floor drawing room, with open marble fireplace and library shelving, is a particular highlight, even before the terrific views come in to play.

A double bedroom on the first floor has access to the rear garden, where apple and pear trees feature.

The views, as you move up the rear garden, improve incrementally.

Back indoors, on the ground floor, beyond the fan-lit door and bright and welcoming hallway, is a beautiful lounge with harbour views. 

Deeper into the house is the open-plan kitchen/dining room, as well as a study/home office, and, further in again, a utility and guest loo.

One of three bedrooms is on the middle floor (with a little balcony off it) and the remaining two are up top. Each floor has bathroom access.

The owners aren’t moving too far: They love the community and the rattle and hum of Kinsale, while Cork City is less than a 30-minute spin away. Cork Airport is even closer (22km), which will suit international buyers.

Mr O’Donovan says the property will appeal to relocators, “most likely from the UK and US and to those looking to move into Kinsale town from the surrounding areas”.

He believes it will be bought as a permanent residence rather than a holiday home and that the positive planning history on the side garden should also be of interest, “as land with road frontage on this section of Compass Hill is rare”.

VERDICT: Find your true north on Compass Hill, a sensitively restored genteel home in the starried town of Kinsale.