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Irish Examiner
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
€345k West Cork musicians' retreat is so private 'it's perfect for the witness protection programme'
TEACHING piano to a then-teenage Simon Harris is just one of the many unexpected claims to fame of one of the owners of this Seehanes, Drimoleague, West Cork hideaway home. Have I the right key? Simon Harris in 2016 It's one that has been visited, stayed in, and enjoyed by some of Ireland's musical its owners are too respectful of their privacy to name them. If the walls of the hideaway artists retreat-like house could talk, they'd sing, chant, burst in to choruses and chords and give it a bit of old fashioned, raucous rock-and-roll welly. 'We don't do conventional,' says Ali, one of two serious musician owners of this West Cork charmer, replete now with instruments, rock-and-roll memorabilia and photographs, as well as hens, geese, and a braying donkey. The couple themselves, Stuart and Ali Crampton, are more Greystones than Bray, with multi-instrument playing Stuart having retired from music teaching after 23 years in Wicklow's Greystones, where, among his pupils, there was one 14-year-old Simon Harris, to whom he taught piano; he also wrote the music for a short play that the future Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader had written. Farm home and barn dances at Seehanes, Drimoleague Stuart has performed with a vast array of musicians, from the late Rick Danko, a founder of The Band, to Ronnie Wood, Cork's Cathal Dunne, Colm Wilkinson, and Mary Black's long-time guitar accompanist Pat Crowley: however, high-profile guests who've stayed here remain unnamed. 'We joke this is the perfect house for the witness protection programme, it's so private. There's a kilometre of lane up to it, which the council just redid at a considerable cost and we had to contribute to, but the result is utter privacy; you don't hear another sound here,' says Ali, who grew up working on film sets and rubbing shoulders with movie stars ( her dad had a film catering company). Purple reigns Having fallen for the West Cork lifestyle and now well-embedded in the local music scene, they are on the move to a similar type of traditional house, only nearer the sea. They are selling here at Seehanes, near Drimoleague, and sort of in an equidistant triangle of reach to Clonakilty, Skibbereen, and Bantry. Niamh Moloney, of Sherry FitzGerald O'Neill, is handling the sale (SFON also handled the sale to the Cramptons for US-based previous owners two years ago), and she guides the characterful, three-bedroomed, traditional-style home of over 1,000 sq ft at €345,000. It has good living space in the effectively one-room wide main build, with a rear kitchen, utility and bathroom behind, and above three bedrooms, plus boxroom/home office, with a bathroom off the rear one. Kitchen cabinet Only lightly modernised, with wall-to-wall rock and music images and craftily upcycled furniture finds and still with heaps of retained character and original 'feel,' it has had windows replaced, has oil central heating, and a large wood-burning stove in a wide inglenook fireplace and gets a D1 BER. It has an enclosed garden/music jamming room, several sheds and useful outbuildings, plus traditional, curved steel barn, and is on almost 2.5 acres with a paddock to the rear. Jammy VERDICT: 'A grand-daughter of a previous owner contacted the agents after the photos went online to say the house had always been a happy one and had never looked so good,' says Ali.
Irish Examiner
02-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Irish Examiner
Dinky Oak Tree Cottage in Adrigole is a €395,000 holiday home dream
THE Crowley Petes were living large in a small space well ahead of any move towards sustainable living as a lifestyle choice. But even if 10 people under one roof meant indoors was sometimes claustrophobic, the whole world opened up outside their front door. Oak Tree Cottage, set in the remarkable landscape of the Beara Peninsula, had the Caha Mountains as a backdrop, and glistening Bantry Bay at its feet. 'It was my father John Crowley's homeplace, and he grew up there with his five brothers and two sisters, his granddad and his parents,' says Noreen, the owner. ' My hope is that the next owners will be as happy as the Crowleys were.' The Crowley Petes sobriquet was to distinguish her father's family (his father was Peter) from the myriad other Crowley families on the peninsula. Noreen, whose own home is in Blarney, inherited Oak Tree Cottage and 14.5 acres of sea-hugging farmland from her uncle and godfather, Paul. Noreen's husband, Denis, a farmer, grazes cattle on the land. They've had the 47 sq m house 15 years and made some changes. During her father's time, there were two small downstairs rooms and three tiny rooms overhead. Now, the ground floor is open-plan and the upstairs is an ensuite double bedroom. Windows were upgraded and the front door was replaced. The classic country-style look is as cosy as it gets. 'We enjoyed working together, upgrading the house and the land over the years,' Noreen says, adding that it's 'been a delight' to have a West Cork base. A fan of sea-swimming, she can walk to the water in 10 minutes for a dip off Zetland Pier, 'or you can cycle or drive down, and it's lovely for a dip in the morning'. There are fishing spots too and sometimes porpoises pass by. Noreen says it's been 'a very hard decision to sell the house, but it's the right decision' as their plans for retirement include travelling further afield than Leahill, in the townland of Adrigole. 'We have three beautiful granddaughters, and another grandchild on the way in Toronto, due in September, and we plan to travel over,' Noreen says. She would love to see the house go to 'a young farmer starting out, or a young family or a young couple with vision' as she feels there's a great deal of potential. Two stone outbuilding, positioned to enjoy the views, could be converted into studios. A traditional slated shed with an attached cattle crush and holding pen, is 'ideal for machinery or tool storage', says selling agent Olivia Hanafin of Sherry FitzGerald O'Neill. Ms Hanafin says Oak Tree Cottage is attracting 'strong interest from both Irish buyers and expats'. 'The appeal of waterfrontage and generous land area are standout features that offer both lifestyle and long-term value,' the agent says. VERDICT: A dinky bolthole with glorious views and endless potential.
