Castletownsend Holiday Homes Cork
The picturesque village of Castletownsend is situated on the coast about 8km from Skibbereen in West Cork. The village developed around the castle, which was built in the mid 1600s by Richard Townsend, whose descendents still reside there.
The main street of the town, lined with large homes from the 18th century, runs down a sharply sloped hill leading to the castle, the quayside and the harbour.
The village lies on the northern side of Castlehaven Harbour in the parish of Castlehaven, which owes its name to the castle that protects the haven. A rather unique feature of Castletownshend is the two sycamore trees growing in the roundabout in the centre of the village. The present sycamores replace two trees planted in the 1800s.
Castletownsend’s claim to literary fame is that it was the home of the writers and cousins, Edith Somerville and Violet Martin Ross. The work of these writers, most notably “The Irish RM” provides a hilarious fictional chronicle of a bye-gone way of life.
Both are buried in the graveyard of the lovely little Church of Ireland of St. Barrahane at the seaward end of the village. St. Barrahanes Church itself is noted for its stained glass windows, and for the classical music festival it has sponsored every year since 1980.
There are three pubs in Castletownshend: Collins’s Bar is a good venue for traditional sing songs. Just across the street is Lil McCarthy’s and at the bottom of the village is Mary Ann’s – a pub renowned for its seafood.
Castletownsend provides a sheltered harbour for inshore fishing boats and yachts. It is a popular port of call for cruising yachts in the summer months.