Horse Island (
Gaeilge
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...
: ''Oileán na gCapall'') is a small inhabited island in
Roaringwater Bay,
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...
, Ireland, off the coast of Schull, that forms part of
Carbery's Hundred Isles
Carbery's Hundred Isles are the islands along the coast of the Baronies of Carbery West and Carbery East, successors to the medieval Barony of Carbery, on the Celtic Sea, in the far south-west of Ireland. It is a term which includes those island ...
. No ferry service operates to and from the island; however, there is a
pier
Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...
, a heliport and a road on the island.
The island is privately owned and in 2018 was offered for sale for the price of €6,750,000.
[property.ie - Horse Island, Roaring Water Bay, Schull, Co. Cork](_blank)
/ref> The property ultimately sold for a price of €5,500,000 to a European Ultra high-net-worth individual
Ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) are defined as having a net worth of at least US$30 million in constant 2018 dollars. It is the wealth segment above very-high-net-worth individuals (greater than $5 million) and high-net-worth-individ ...
in July 2020. Due to the pandemic, the buyer was not allowed to tour the island but viewed a video tour about its amenities.
History
In the 19th century, a copper mine
Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...
was operated on the 157 acre island by West Cork Mining Company, owned most recently by West Cork Mining Company, employing approximately 100 miners at one time. The mine started operating in 1820 and closed in 1874. At its peak in 1841, the island's population was 137. The last permanent resident, Paddy McCarthy, left Horse Island in 1965. In his time, there were only five families on the island. Willie Harcourt-Coozes father bought Horse Island, where he started farming and living a self-sufficient life.[
]Bullworker Bullworker is a product and fitness company that specializes in isometric exercise. The original portable home fitness device was invented by Gert F. Kölbel in 1962.
The devices before the Bullworker Arthur Aubriot Pons
The original device was p ...
), who renovated a few of the buildings in the 1980s. It was sold to financier Adrian Fitzgibbon and wife Deborah in 2007. In less than a year, they turned a barn into the main house. By the time they listed it for sale in 2018, "The island has seven houses, including a six-bedroom main home, plus a pier, helipad, gym, tennis court ... its own electricity, water and sewage systems" according to ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. Another source added that the island also included "six guesthouses and guest cottages", three diesel generators, wind turbines" and pipes to an underwater aquifer for drinking water.
In 2014, an attempt had been made by the Fitzgibbon family to set up an Irish whiskey
Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...
distillery and visitor centre on the island, but planning permission was refused by An Bord Pleanála
(; meaning "The Planning Board"; ABP) is an independent, statutory, quasi-judicial body that decides on appeals from planning decisions made by local authorities in the Republic of Ireland. As of 2007, An Bord Pleanála directly decided major ...
. The couple had also attempted to raise Wagyu cattle but that plan did not work successfully. The island still had a "main cattle shed, an implement shed nd aworkshop" as of 2019.
As of June 2018, the island had a permanent caretaker.You can own a 157-acre island in West Cork for a cool €6.75 million
/ref>
Demographics
References
Islands of County Cork
Private islands of Ireland
{{cork-geo-stub