International buyers ensure Kinsale property values continue to soar

Irish Examiner

4 days ago

When it comes to lifestyle locations, Kinsale is a leading contender not just in the Irish context, but also internationally.
Its experience now over half of a century as a top visitor destination has embedded itself deeply into not only 'brand awareness' but also into a new generation of locals and recently arrived residents, with a knock-on impact on the town and hinterland's property market too, for better and for worse.
Few other Irish spots, coastal or inland, have the attributes that cosmopolitan Kinsale has: it ticks location boxes, but is also stunning scenic thanks to an up-and-down topography, with a mix of harbour, river and rugged coastline and cliff-ringed variations among its valleys and backwater hideaways.
Add in blessed with proximity to an international airport and port city (Cork) with third-level college and strong employment base; beaches for sea-swimmers, surfers and saunas, a wide array of leisure activities and sports from the traditional and inclusive to the rather more exclusive, with upper echelons typified by the arrival of super-yachts at the marinas, and helicopters at the Old Head of Kinsale.
Influxes of cash, be it dollars or euros, keep shops, cafes and crafts, galleries and gourmet restaurants afloat too, increasing year-round, and the consequent cash-rich culture and presence of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) has of course been widely remarked upon.
The Dock, Kinsale, Co Cork. At the top of the Munster market in terms of top house sales and values, Kinsale continues to attract local, national and overseas buyers. Picture: Dan Linehan
Given international uncertainties, wars and tragedies abroad, from the Ukraine to the Middle East, Iran and the Gulf to the Gulf of America (we mean this more in terms of US political divide than the attempted rebranding of waters around Mexico!) to climate change, raging forest fires, rising sea levels, and soaring temperatures in the Mediterranean and other traditional playgrounds of the rich and famous, the allure of a more temperate, even-handed, politically stable locations such as Ireland are only going to grow in appeal to the internationally mobile.
That's even more so in the case of a place like Kinsale where, at the very upper end of the market where internation capital is swilling around hot-spots like Scilly/Ardbrack and Compass Hill/Sandycove, fears are being expressed about 'becoming a Trump-like copycat of America's despicable wealth culture, which seems to be permeating within Kinsale itself as well as elsewhere within our country,' to cite one letter writer to this newspaper after the virtual demolition of a period seaside home bought for many millions of euros.
While that's not typical of the wider market, Kinsale is well used to the knock and rebuild culture evident since native and overseas buyers eyed Kinsale up after the depressed 1980s: there's never been so much wealth around as right now, it's clear.
Kinsale already tops the Munster market in terms of top house sales and values, with a fistful in the c.€5m league in the past three years: this threshold will be breached for sure in the coming months or year when Coolmain Castle on 36 acres with water frontage west of Kinsale and the Old Head moves to new hands.
Priced at a far from Mickey Mouse sum of €7.5 million, Coolmain Castle came to the international market this April, after 36 years in Disney family hands, offered via agents Hodnett Forde and Lisney, rightly making waves beyond Irish shores.
Coolmain indeed is a world-class property, and the eventual selling price will reflect that. The big question is: 'Who will be the buyer?' Bigger than Disney? A golfer? An under-the-radar billionaire seeking Irish seaside sanctuary?
'Coolmain Castle has attracted significant international interest and a handful of viewings have taken place so far,' says Trevor O'Sullivan of Lisney Sotheby's International Realty.
He says Kinsale 'has been a hub of activity in 2025 once the spring selling season kicked in, with the brighter days and longer evenings. With the current Trump administration in power, we are noticing a large increase in overseas and predominately American buyers. In fact, some weeks we receive up to five calls in a week directly from American buyers looking to move to Ireland to buy a permanent home or buy a holiday home for three months of the year.'
Kinsale, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan
Lisney alone had two significant Kinsale €1 million+ closings in the past six months or so, one historic in the heart of town (Fisherman's Hall), the other at Garretstown: 'both properties attracted significant overseas interest and also interest from Cork/Dublin,' says Mr O'Sullivan.
The dozen+ Kinsale hinterland property market priced in excess of €1m is about to be added to by two more major listings west of the town along the coast (think Kilbritain/Coolmain area), hints Lisney Sotheby's IR colleague Eileen Neville.
As they are prepped, Ms Neville reports 'renewed interest from both European and US buyers in Kinsale. Early this year, following Trump's election, enquiries surged as Americans explored relocation and investment options. While the introduction of tariffs temporarily dampened momentum, activity has picked up again now that those measures are on hold.
'Kinsale's coastal charm, vibrant community, and relative value compared to US and some European markets continue to attract buyers seeking long-term homes and summer residences,' Ms Neville adds.
Yankee dollar
'US dollar buyers continue to be prolific,' says estate agent Brendan Bowe who opened his third Cork office in Kinsale a few years back just as prices further ratcheted up, and he reports 'a welcome increase in supply over last year, it definitely seems to be on the rise.'
Typically, Q1 of any year is quiet, he says, with preliminary 'scoping' from overseas with activity then getting more real in Q2', but this year 'we saw boots on the ground in Q1, the American buyer has really been quite prolific. Mr Bowe adds there's been an uptick too in European buyers, partly due the ongoing war in Ukraine and Russian aggression spooking those living closer to Eastern Europe.
While the Irish Examiner has tracked the purchases such as those by US billionaire James Berwind who so far has spent over €20m on a handful of Kinsale homes, especially around a Sandycove headland, 'there are fantastic Irish buyers too, from the wider Cork area and beyond, as well as those in the diaspora who have done very well and may be looking to return home.
It's not just big billionaire and business names and the occasional celebrity (local rumours of a certain U2 band/family member buyer have resurfaced this summer!) that are doing the deals.
'There's an extraordinary strength and calibre of buyer now that goes unremarked upon, from company vice-presidents to financial controllers and cloud retailers, we don't realise how well connected these people are in the world of law, finance and venture capital — they have such a global reach and network,' says Brendan Bowe: 'There are opportunities here for them and their families, and of course the ability to remote work has been a game-changer.'
As other local estate agents attest, Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA's) are increasingly common, but this being Ireland, and Kinsale being Kinsale, news of who's bid or bought locally soon leaks out, via a presence in bars and restaurants, or in marinas or at Cork Airport when private jets flit in and out.
Then, there's the Old Head of Kinsale Golf Course when serious old money rubs shoulders with cyber currency kiddos working on their handicaps and social networking: 'The Old Head has been phenomenally good for Kinsale, but then, Kinsale has been very good to the Old Head too,' says Mr Bowe, noting a small number of internation members have bought locally thinking 'it's time to have a pad or a pied a terre in Kinsale ... and some of them don't even play golf it's just 'their club'.'
Kinsale, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan