The Bay House. Fabulous water views - spacious and stylish Clonakilty cottage
** Please message for short stays as rates can vary **
Relax in this beautifully restored 19th century stone cottage with magnificent views of Clonakilty Bay from EVERY room. Set in private grounds on Ireland's incredible Wild Atlantic Way and surrounded by fields of horses - it's a short stroll from Ireland's Best Beach* and the bustling, award-winning Clonakilty town with pubs and restaurants.
Situated in an Area of Special Protection on Clonakilty's golden mile, The Bay House is the perfect spot from which to explore West Cork and the beauty of Ireland.
Just perfect for families to spread out in or share with friends.
It has five stylish and spacious bedrooms and four bathrooms (3 ensuite).
Every room has a water view - even the utility! The main bedroom has a glass balcony with spectacular views across the inner harbour. Another boasts triple aspect windows. There's also a ground floor bedroom with ensuite.
Relax in two lovely reception rooms - one by the double sided log burner and another with floor to ceiling windows to take in the view.
Enjoy meals by the fire in the feature dining room looking up to a double height gallery space. The kitchen is fully equipped with double oven, microwave, American-style fridge-freezer and coffee maker. There's also a utility area with washing machine, tumble dryer and downstairs toilet.
Warm underfloor heating throughout downstairs, radiators upstairs, plus the cosy double log burner.
Outside there is a large patio with table and chairs for alfresco dining and an expansive lawn area. There is a swing and hammock.
*NB: We would advise that very young children are supervised in the grounds.
Enjoy birdwatching with the colourful characters that visit the bay right in front of you.
Private, off-road parking.
Free Wi-Fi for our guests.
The Bay House is the perfect place to spend long, lazy days by the fire gazing out to sea, but if you can tear yourself away there's so much to do. We're just a twenty minute walk from the fabulous Blue Flag Inchydoney Beach with its own surf school offering a holiday club for the children (and the big kid in you!).
Clonakilty town is only a mile away with a host of cafes, restaurants and bars including the famous De Barras Folk Club with live music most nights.
Clonakilty was awarded Ireland's Tidiest Small Town 2017 and not for the first time!
There are lovely shops, boutiques and art galleries in which to browse.
Why not take up horse riding at the equestrian centre just a stone's throw away or tee-off at two nearby golf courses each with stunning views?
The children will love the model railway village with its own Choo Choo land train to 'Toot Toot' them around the town and down to the beach.
Watersport centres are close by offering kayaking and the latest craze - stand up paddle boarding. Or if you have your own, you can paddle board and kayak at high tide in the bay.
Clonakilty is the first town in Ireland to offer its own rent-a-bike scheme. Explore 9 beaches within 8 miles!
Situated in a 'Special Protection Area' and on Ireland's charismatic 'Wild Atlantic Way', The Bay House is the perfect spot from which to explore West Cork and the beauty of Ireland.
*Inchydoney was voted Ireland's Best Beach by TripAdvisor holidaymakers for the fifth year running and is regularly in the top ten best beaches in Ireland.
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Recommend very young children supervised in garden
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Events
No events allowed
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Pets
No pets allowed
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Smoking
Smoking is not permitted
COVID 19 - It is important that you please do NOT make a Reservation Request without enquiring first (Ask a Question) during this time. Many thanks!
We have a strict 10 guest maximum (9 adults) and we can't allow any parties/gatherings.
To secure the booking, please return our signed Booking Form within 48 hours. Thank you.
Important information
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited
Host has indicated that there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property
Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher and a deadlock
We should mention
This property does not have any lifts
A car is recommended for transport to and from this property
About the area
Clonakilty
Located in Clonakilty, this holiday home is in a rural area and on the waterfront. Michael Collins House and Temblebryan Stone Circle are local landmarks, and some of the area's attractions include Smugglers Maze and Rosscarbery Golf and Adventure Centre. Sailing and surfing/body boarding offer great chances to get out on the surrounding water, or you can seek out an adventure with hiking/biking trails and cycling nearby.
West Cork Model Railway Village - 16 min walk - 1.4 km
Inchydoney Island Beach - 4 min drive - 2.1 km
Clonakilty Distillery - 4 min drive - 1.5 km
West Cork Surf School - 4 min drive - 2.5 km
Michael Collins House - 5 min drive - 1.8 km
Getting around
Cork Airport (ORK) - 55 min drive
Restaurants
O'Donovan's Hotel and Restaurant - 4 min drive
Monk's Lane - 13 min drive
de Barra - 3 min drive
Mick Finns - 4 min drive
Ó Scanaill - 3 min drive
Frequently asked questions
Is The Bay House. Fabulous water views - spacious and stylish Clonakilty cottage pet-friendly?
No, pets are not allowed at this property.
How much does it cost to stay at The Bay House. Fabulous water views - spacious and stylish Clonakilty cottage ?
As of 31 Mar 2026, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at The Bay House. Fabulous water views - spacious and stylish Clonakilty cottage on 28 Apr 2026 start from AU$834, including taxes and fees. This price is based on the lowest nightly price found in the last 24 hours for stays in the next 30 days. Prices are subject to change. Choose your dates for more accurate prices.
How much is parking at The Bay House. Fabulous water views - spacious and stylish Clonakilty cottage ?
On-site parking is available at the property.
What time is check-in at The Bay House. Fabulous water views - spacious and stylish Clonakilty cottage ?
Check-in begins at 4:00 PM.
What time is check-out at The Bay House. Fabulous water views - spacious and stylish Clonakilty cottage ?
Checkout is at 10:00 AM.
Where is The Bay House. Fabulous water views - spacious and stylish Clonakilty cottage located?
This family-friendly Clonakilty holiday home is located on the waterfront, within 1 mi (2 km) of West Cork Model Railway Village, Michael Collins House and Clonakilty Distillery. Inchydoney Island Beach and Clonakilty Blackpudding Visitor Centre are also within 2 miles (3 km).
Reviews
9.8
Exceptional
Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.
The house and property were beautiful. House was clean and had evrything my family needed. There are plenty of grocery stores nearby as well. Clonakilty is an amazing area with lots to do.
Lovely house in a lovely setting. Well equipped, very clean and with lots of space. Clonakilty is within walking distance and has loads of good shops and pubs (with music). The surrounding countryside is beautiful and the coastline is stupendous with lovely beaches (e.g. Inchydoney and Long strand) and Mizen Head is well worth the trip. Weather was fantastic - which unfortunately meant there was no surf! We can strongly recommend going whale watching from Courtmacsherry - didn't see any whales but lots of dolphins and a great excursion. Overall a great holiday in a lovely house.
Loved our stay at THE BAY HOUSE it was the most comfortable place I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. The position and cleanliness were second to none. I can not recommend this place enough and only 45 min drive from Cork Airport.
Clonakilty it a great town with an array of amazing individual shops and restaurants. There is a Lidl supermarket just a mile and half from the property so if run short of anything it’s soon sorted. Will definitely be returning.
Pat F.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2019
Verified
10/10 Excellent
Hannah S.
5 Mar 2019
Tranquil setting, very clean and comfortable. Beautifully appointed house.
Really well renovated. Very comfortable place to stay. Perfect for a big group of people. Plenty of spaces to sit and socialise. Extremely clean. Kitchen was very well stocked. In a great location near the beach and close to town. We had a great time.
Hannah S.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2019
Verified
10/10 Excellent
Barbara Walsh
5 Sept 2018
The Bay House is a beautiful home, very well furnished and fitted out. Very comfortable and clean.
We had a wonderful holiday in early August in the Bay House. The house had everything we needed and is suited to all ages. As the weather was good we ate outside most evenings using the patio and BBQ. It is a kilometre from Clonakilty and this allowed us to walk to shops and restaurants. The view from the property is amazing, especially when the sun was shining and the tide was in. We would highly recommend this property and hope to return to it next summer.
Barbara Walsh
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2018
Verified
10/10 Excellent
Vanwynsberghe L.
9 Aug 2018
Vakantie in the bay house in Clonakilty Ierland
Schitterende vakantie gehad in The Bay House in Clonakilty. Heel mooi huis met mooie tuin en zicht op de baai. Aanrader !!!!!!!!!!!
Vanwynsberghe L.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2018
Verified
10/10 Excellent
Lorraine C.
3 Apr 2018
Beautiful house in a beautiful and peaceful location,perfect for our stay,will definitely stay again
Would recommend anyone to stay here,perfect for groups,family and adults,house and location perfect no matter what the occasion....everything catered for-absolutely wonderful stay.
Lorraine C.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2018
Archival
10/10 Excellent
Claire C.
14 Sept 2017
Fabulous place to stay!
We had a fantastic holiday here. It really is a beautiful place. The house itself a lovely old stone cottage which has been modernised and we really enjoyed spending time "at home". We couldn't fault the cleanliness and we were all very happy with our bedrooms, which were all ensuites. The location is unbeatable. The house looks out over the lawn onto the bay and it so peaceful and relaxing. The town of Clonakilty is easily walkable (or it was very easy to get a taxi) we found several excellent places to eat out. The Farm restaurant was a favourite. We also went across the water to Ring as there is a fantastic fish restaurant there which was recommended to us. We took lots of beach walks and there is a pub right on the beach too for lunch. We hired a car and had a great time driving further west along the Wild Atlantic Way to Baltimore, Kinsale and Schull. We highly recommend a stay here. The house, location and area ticks all the boxes. We will definitely be returning.
Claire C.
Archival
10/10 Excellent
Karl O.
3 Jan 2017
Wow what a jewel
This house is an amazing place to stay
We recently stayed for the Christmas break and found it an enchanting piece of paradise turcked away just outside clonakilty
The house is very spacious warm and modern and had a great Seaview aspect
It is very private and only about a kilometre to a very vibrant Clonakilty town
I would highly recommend staying here
At any time of year
Karl O.
Archival
10/10 Excellent
Eve R.
4 Oct 2016
Gem Of A House
This is the second time we have stayed at this gem of a house. It is the perfect holiday location. House is beautiful. Wonderful views. Everything you need to hand. We stayed here last Summer and couldn't wait to come back. So relaxing looking at the bay and the horses. Clonakilty and Inchydonny are fantastic. Will be back soon.
Eve R.
Archival
10/10 Excellent
Sophie R.
13 Sept 2016
Wonderful house and location
We had a wonderful time at The Bay House. The house itself was perfect with everything we could have needed. Really nicely decorated and a fantastic location. We loved looking out over the bay as we had our morning coffee. This is definitely top of our list of places to stay in Ireland. Clonakilty is a great little town. Lots to do and very friendly. Look forward to returning again sometime.
Sophie R.
Archival
6/10 Okay
Kit p.
7 Sept 2016
Lovely house, but needs some tlc
This is a lovely house in a good location, near wonderful Clonakilty. We'd very much like to return here for future holidays. BUT the house and garden needs some attention and there are other areas which didn't live up to billing.
Positives: It was well cleaned on arrival. Great situation over the bay. Nice welcome pack of coffee, wine and chocolate. Our daughter LOVED the swing.
Negatives:
1. The first thing we saw was an unkempt lawn and tatty beds with weeds. The bed by the patio had one sorry hydrangea and a few unidentifiable dead things. Either plant up the bed properly or get rid of it! Holly trees by the house needed a prune (you had to duck under one on the path into the house). A real disappointment given the images of well kept landscaping in the photo.The owners did arrange for the lawn to be cut - they said it was cut fortnightly - but it is cut at very high setting so does need to be done weekly.
2. Two of the bedrooms had issues. The mattress in the main bedroom needs to be replaced immediately. It's totally worn out and very uncomfortable. The downstairs bedroom smells of damp. The wallpaper is coming off behind the bed. As a bedroom, it's not fit for use. Luckily none of us were in it.
3. The wooden kitchen worksurface behind the sink is mouldy and the sink leaks underneath.
4. Hardly any towels were provided. Each bathroom only contained one large towel and a hand towel. No way near enough.
Like I say, we'd very much like to come back to the house but would need assurance that all these niggles were taken care of beforehand.
Kit p.
Response from VrboOwner on 1 Apr 2020
We are pleased that you enjoyed The Bay House and its wonderful location, found it clean and tidy and would like to return to the house again.
However, I am very surprised and saddened by your negative comments, especially as I spoke to you during your stay and asked you if everything was okay. You did not mention any concerns at all, other than to say you were a professional gardener and were unhappy with the lawn.
Our grounds are maintained every 10 days or so by a landscape gardener. However, as I explained to you, we discovered there was an unfortunate mix up when he went on holiday and unwittingly left us off the list for the gardener who was acting as cover. We are very sorry about this and as soon as we realised there was a problem we had the lawn cut.
We have been practically fully booked since Easter and I personally make a point of following up every booking and the response from guests has been glowing.
The comfort of our guests is very important to us. You are the first to complain that the master bed was uncomfortable. I’m afraid we do not agree the mattress is worn out. I like a firm mattress and sleep very well on it. You were clearly not happy though, so we have arranged to bring several friends along to try it out (fully clothed!) and canvass opinion. In three years we have never had any issues or complaints about the downstairs bedroom. A piece of the wallpaper has begun to come away at the bottom behind the bed as it was never really stuck down properly, as the decorator was low on paste. We will attend to this and, as we are concerned that this is our first negative feedback, we will make a thorough check again of all the bedrooms.
We would have happily dropped off more towels had you said at the time, but I’m very sorry there wasn’t enough left for you and that shouldn’t have been the case.
There was an unexpected leak under the smaller kitchen sink a couple of weeks ago which we had fixed immediately. On changeover day when you departed, we saw it was leaking again and had it repaired before the next guests arrived. I apologise that it was leaking, but these things do sometimes happen and we would have had it fixed during your stay had you told us.
We are obviously very disappointed with your review as we try so hard to make sure our guests have a fabulous time. We get many repeat bookings and I’m glad you say you would like to stay at The Bay House again.
Archival
10/10 Excellent
M S.
8 Aug 2016
Very special house
This is a beautiful house in a lovely spot. We really enjoyed our time here and were very sad to leave. We found it a great base to explore West Cork and the house is really convenient for both Clonakilty and the beach. Very special and would highly recommend.
M S.
Archival
10/10 Excellent
T G.
9 Jan 2016
Magical New Year!
We stayed at The Bay House for New Year and had the most magical time. It was perfect to be able to get together with our extended family and being by the sea was a dream. We enjoyed a fabulous lamb feast on the eve, which we bought in Scully's, one of the many butchers in the town (he even threw in a bag of free sausages for the children!) New Year's Day was wet and windy, but we still managed a lovely walk with the children to see in the New Year. They loved all the horses. Then it was back to the beautiful house, adults enjoying a hot toddy by the fire while the children played a few board games. The next day the sun came out and Grandpa organised a treasure hunt on the beach for the little ones. We spent our days walking into lovely Clonakilty to our favourite cafes - Aris and Fig and Olive and a few nights out in Scannells - I thoroughly recommend this pub although there are LOADS to choose from! If you don't fancy cooking, there are lots of restaurants or places to get takeaways - the Thai Baan Sujittra is just amazing. It was so lovely to start the New Year with all of us together - three generations. The house is really spacious, with lots of ensuites, and you can't beat waking up to that view. I could go on and on...The best New Year's ever! Thank you!
T G.
Archival
10/10 Excellent
Brendan B.
5 Aug 2015
Beautiful West Cork
The Bay House is a fantastic place to stay and a great base for a holiday adventure in West Cork. The house itself is fantastic, with a location and views to match. We stayed there as two families and there was ample room for both shared time and privacy. Clonakilty is within walking distance of the house, an excellent small town which is clean and friendly, with great little bars and shops. Proximity to Inchydoney beach is a real advantage In the surrounding area, Baltimore, Glandore and Union Hall are all places worth a visit. See you soon in West Cork
Brendan B.
Archival
10/10 Excellent
Ann Loughridge L.
24 July 2015
Fabulous holiday retreat
We spent one week at this beautiful house. It is in a most breathtaking location and extremely convenient to Inchydoney beach and the beautiful town of Clonakilty. The house is presented to an extremely high standard with everything you need for an enjoyable stay. There is plenty of room to relax and the numerous bathrooms and large bedrooms ensure that everyone has their own space and privacy. The garden area to the front is perfect for families and the views of the bay are outstanding. We hope to return next year!
Ann Loughridge L.
Archival
10/10 Excellent
Eve R.
21 June 2015
Fantastic!
We had a fabulous holiday at The Bay House. It really is a beautiful house. The view makes you switch off and feel like you are really away from it all. We stayed with our two children and our best friends with their two and we had a fantastic time. It was great having so many bathrooms! We loved that we were so close to the beach and Clonakilty is a really clean and tidy little town with lots of bars and cafes and shops. We particularly loved the Michelle Mitton Gallery - we brought back some lovely gifts. We will definitely be back to stay at The Bay House again. Thank you!!
Mrs S Bun