In the 60s and 70s a flourishing shell-fish factory across the harbour on Rock Island provided jobs for local people and lobster, shrimp and crab to the  UK and the Continent.  Today only three fishermen still make a living out of the sea although the summer sees enthusiastic amateurs heading out past the Alderman rock in search of the “silver darlings”.

Crookhaven is a quiet and beguiling village given up mostly to tourism. The area is as beautiful and unspoiled as it was 400 years ago, with spectacular beaches and wild, craggy scenery.  Many people from Cork city, Dublin, the North and further afield own holiday homes here and in the summer months, the population is boosted 10-fold.

The magic of the area attracts people from all over the world who come for a visit and decide to put down roots.  Pop into one of the pubs in the summer and you might hear French being spoken, or German, Russian, Swedish, Thai and of course Irish.

Three pubs, two restaurants, a pizza oven and a “chipper” feed the hungry hoards flocking to the stunning beaches.  Our little village has three shops – O’Sullivan’s sells basic provisions, Crookhaven Art Studio is where you can buy beautiful mementos of your visit – hoodies, t-shirts, bags and beautiful framed photographs and a bespoke goldsmith makes and sells unique jewelry.

Barleycove, a mile outside the village, always features in lists of the best beaches in Ireland and a few miles further on, Mizen Head, with another famous lighthouse is a tourists’ honeypot.  In 1905 Italian electrical engineer Guglielmo Marconi established one of three bases in the area in his mission to send telegraphic messages across the Atlantic.  

One of his assistants, a young Arthur Nottage, loved the village so much that he put down roots here and one of the three pubs still bears his name.

Another Marconi centre was established up Brow Head after an earlier site – Marconi House, now a guest-house, proved unsuitable. With its deserted “Famine Village” and empty buildings left by the Marconi teams, ‘The Brow’ boasts spectacular views of Barleycove one way and Crookhaven the other.

Crookhaven is the perfect place for families to visit where children feel free and safe and their parents enjoy a relaxed escape from the burdens of city life.  The award-winning Crookhaven Harbour Sailing Club on the corner of our village keeps youngsters occupied during June and July and imbues them with skills that last a lifetime.

The Welcome Back sign on the gable of the Crookhaven Sailing Club is there for a reason.  Once you’ve been here, you will always want to come back!