‘Hidden gem' of a tiny beach near Barleycove unearthed once more

By Paddy Mulchrone

A HIDDEN gem among West Cork’s finest holiday beaches is shining bright again, following major Council clearance work.

Access to Chimney Cove, next to Barleycove Beach at Mizen Head, has been reinstated in time for the tourist season.

A pathway to the tiny beach has long been overgrown and locked in an access battle which resulted in barbed wire being strung across the path.

Cork County Council first cleared obstructions in July last year, then promised to assess what work needed to be done. Now holidaymakers have wide, clear access to the beach, along a newly cleared path and reinstated wooden steps leading down to the beach. The first people to walk down to the sands last week, a couple visiting from Meath, said they were ‘delighted’ with the new path. They were given a guided tour by contractors removing the final steel barriers to re-open Chimney Cove, following a week’s work with earth clearing machinery.

Another visitor, mother-of-two Fiona Barrett, who visits regularly from Cheshire, England, said she was very impressed: ‘It’s a wide and gentle slope and the steps are secure. The old path had become steep and overgrown. It’s a wonderful job,’ she said.

The new path is also a boost for visiting fishermen who regularly use the rocks stretching out into Barleycove.

A nearby resident said on Facebook: ‘There have been so many dramas in the past few years, it’s great to say they are only memories from this day on.’