The Southern Star most-read of 2020

In a year dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, it's no surprise to see our most read stories featuring Coronavirus in prominent positions.

That being said it was a story about a Hollywood superstar that topped our list of the most-read stories of a year many would like to forget.

To read the stories mentioned below simply click the headlines.

1. Hollywood star Saoirse buys a West Cork home

Over 50,000 people clicked on to southernstar.ie in October to find out where Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan had purchased her dream West Cork home.

Saoirse, who has holidayed here on several occasions with her mum Monica, was said to be especially taken with the areas of Ballydehob and Schull.

What is believed to be Saoirse’s new Schull home is understood to have been on the market previously for almost €800,000 but was sold off-market.

The cosy interior of what’s believed to be Saoirse Ronan’s new home.

2. BREAKING: West Cork pub found with customers on premises

When the Government announced a raft of restrictions in March to curb the spread of Covid-19, the closure of pubs quickly became one of the biggest talking points.

During routine inspections of around 30 premises across the region, Gardaí discovered one pub sill operating and serving pints to customers.

Chief Supt Con Cadogan told The Southern Star that: 'We're disappointed that we had one detection because we are all in this together and if everyone abides by it the quicker we do this the quicker we get out of this situation.'

Little did we know that 10 months later we'd still be craving a creamy pint of stout from our much missed local bars.

3. LIVE: Election 2020

It would have been a brave man who bet against a General Election being the biggest story of the year when it got underway in February but after the year that was it's all but been forgotten.

Liveblogs have become a staple of The Southern Star's online coverage in recent years and our rolling election blog, which ran over several days, really caught the imagination of the West Cork public with over 27,000 of you tuning in for all the latest count, polling and results news.

In the end it was Michael Collins (Ind), Christopher O'Sullivan (FF) & Holly Cairns (SD) who claimed the three Cork South West seats on offer.

4. Campervans anger Skibb shoppers

This is a story that could only have happened in 2020.

With locals on edge throughout the summer about tourists setting up camp in West Cork and potentially increasing the spread of Covid-19, three campervans taking up much needed spaces in Skibbereen became the target of local ire in August.

‘Of course we welcome visitors to Skibbereen', said local Fine Gael Councillor Karen Coakley.

'But we need to ensure that parking spaces are reserved for the purpose for which they were intended. Now more than ever, we need to look after our local traders, and careless parking, such as this, takes up valuable space for shoppers who need to be mindful of social distancing.’

5. Covid-19 case confirmed in Bantry

And just like that West Cork had it's first confirmed case of the virus that has caused so much heartbreak, stress and disruption.

On March 12, Marino Medical Centre on Wolfe Tone Square posted on their Facebook page that 'as Bantry has its first confirmed Covid-19 case Marino Medical welcomes the announcement to close schools, créches and universities.'

This was the first confirmed case in West Cork and came following the Government's announcement earlier that day that schools, colleges and créches would close until March 29th as part of new measures to interrupt the transmission of  Covid-19.