Glengarriff on a path to progress

Newly-laid accessible coastal footpaths, a popular food truck outdoor market, and recent road resurfacings have combined to set up one of West Cork’s most picturesque settings for a busy summer ahead, writes Conor Power

GLENGARRIFF is currently undergoing a renaissance. It’s one of Ireland’s most picturesque coastal villages to drive into, with the views over the verdant islands in Glengarriff harbour. 

For the past few months, massive work has been undertaken to make it more accessible and create footpaths alongside the stunning coastline, connecting the Beara side of the village area to the ferry port near the Eccles Hotel.

The secret to successful places is never to sit on one’s laurels and right now, the West Cork village is a great example of how one village can make a few significant changes to enhance its already very attractive tourism product.

On a sunny day, looking out to Garinish, or sipping a coffee by the picturesque Blue Pool as seals frolic in the bay, it’s hard not to feel like you are savouring a little bit of West Cork paradise.

The weekend food trucks beside Quill’s have made it a real destination venue – not just for tourists but for West Cork locals from as far as Clonakilty, who love to combine an afternoon drive with a stop-off for waffles, ice-cream, lemonade, pizza, or one of the many more delicious treats on offer in the food market at the carpark, alongside the Blue Pool.

The area also benefits from revamped public toilets right beside the food truck market, which many locals will know, are not a given in other tourism hotspots!

Glengarriff has also benefitted from the national drive to make public pathways more accessible but there appears to be much work behind the scenes too to make the most of what improvement funds are on offer.

‘There’s great development happening in Glengarriff,’ says local TD Christopher O’Sullivan (FF). ‘There are a couple of aspects to it; obviously, you have the accessibility area … a wheelchair user can now go from the pier in Glengarriff all the way over to the Blue Pool. That’s something that wasn’t possible before. It takes in some incredibly scenic views out to Garinish Island and the fact that people of all abilities can now enjoy that is a really welcome improvement.’

The food trucks in the site beside Quill’s make Glengarriff a destination venue for tourists and locals alike. (Photo: courtesy of the Happy Camper Waffles & Ice Cream)

He also noted that traffic-calming elements have been introduced. The footpaths are wider, too, although this was something that was raised by local councillors who felt they were extended to the detriment of large vehicles trying to negotiate them.

‘Sometimes that’s controversial because it impacts car parking, but you have quite a lot of heavy-goods vehicles going through Glengarriff and it’s hoped that this would serve to slow down that traffic,’ Deputy O’Sullivan said. ‘Traffic speeding through the village has been a big issue so it’s hoped that that will be alleviated.’

However, many of those working on the ground to improve the quality of life in the village feel much of the decision-making (even welcome decisions), decided elsewhere, without local input.

‘The paths are going as far out as the golf course but they did become necessary because the road has become so dangerous,’ said Glengarriff hotelier Donal Deasy of Casey’s Hotel. ‘It wasn’t anything that anyone went looking for – it just happened.’

‘It’s not all roses,’ admitted Deputy O’Sullivan. 

‘There have been minor negative consequences too. For example, I know that the ferry operators aren’t happy with the loss of parking spaces and that has created issues in terms of facilitating the large coaches bringing vast amounts of people down to Glengarriff. That’s something we’ll have to tease out and I’m working with Cork County Council to improve.’

One of the areas where years of campaigning had been done in Glengarriff was to get a footpath laid from the village out the Kenmare Road as far as the Nature Reserve – a very popular walking and picnic area. 

‘Our greatest gripe about it all is that the one place where we could have done with a footpath is out the Kenmare Road to the Nature Reserve,’ says Donal Deasy. 

‘They went out the Castletownbere Road with a footpath as wide as a landing strip, but it’s the Kenmare Road that most people would look to go out walking on … it’s that main road (N71) that we’ve been approaching them about for the last 15 years – especially for the children who would be going home to the Glen area from school. That’s what we went after from day one but they have ended up doing everything but that road, which is so important for visitors and locals alike.’

Nevertheles the work undertaken inside the gates of the nature reserve has been welcomed. ‘Within the Nature Reserve, they’ve put in tarmacadamed pathways, making it a huge success in making it accessible for people who wouldn’t have been able to walk on the paths that were there.’

More progress is being made behind the scenes, too, with funding allocated to the project from the Ministry for Rural and Community Development, according to Deputy O’Sullivan.

‘Under the Rural Regeneration Scheme, I think, there has been €500,000 allocated towards the N71 footpath,’ noted Deputy O’Sullivan. 

‘That was to provide walking and cycling access out as far as the Glengarriff Nature Reserve. That money is still there – it has been ringfenced as far as I’m concerned. And I’ll certainly do everything I can from my side to ensure that that’s provided because the Nature Reserve is such a stunning location. 

‘It would be a game-changer to connect it to the village.’

STILL WAITING FOR MAUREEN

ONE area where there has been frustratingly little progress is that of the proposed statue of the late Maureen O’Hara. 

The project to create a permanent likeness of the legendary actress and former long-time resident of Glengarriff has hit a number of speed bumps.

The original statue commission didn’t go ahead after the artist passed on the opportunity to finish it, for personal reasons. 

The commission was passed to another very experienced sculptor but it was removed just a few days after its installation following comments about the likeness on social media. 

Even though the blank space speaks of non-action, behind the scenes, efforts to secure a statue of Maureen O’Hara are continuing apace, according to local sources involved in the Glengarriff Tidy Towns Committee. 

As with the rest of Glengarriff – it’s a case of ‘watch this space’…!