A CLONAKILTY landmark site steeped in history is on the market for €550,000.

Locals hope Croppy Field at Scartagh, near the roundabout at Scally’s SuperValu, will get a new lease of life after going up for sale.   

The 0.95 acre site has the potential to become a mixed-used development with retail, commercial or residential use, Clonakilty-based estate agent Hodnett Forde has said.

The designated brownfield site was once used as a burial ground for rebel casualties of the 1798 rebellion, and more recently as a festival, concert and fun fair location, also as a caravan site.

It borders the N71 and Wolfe Tone Street, named after the leader of the United Irishmen Rebellion.

Signwriter and local historian Tomás Tuipéar said he hopes any future developer would keep the name Croppy Field to highlight its history.

‘It would be wonderful to see it developed. The town needs volume, it needs people and footfall,’ said Tomás.

He said Croppy Field showed up as a pond on earlier maps but it became a field when the land and road layout was changed nearby. Its name comes from the nickname ‘Croppy’ used in the 18th century to describe the cropped hair worn by Irish nationalists.

‘It was a burial site for the bodies of the slain in the 1798 rebellion just like Croppies’ Acre in Dublin. It’s a sacred place,’ said Tomás.

He added: ‘In more recent times, the field was a focal point for the town where people gathered and a marquee was set up in the summer months. It was always a prominent place and much-used. I remember seeing Planxty play there at the Festival of West Cork when they were starting out.’

Andy Donoghue, of Hodnett Forde, is selling Croppy Field on behalf of a local business family and says it is one of the last remaining brownfield sites in the town centre.

‘Given the council’s pattern of planning permission, it’s likely that it would be available for a mix of retail units and residential use overhead,’ he said.

‘The site gives the opportunity to make a real statement at the entrance to the town coming from Cork city. There has been quite a lot of interest and we have had a lot of developers and speculators looking at it.’

More recently, food trucks were located at Croppy Field. It is close to the Waterfront building, built on the site of the former Clonakilty GAA ground, and one of Clonakilty town centre’s prominent mixed-use developments.

‘Croppy Field is one of the last few remaining brownfield sites in town and it would be phenomenal to see it developed into something attractive. Clonakilty is an expanding town and needs amenities, something to benefit the locals,’ said Andy Donoghue, of Hodnett Forde.