Things may not be as they a-pier at Schull property steeped in local trade

THIS building, on the Pier Road in West Cork’s Schull, could hardly be any more stepped in local lore and life if it had its foundations in the harbour, and a view of the Fastnet lighthouse from its two front doors.

Set on the slope down to the seasonally busy pier from Schull’s Main Street, it was a former shop for decades, owned by the O’Regan family who were involved in fishing, with numerous trawlers under their hands over generations.

It was an early adaptor to a supermarket model (as a small Mace), and bought and sold many unexpected things, possible the odd anchor, definitely the ubiquitous needles, and many a time the O’Regan family cashed cheques too for their fellow trawler owners, and for their crews.

Apart from this shop, the family owned and operated boats, still own a bar across the road (currently being refitted), had a lorry for deliveries and a coal business, plus a fish and chip shop — a real example of ‘vertical integration,’ from ocean bed to beer batter, writ local.

But, the time has come to cash in some chips, albeit in small fry stakes, with the sale of this former shop and residential premises.

Estate agent Niamh Moloney of Sherry FitzGerald O’Neill is selling for a retired member of the current family generation, at a time of changing fortunes for Schull.

Back in the day, or the heyday, Schull would have been a base for a dozen or more trawlers, but now just one or two are left as regulars to ply their way up and down Roaring Water Bay, around the islands, out past Cape Clear and out into the Atlantic, with the more significant fleets at Union Hall to the east, or Castletownbere to the west.

In their stead, yachts and dinghies and RIBS crowd the harbour, and the pier and pontoons for many months of the year, while the coastal village also undergoes its own sea-change on the retail, craft, food and bar front

SFON’s Ms Moloney describes this former shop as being “in an exceptional location in the heart of the popular town of Schull and adjacent to the opportunities that Schull Harbour offers,” and notes it has some 130 sq m/1,400sq ft overall, with two entrances, several shop rooms/other uses and overhead living quarters, with three bedrooms.

It needs renovations, and has lots of road frontage, but no rear private outdoor space. Early interest is coming from those who’d have a business here, who’d invest in it to rent, or do it up as a private home of character.

VERDICT: Could be quite the catch….