Beara - by Actor Dermot Crowley
an article in the Travel Mail Section of The Mail On Sunday - Jan.19th 2003

"We were sitting in the glory that is MacCarthy's Bar in Castletownbere. "You're going to change my life"," I announced to Deirdre Purcell.
It was early September in 1997, a week into filming her novel Falling for a Dancer, set on the wild and magnificent Beara Peninsula in Ireland's far South West.  I had fallen in love.
It seemed to happen so quickly.  I realised that this was going to be no casual romance.  I had a need in me that had to be satisfied.
I was born in Cork but raised in London, where my work as an actor keeps me.  London's fine, but I didn't want to just go back when the filming was over and never see this place again.
I think it was a combination of things that got me to such a love-sick state.  Fortunately, my wife Suzanne was very understanding.
Deirdre's story, set in the Forties, tells the romantic tale of a city girl who, after a traumatic love life, ends up in a remote part of the Beara Penisula.
Our producer, Peter Norris, had found some wonderful locations, the most spectacular being Claonach, a hidden valley in the mountains, accessible only by four-wheel drive after a heart-stopping journey along the edge of a cliff overlooking Coulagh Bay.
We filmed for almost three months, getting to know the local people, most of whom were in the film or connected with it in some way, and experiencing the grandeur of the West Cork weather in all its unpredictable glory.
Long, lazy days with unimaginably blue dkies stretching way out beyond the coastline, so clear you could see almost all the way to Boston!  Then suddenly great dark clouds bundle up over the bay and furiously charge in from the ocean, set on reminding us what rain feels like.
Walls of water come sweeping in from the Atlantic but just as suddenly they stop and shafts of light hit the sea as if God himself was operating the lighting board.  Then, more often that not, a rainbow appears, so ridiculously perfect that it should be in a film all by itself.
The more I got to know the people, and the more I saw of the countryside, the longer I stood dreaming in front of estate agents' windows, or followed bumpy tracks whenever a 'For Sale' sign beckoned.  But there was always something not quite right.  Then one day, we were due to film a sequemce where the family go to church and the location was a village called Eyeries.  Now, Eyeries is one of the most beautiful villages in all Ireland, indeed it has won the Silver Medal in the Tidy Towns competition for the past two years (and hopes are high for the Gold).
It is set on a hill overlooking Coulagh Bay and all of the houses are painted in glorious colours.  I loved it from the moment I first saw it.  By great good fortune, I med a Batty and Rosarie O'Neill, who had a site for sale in the heart of Eyeries.  It had full planning permission.  I was home.
You'll recall W.B.Yeats, dreaming of a poetic home on Innisfree, planned  'a small cabin to build there, of clay and wattles made'.  I was more practical.  So on the plot now stand two cottages, The Blue House for Suzanne and me and The Pink House as an all-year holiday let.
But I'm not talking as a landlord when I say Beara is one of Ireland's last great 'undiscovered' peninsulas.  Most tourists get as far as Glengarriff, as part of the Ring of Kerry, but few venture on to Adrigole and Castletownbere.  Eyeries is 80 miles from Cork Airport, but what riches the tourists are missing.
As you'd expect, Beara and the surrounding area - Bere Island and Dursey Island, respectively just a ferry and cable car ride away - is heaven for walkers, from those who desire a gentle stroll, to the most serious hill walker,  But Castletownbere, a ten-minute drive from Eyeries, is one of the busiest fishing ports in Ireland, a thriving little town, and the area is well up to the modern tourist's needs.
Unsurprisingly, there are ample opportunities for shore fishing and sea fishing, but there's also a nine-hole golf course at Castletownbere and others, including an 18-holer at Bantry, a respectle drive away.
Within a 20-minute drive you can learn to sail or snorkel at the West Cork Sailing Centre in Adrigole, hire horses and learn to ride courtesy of Eamonn Harrington at Dunboy Riding Stables, or visit the beautiful Dereen Gardens in Lauragh from April to October.

And of course there's Irish history.  Local lore has it that the ruined Dunboy Castle was the inspiration for Daphne du Maurier's Manderley (she also wrote Hungry Hill, which is certainly based locally).  The castle was originally home of the great O'Sullivan Bere clan, rebuilt by the 19th Century owners of copper mines in Allihies and burned down during Ireland's struggle for independence. 
On a more peaceful note there is a beautiful Buddhist retreat house called Dzogchen Beara with various courses and meditation classes.
If you prefer to neditate over a glass of stout and a meal in Castletownbere, you're in the place where it's an art form.  Take your pick from pubs like the Beara Bar, Harrington's, O'Sullivan's, Breen's Lobster Bar (doesn't serve lobsters, of course), The Usual, The Hole in the Wall... The Central ... O'Donoghue's ... Eat in town from cheap to expensive at The Old Bakery to The Mariner, or at restaurants within a few minutes' drive like Inches and Mullins Bar in Ardgroom - book both in advance.
I love the Irish arrangement of MacCarthy's.  Adrienne MacCarthy runs the eponymous establishment in the Square - half grocery shop, half bar, with a cosy snug for romantic trysts.  You can have a pint there after ordering excellent seafood or steaks from Niki's cafe, run by Adrienne's sister two doors away.  Somebody will come and get you when your meal is ready.
As regards Eyeries itself, well what can I say?  My heart still thumps every time I come back and catch sight of it perched on the hill overlooking Coulagh Bay.
I can say that I love the Post Office, run by Joan and Mary.  Fresh milk, delicious bread and scones, and startling brown free-range eggs from the hens running around the village, as well as warm and friendly advice and information.
I love the three pubs, O'Neills, O'Sheas and Causkey's, with its set dancing at weekends, the little supermarket, Evie Murphy's coffee, great cakes and sandwiches in the summertime, Donie Houlihan who keeps me up to date with all the gossip while plying me with the Sunday papers.
I love the way everybody says hello to everybody else.  I love the way all drivers' salute others they pass on the road by raising an index finger.  I love the village cock, which has the good manners to crow only between about 3 and 4.30 in the afternoon.
I love the peace and the quiet and the people.  Ane the sunsets I'll remember for the rest of my life."

Further information on the Beara Peninsula can be viewed at www.bearainfo.com