Bursting with history - West Cork café is a hit with all

MISS O’Neill once dwelt in the building that is now the Skibbereen café, O’Neill Coffee House.

She lived the antiquated shopkeeper life with her quarters upstairs and her shop downstairs. The original lettering, O’Neill, still remains above the door.

The bar counter inside is also the original countertop from where Miss O’Neill would sell her pints of milk, loaves of bread, and penny sweets.

Now, upstairs is a beautiful mix of textures, from the bare concrete wall with a lacquer finish, to freshly painted surfaces, to thin original wooden panelling that was discovered behind some old plasterboard. The building gives the impression of a curated art gallery with boutique style and Irish elegance.

The building dates back to 1890 and the walls in places are solid concrete approximately three feet thick. The ground level floor is essentially bare soil with thick concrete on top. They don’t build them like this anymore.

Occasionally, the creations of local artists, such as paintings and photographs, are on sale which adds to the art gallery feel. When I visited the coffee house, a selection of small paintings of the local countryside were adorned across one of the walls, effortlessly fitting into the aesthetic.

The man behind the aesthetic was Colm Crowley. who went to school with the grandson of Miss O’Neill, and no doubt bought bags of penny sweets off her himself. The communal link between Colm and the building was strong.

Colm was a special needs teacher at one of the local Skibbereen schools and decided to pivot into hospitality, to the surprise of many around him. In 2017, he opened the doors of the café.

I met his brother-in-law, Fabian Ward, who explained: “I’m sure people at the time were like, what are you doing? Going from a pensionable job into a risky business! But he was right and it worked out in the end.”

Colm sadly passed away in March, 2021. After his untimely death the business closed for two months whilst his family decided on what should happen to the café. Ultimately the doors reopened in May, 2021. Anne-Marie and Kevin, Colm’s siblings, took over the running.

“It was a decision motivated by two factors - Colm, and the people of Skibbereen,” Fabian said.

The local community have shown amazing support.

Keeping the doors open meant that staff members kept their jobs.

Abbey McCarthy, who has been responsible for the day to day running of the place, will be returning from maternity leave around October so, until then, Fabian, who is a Donegal native, has been in charge of daily operations.

Fabian met Colm’s sister whilst they were studying together in UCD and eventually relocated to Cork. He decided to switch careers for a while from being a scientist in Cork city to a café manager in Skib’.

“I worked behind bars when I was younger so the mechanics of that are the same, but I wanted to make sure I maintained the high standard of coffee while working here.

“I enjoy the detailed finicky brewing aspects, such as grams in and grams out and timings required for espresso – I just haven’t quite grasped the latte art yet!”

When I visited, the latte art was spot on and it was poured by, Ali, who was serving the punters who were streaming in and out on a sunny summer’s day. Their coffee supplier is West Cork Coffee, who roast out of Innishannon and supply county wide.

O’Neill always have two coffees on the go, and at that time they had a Brazilian and a Colombian. The Colombian is a ‘women’s only’ produced coffee, meaning that the growing phases are female-led.

The coffees change seasonally upon Tony of West Cork Coffee’s recommendations. They pump out caffeine to the people of Skib’ using a La Marzocco Linea PB.

Their menu is embedded in the community with their sweet pastries provided daily by Aileen’s Pastries, with Milis providing savoury pastries of sausage rolls and croissants, and gluten-free goodies coming from Wazzy Woo.

As I was arriving, I saw Gleann Cross rolling in a few crates of non-homogenised milk, which is currently the milk commonly used by many of the best cafés around Cork.

I also tried a little espresso cup of Aronia berries, which are dehydrated and dusted in cacao powder. They’re sweet and delicious and full of anti-oxidants, and went very well as a flat white accompaniment.

O’Neill Coffee House are a much cited favourite café from coffee lovers all over Cork. Their charming premises and high quality product are a favourite among West Corkonians and a must stop for those passing through Skibbereen. They can be found on Townshend Street, Skibbereen, West Cork and @oneillcoffee.