How Sheep’s Head became a paradise in West Cork for so many authors

The Sheep’s Head Peninsula in West Cork holds a special place in the hearts of many people.

Bantry lies to the north of it, while the village of Durrus is positioned at the very beginning of the peninsula on its southern side. On the peninsula itself, there are two small villages - Ahakista and Kilcrohane.

This small, sparsely-populated geographical outpost has been attracting an eclectic mixture of people in the arts over the years.

No fewer than 11 professional writers live on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula, and that’s not even counting the most famous one - author and television presenter Graham Norton has a home here.

Claudine Keating originally hails from the South of France and has been living on the Sheep’s Head with her husband Patrick - originally from Fermoy - and her two daughters since 2018.

They had been living in England but a combination of her husband’s desire to move home and the uncertainties of Brexit prompted them to find a home in Ireland.

Having initially had their eyes on a house in Ballyporeen in Tipperary, they went to look at a property on the Sheep’s Head and fell in love with a house at Ahakista.

“I used to write when I was living in France but I never did anything about it,” recalls Claudine. “Then, two years after we arrived in Ireland, there was covid.”

During the lockdown, Claudine decided to translate the novel she had written (Le Passé à Venir) into English as The Past To Come - a psychological thriller set in Brittany and Scotland. It was published and now she’s working on the sequel, which she is writing in English.

It’s a challenge that’s made easier, she says, by having three native English speakers in the house.

“The Sheep’s Head is a good place to be a writer, because it’s so quiet. It’s a very lonely job to be a writer but you need the solitude and peace to get the work done and this is a lovely place to do it.”

Kathy Cuddihy is another foreign national with an Irish husband who introduced her to the charms of the Sheep’s Head.

“I’m Canadian and Seán’s Irish and we were living in Saudi Arabia at the time,” says Kathy, who had also spent time living in the U.S. “We were looking for a spot, somewhere in between (the Middle East and U.S) as a base for the kids as they grew up because we thought we’d be moving around a lot more.

“We just saw an ad in Cork, came down to look at the house, and it just spoke to us.

“I suppose many people come here because they came with their spouse or they heard about the place and decided to come on holiday. It’s just a beautiful place to be and it’s very inspiring for any creative person.”

Kathy’s latest novel is Safe Harbours - a crime thriller set in the world of West Cork drug smuggling. She’s currently working on the third book in the series.

Kristin Gleeson is another North American writer who ended up living and working on the Sheep’s Head.

Originally from Philadelphia in the U.S, she has been living in Ireland for over more than 15 years and initially became familiar with the area through her interest in hillwalking.

“It’s not really surprising to hear that there are so many authors living here,” she says, “because there’s something about peninsulas generally. In this area, there’s something inspiring, just about being here.”

English-born guidebook writer Amanda Clarke and her husband used to bring their children to Ireland on holiday when they were little.

“The first place we ever came to was Ahakista. It’s a very long story, but we eventually landed back in Ahakista - not necessarily intending to, so maybe it looked for us. Fate was at work, I think!” said Amanda.

“It’s totally inspiring here. The landscape and seascape are always changing. There are so many layers in the stories of the land that are just begging to be written about and recorded in some way.”

Dominique Müller grew up in Geneva and most of her writings (in French) are still based in the Swiss city, even though she and her American husband Charlie (also a writer) live on the peninsula.

“I had always written but it hadn’t really gotten anywhere,” says Dominique, adding that it was the lockdown period that inspired her to write in a more structured and disciplined manner.

While she was still living in France, the initial success of a novella led to her first novel being published by a small publishing house in France a couple of years later.

“I’ve been writing ever since. I’ve been sticking to a routine of writing in the morning and reading/editing in the afternoon,” said Dominique.

“The Sheep’s Head is really pleasant for that kind of work; that kind of pace.”

She is currently working on another crime novel, but it was her husband, Charlie Daly, who introduced Dominique to the charms of the Sheep’s Head.

“Basically, we had a cottage that was in my family and that was ours to fix up,” says Charlie. “So that’s what we did and it was a decision to organise our lives around what we wanted to do.

In her case, it was writing fiction and in my case, I was a ghostwriter and that was something I went all in on when we moved here.”

Charlie has known West Cork since his childhood and wonders whether the unpredictable weather has a lot to do with the creativity pouring from this peninsula.

“It’s great reading weather and writing weather,” he says. “But there is also this great vibe to the place… There’s such a ruggedness to the natural surroundings here; an almost violent ruggedness… and that feels like a very direct contact with nature that I think is very good for the creative process.”