After years spent travelling and working on superyachts, Irish-South African couple Toni and Fionán Walsh ‘came home’ to Kerry to build a contemporary house that is also a thriving micro-farm
Toni and Fionán Walsh at their home in Co Kerry. Photo: Don MacMonagle
A house that looks like it was plucked from the South African hinterland, with all the easy-breezy elegance of open-plan beach house living, was the initial brief. But this wasn’t South Africa, nor was it inclined to be privy to sun-soaked days for even half of the year. This home is a brand-new build located between Glenbeigh and Cromane in Co Kerry, the perfect middle ground between the coast and mountains.
It may not have the sun-drenched hills and valleys of South Africa but anyone who has ventured along the Kerry coast will know that similar frontier feeling, where Europe seems to square up to the world beyond, where dramatic cliffs and mountains meet the Atlantic and boreen roads lead to hidden beaches.