Sixty years in Garryvoe will never be forgotten, say the next generation family selling up their beloved beach-facing East Cork home, recalling halcyon childhood idylls of swims, cycles, the merries, ‘hops...plus the excitement of visits of punk legend Johnny Rotten of Sex Pistols fame in the 1970s, visiting his mother’s summer home, an old farmhouse, by the beach.

Johnny Rotten (aka John Lydon)’s mother Eileen Barry from Carrigrohane had emigrated to London in the impoverished 1950s, but had access to an old farmhouse in coastal east Cork.

Coincidentally, that was the similar background of the couple who built this RohFab bungalow by Garryvoe’s beach, and who had similarly emigrated to England from Cork in the ’50s.

“One Sunday during 1966, our parents, Eileen and Dick Doyle were home on holidays from London, where they had both emigrated to from Aghada and Cloyne some 10 years before,” recalls daughter Patsey.

“By then, they had four children, and their interest was sparked in a site for sale in what we now call ‘Main Street’, Garryvoe, and after a previous summer’s visit also they were keen to find a holiday home in this beautiful location.”

The young family bought the sea-facing site for holidays and, shortly after and “influenced by the changes orchestrated by Seán Lemass and TK Whittaker in modernising Ireland, they made the big decision to move back to try this new Ireland in August 1969,” Patsey reveals. “Their decision was far-seeing, as what resulted was a wonderful family life in a wonderful place , albeit sadly marked by the unexpected passing of our father in 1970.”

Along with year-round life by the beach, Swingball and ‘hops’ in the nearby caravan park “our lives were enriched by the wonderful and often entertaining and supportive neighbours and the nearby Shanagarry National School, church and community organisations. We grew up near our relations; we worked in the shops, and the Garryvoe hotel. We made great friends there, learned so much, and communions, confirmations, and weddings were launched from our home.”

Like seasonal swallows and sand-martins, Patsey adds “we also shared in the excitement of the annual arrival back of summer visitors to the caravan parks and houses. Many of these families have returned and integrated into the new Garryvoe, where the ‘Main Street’ has been transformed in recent years by people who love this place.”

This home was worked on again in 1980 and 2019, but the Doyles’ long tenure is due to end as the bungalow is to be sold.

Listed with Midleton estate agent Kyle Kennedy, with a €425,000 AMV, it’s in very well kept order, is E1 rated, and is as ideal as a holiday base as a full-time residence. It’s on a 0.6 acre site with seaside friendly planting.

“The time has come to reluctantly close our family curtain in Garryvoe,” says Patsey Doyle, adding their own generation also featured emigration in the 1990s, and later returns to Cork shores.

“We will always be part of this wonderful place to live. We will always visit, 60 years in Garryvoe will never be forgotten.”