Bay View House

Bay View House

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Bay View House is an Exclusive Luxury Holiday Rental Home, located on Clare Island off the coast of Westport and on the world famous Wild Atlantic Way. This is a beautiful area with some of the most breath-taking scenery in Ireland. Bay View House is a historic building dating back to 1870s. It sits atop a small cliff face overlooking the Wild Atlantic and the majesty of Croagh Patrick. The large home offers guests accommodation in a haven of peace and tranquillity. This charming house is within 300m of the island's main harbour and sandy blue flag beach, over which the island's famous Pirate Queen, Grace O'Malley's castle presides. Bay View House offers guests an opportunity to rent a traditional Irish Bar as part of their accommodation exclusively for their own use and entertainment. Sailor's Bar is beautifully decorated in Clare Island Whiskey and coastal themes and offers an amazing space for family reunions and small celebrations.

History

The original house was built in 1870 by the McDonnells of Newport House as a summer retreat on the island. The McDonnells were the landlords of Clare Island until the Congested District Board bought the island from them in 1895 giving each resident a section of land and dwelling as their own. The house was then used by the RIC as a barracks until Irish Independence in 1919/1920. The McCabe family then owned the house until 1962.

In 1964 after a two-year renovation, Chris O'Grady opened a small ten bedroom hotel which he ran with his wife Kay until 1999. Their son Carl took over the hotel and has now developed the house to what you can expect to see today. The original section of the house is clearly defined by the almost one metre thick stone walls and raked window reveals. Two of the original fireplaces adorn the bar snug and The Whiskey Lounge area. The original stone walls have been carefully uncovered and restored in parts of the building leading you back to times of old.

The House

The Bay View House is like no other you will find. Within the house and available to use by the guests include a country-style kitchen with two large windows bringing in lots of natural light and a very spacious dining room. The kitchen boasts six-ring gas cooker and two electric ovens, microwave and large double door fridge and separate freezer. It also has a large dishwasher and plenty of storage for groceries and supplies. At the front of the house just in front of the private bar you will find a covered terrace which comes complete with comfortable seating, hammocks, BBQ, sound system and TV and most importantly breath-taking panoramic views of Clew Bay.

Sailor's Bar & Entertainment space is themed in Clare Island Whiskey and seaside décor with photographs depicting the island history. The main features of this space include a standard size pool table, Games area, Wi-Fi, two TVs and an inhouse sound system with connectivity for Spotify, YouTube etc. For those who still need to keep touch with the office there is also a business centre with desktop computer and a printing system complete with web cam for those all important zoom meetings. The Whiskey Lounge takes in the most iconic views across Clew Bay. Styled with Chesterfield cigar couches, Queen Anne chairs and one of the original fireplaces this exceptional space offers peace and tranquillity. Lastly, but by no means least the Bay View House also has its own six person sauna & seaweed bath which is available to guests.

The Bedrooms

All our bedrooms are individually styled by Monika Waldron of Studio One interiors. Monika enjoyed working on this project mixing and matching until she found a look and feel that represented the island in all its seasons. All the bedrooms are en-suite. There are six rooms on the first floor and one room on the ground floor which is suitable for guests with reduced mobility.

Both the Caher Island Suite & the Inishturk Island Suite accommodate a King size bed, angled in the room to take in a view from each window including the harbour, Croagh Patrick, the famine landscape and Connemara in the distance.  The Inishbofin Island Suite was crafted as a children's room, with three large bunk beds accommodating six. The Clare Island Suite is one of the favourite rooms with a plush king size bed of burgundy and an accompanying period style couch. To give you an idea of how big this room is there is also a bunk bed available in this room while the en-suite also boasts a bath. The Achill Island Suite has a magnificent four poster bed and also boasts a Chesterfield couch which, if needed, can be unfolded into a double bed.

The Mweelaun Suite has magnificent views of the two mountains on the island and the farming landscape, while still offering an ocean view. Again with a four poster king size bed complete with antique furnishings, this room also has two stylish single beds in what can only be described as a very spacious suite. The Inisbiggle Island Suite is located on the ground floor complete with double bed and large en-suite this room is ideal for guests with reduced mobility. Styled in a country theme with timber panelling, the room has a cosy feel to it.

Traveling to the Island

Clare Island is three miles off the west Mayo coastline and the ferry departs from Roonagh Pier, outside Louisburgh. There are a number of Clare Island ferry crossings scheduled daily with the frequency varying at different times of the year. For the main season (May to September), there are four to five daily crossings during the week and four on weekends. You can bring in a vehicle for a week stay. Contact Brian or Alan for more details on +353 86 8515003 or +353 87 9004115 Visit Clare Island Ferry website

Don't Take Our Word For It...

"Wow! The Bay View House is beautiful! From the moment we booked to our arrival on Clare Island Carl kept in contact with us and made the planning so easy. We have a large extended family and there was loads of room in the house that we were not tripping over each other. The kids loved the pool table and heading to the beach for swimming. The location is very close to the quay and a great home base for exploring the island. You will not regret your choice!"

Jim Daly, Visitor's Book

"We were absolutely blown away by our stay at the Bay House on Clare Island. It was fantastic! We opted to have the Clare Island Whiskey tasting experience with Carl the owner and the story of how the whiskey is made and aged is so interested not to forget the creature that is on the bottle...I have forgotten what he is called! Everyone here is still talking about our holiday to Clare Island and cannot wait to go back next year!  We love Clare Island!"

Cathy Dempsey, Online Review