Saturday, November 21, 2009 Previous editions
Saturday, October 10, 2009
THE seaside setting of this Glengarriff, Co Cork, house could have been custom-tailored for its owner of several decades — he was a former US Navy officer in WWII, but carved a huge half-century career and reputation as a maritime lawyer.
With proud Irish roots, US-born Nicholas J Healy, who died in July of this year in Bantry, lived to be 99 years of age and spent happy decades of retirement at this Co Cork coastal property.
He was adjunct professor of Admiralty Law at New York University, and had set up his own law firm Healy & Bailie on St Patrick’s Day, 1948. He authored numerous books on the subject, and was considered the pre-eminent expert in US maritime law. Among shipping incidents and cases he worked on were the 1967 Torrey Canyon supertanker grounding which spilled 31 million gallons of oil off the Scilly Isles, and the devastating spills in 1978 from the Amoco Cadiz, off the coast of France. Coincidentally, a shipping disaster came almost to his west Cork doorstep, when the Betelgeuse oil tanker exploded in Bantry Bay, at Whiddy Island in 1979, killing 50. Mr Healy was even called as a an expert witness on a RMS Titanic-related case in 2000, to do with a disputed salvage case.
Mr Healy bought the 1950s-built Radharc Alainn in the early 1960s, and subsequently eased into retirement here, enjoying sailing in the bay literally from his garden’s end. Married for 66 years (his wife Margaret predeceased him in 2003) he had a grown family of six back in the States who were regular visitors to Glengarriff.
According to John O’Neill of Celtic Properties who guides the property at €600,000, Mr Healy was very popular and well-known in the west Cork area. He is now offering his former home for sale following his death.
Radharc Alainn — beautiful view — is a two-storey house block, with separate guest chalet on 1.6 acres, with direct sea frontage and scope for a pontoon/slip/boathouse.
Already attracting viewings, it has (as the name suggests) a special aspect and setting, about 200 metres of shoreline and, while well-built, is going to need modernisation and further spending.
Rooms in the main residence include a large living room with 180 degree bay views, a small kitchen/dining room, conservatory, study/bedroom, and WC, while overhead are two more bedrooms, with elevated bay views, plus main bathroom, The guest chalet, cosy and warm and in good condition, has two bedrooms and a shower/bathroom, with electric storage heating. The fertile, Gulf-Stream warmed grounds (close to Glengarriff’s quite startling Bamboo Park) are naturalistic, featuring rocky outcrops, with a view in all directions.
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