A population of just 300 but it attracts A-listers, artists and a Michelin star – is this Ireland’s coolest town?

From blow-ins to travelling bands, foodie pop-ups to melting pots, this town has become a cultural crossroads. What’s its secret?

Brilliant Ballydehob: How a tiny West Cork town became a cultural crossroads

Pól Ó Conghaile

There’s a small plaque near a fork in the road in Ballydehob. Fixed to the wall above an electrical box, it says: ‘As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters never point the wrong way.’

Above it, on a gable wall, is a massive mural of a Blue Nude by French impressionist painter, Henri Matisse. Alongside is a life-size image of a man, in baseball cap, beard and t-shirt, sliding down a bannister. On the electrical box itself is a stencil of a recycling symbol, with the word: ‘Karma’.

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