A lockdown project – Ballinadee Bus – to occupy the minds and bodies of the McCarthy family on their farm near Kinsale in Co. Cork, has developed into a novel way for the family to generate additional revenue.
Not only that, the double-decker restoration project also gave them a positive focus for the future following the tragic death by suicide of their beloved father, Paddy, in May 2020.
Ballinadee Bus was the brainchild of Thomas McCarthy, whose suggestion to buy a double-decker and transform it into an Airbnb property was embraced by his siblings Anna and Rachel.
The trio, along with the help of many, spent the last seven months gutting and restoring the bus, which has now taken pride of place on their farm.
They bought the bus from Ovens Coaches for €2,500 last October and it has been all hands on deck since then.
Positive place
“We bought the bus as a lockdown project, without putting much thought into it, really. So me and my two sisters and my sister’s fiancé, Aidan, have been working on turning it into an Airbnb,” Thomas told Agriland.
“It has been really good for us as a family, not only as a lockdown project, but it has been also been very healing for us.
“It has brought us closer together, we’ve been working outside, it has been a distraction from all the crap that has happened over the year and it has been a bit of fun.”
The busy bus restorers have documented their journey on social media and have been attracting attention with their unique project.
“We were on Nationwide with it, we were recently filming with Dermot Bannon for an upcoming TV show. We have over 5,000 followers on Instagram and more than 80,000 followers on Rachel’s TikTok.”
Inside, the bus has been transformed with bedrooms, kitchen and shower spaces but visitors to the west Cork countryside will also have their own outdoor bar and patio area, and hot tub, so they can get a true taste of country life.
New farming focus
Since their father’s sad passing, Thomas said the family have rented most of the farm but have kept some land back for another special project.
“We have a lot of rescue animals here now – rescue goats, donkeys, chickens.
“Me and my sisters want to go down the road of an open farm at some point in the future,” said Thomas.
Mental-health support
While it will be open for bus-iness on May 25, the family are organising a Ballinadee Bus raffle before that date to raise money for Kinsale mental-health charity, Kinsale Youth Support Service.
All fundraising details are available here.