Ballymaloe’s swimming pool wouldn’t exist without the help of a visiting explosives expert
Outdoor swimming pools are rare as hen’s teeth in Ireland.
While this is mostly down to our famously unreliable weather, it’s also likely that many a homeowner has been put off by the idea of excavating the tough, rocky land beneath our feet.
In fact, when the owners of East Cork foodie destination Ballymaloe House decided to install a pool on the grounds more than six decades ago, they needed some rather extreme assistance to get the project over the finish line.
The pool, which reopens for the season’s visiting guests this week, dates back to 1957 when it was dug out for the summer by Ivan Allen, who purchased Ballymaloe estate in 1948 with his wife, hospitality icon Myrtle Allen.
Using a small tractor to scoop the earth, it took him two years to complete.
“They hit three lines of rock at the deep end but luckily they had a German guest staying with them and helping on the farm and it turned out he was an explosives expert and so with his help, they blew up the rock,” the Ballymaloe team told us.
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“It is shaped in a kidney shape because when he built it, Mr Allen couldn’t swim very well and this shape meant the deep end sides were only ever two swim strokes away.”
It has a large shallow end and a separate paddling pool, while the deep end is two metres deep.
The pool is heated environmentally via a Biomass Boiler, as is the whole of Ballymaloe House and outhouses. Tobias, the groundsman spent the last few months getting it ready for the summer, rehoming the many tadpoles that had made the pool their home over the colder months.
While the pool is open to overnight guests only, Ballymaloe House is also now open for Conservatory Lunches with an a la carte light menu served from Monday to Saturday from 1pm to 2.30pm.
