Ballycotton (Irish: Baile Choitín) is a Seaside resort village in County Cork, Ireland, situated about 25 miles east of Cork city. It is a famous fishing village and and has given its name to the folk band Ballycotton. The village is set on a rocky-ledge overlooking Ballycotton Bay and its sandy beach that stretches for about 25 km east to Knockadoon Head. The current village is actually a re-settlement of an older village which is now entirely underwater. Ballycotton experiences severe coastal erosion with metres of land crumbling into the sea every few years. It is a site of international research interest on coastal erosion
Lighthouse Situated on the steep sloped Ballycotton Island approximately 2 km from the village, the lighthouse was commissioned in 1851 when the keeper and his family lived on the island and their children rowed to school weather permitting. By 1899 the four keepers were housed in the town with keepers rotating duty at the lighthouse. In 1975 the light was converted to electricity and it was automated on 28 March 1992 when the lighthouse keepers were withdrawn