Building with Seamus Murphy sculpture just for dogs for sale on St Patrick's Street

A Cork city retail investment up for sale on St Patrick’s Street is topped and tailed by two interesting features – it has a limestone drinking stone trough for dogs, done by renowned sculptor Seamus Murphy down at street or paw level, while overhead it now has planning secured for a three-bedroomed apartment, with River Lee and bridge views.

Listed for sale with estate agent Lia Dennehy of Savills is 124 St Patrick’s Street, directly next door to the city’s new Tourist Office and opposite Merchants Quay Shopping Centre.

It’s guided at €460,000, and runs to 1,650 sq ft over four levels, with 640 sq ft at ground.

No 124’s also noted for the presence of the carved limestone trough with the Irish word for dogs, Madraí, carved in it, under the display window.

The trough, or font, was commissioned in the 1950s by the Stokes family who owned the Milk Bar premises (later the Bridge House,) to be used bydogs passing or for those tied up to railings outside while their owners were sipping within No 124, and who the Stokes felt also deserved to lap up a cool al fresco drink.

The same, delicately ‘Madraí’ lettered trough – which is an officially protected item of street furniture feature on ‘Pana,’ caused a temporary furore a year ago when it seemingly went ‘astray,’ or disappeared on walkies.

However, despite the lost and found brouhaha, the heritage item was rapidly reinstated with the official explanation that it had been removed for cleaning and conservation, at the request of the family of the late, great sculptor Seamus Murphy, among his other works s citywide. Mr Murphy recalled some of his delights in the book Stone Mad , voted Cork’s favourite Book in 2013.

Anecdotally at last, it’s recorded that when asked shortly before his death what his favourite work was, the sculptor (who had church commissions, the busts of five Irish presidents and US President John F Kennedy to his credit) replied “the Madraí in Patrick Street.”

The diminutive Murphy trough grants a certain ‘lap of honour’ to No 124 St Patrick Street, and it’s one of seven properties in this block between Drawbridge Street and Lavitts Quay.

It changed hands quite recently, but now is being re-offered for sale with planning clearance secured for a triplex apartment by the landlord, via a Section 5 declaration with City Hall through engineers Brian O’Kennedy & Associates.

This now has scope “to generate significant additional rental income,” says Savills’ Ms Dennehy. The upper floors have fine, framed views down the River Lee’s north channel, past St Patrick’s Bridge, towards new office blocks rising up to the east at Penrose Quay and Horgans Quay.

It comes to market after sales were secured by agent Cearbhall Behan of Behan Irwin Gosling of two nearby St Patrick’s Street retail investments, No 120 (the former Central Shoe Store,) and No 121. They were both acquired from BIG by a Swiss-based investor for c €1m, also facing the Merchants Quay Shopping Centre where a multi-million euro upgrade is ongoing with owners Clarendon Properties.

DETAILS: Savills 021-4271371