DO it up, or knock it down? Both are options at Rose Cottage, a restoration project — in the politest terms — on one of Cork’s most ‘prestigious’ addresses, the Model Farm Road. 

Size: 264 (2,850 sq ft)

Size: Sq m 45/65 (500/700 sq ft)

We view a selection of trading up homes from around the country.

Houses around Cork City’s Hartlands Road can be bought by a range of buyers, from traders up and down, to traders in, and investors too have had their way, given its proximity to UCC, but the asking price on the road’s old-style semi called St Bernard has it on the radar of first-time buyers now too.

Tidy up, extend, build on top — or knock, and start again? All those options are solidly to hand at the well-built Kilrohan, a hideaway on a lovely Model Farm Road site just west of Cork city’s suburbs.

With five bedrooms in a bright spacious Orchard Road property, plus beautiful gardens, what’s not to like, asks Tommy Barker.

BON SECOURS, the country’s largest private healthcare provider, has been refused cover by VHI for a planned €80m extension at its Cork hospital.

EVERY bit as genteel now as it was a century ago when built, the Edwardian semi-d Villa Nova is a big Cork city home buy, full of pleasant original features, and standing proud.

THE breast clinic at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork has been awarded the direct payment contract for mammograms by Quinn Healthcare.

IT’S still on the ‘select’ list, despite being among some of the busiest thoroughfares on the western side of Cork city.

BOOKS come out the door to meet you at No2 Carrigfern — literally. Even the side entrance porch here is shelved for book storage, and every room is similarly laden, with volumes tightly racked in serried ranks, shoulder to shoulder, spine to spine.

THE other side of the slump is the chain problem — one house sale falling through has a knock-on effect on others.

THE brochure details are scant — no 5, Mount Pleasant Avenue has a hallway, a living room with bay window, a dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom.

BUSY by day, surprisingly quiet at night, the Glasheen Rd/College Rd area isn’t all about students.

After a week of farce and frustration, the first mothers and babies arrived at Cork University Maternity Hospital for the birth of a new era in maternity care, writes Catherine Shanahan

WHEN the call came through last Thursday from the Mater Hospital in Dublin, it offered Isabel Terry the chance to lead a normal life again. The news was good; a suitable donor heart had been found for the 31-year-old who has congenital heart disease.

A LARGE, south-facing back garden and a location close to schools and shops in Bishopstown, make this four-bedroom property at 9, Bishopscourt Lawn, a dead cert for trader-uppers.

THE nursery at the biggest private maternity hospital in the country has been shut down to minimise the risk of infection to babies.

CLASSIC elegance that's the look here at Lios Bán on the Model Farm Road, a house in a classic location.

THE manager of the country's busiest private maternity hospital has warned that forcing private obstetricians out of practice due to unaffordable insurance would put an unbearable strain on public hospitals.