House of the week: Majestic oaks take time to mature and make their impact

Slow-growing, but majestic oaks take time to mature and make their impact. And, along Cork’s Boreenmanna Road, a development called The Oaks has so far gone under most locals’ radars, despite now being rooted to the spot for the past 13 years, writes Tommy Barker

A niche development of 13 good-sized detached houses, The Oaks was privately developed by Pat Hegarty, scion of the PJ Hegarty & Co building and contracting firm who did private schemes and investments in Cork and Limerick in previous decades: he was also behind the development of two adjoining blocks of apartments by The Oaks, around the same time — the boom years, c 2005.