A Cork harbour home that has stories ... and storeys
Only a short commute from Cork City, this large harbour base is rooted in a special setting, writes .
If the unfortunate mackerel knew what social or physical distancing was, and its life-saving potential, he’d have been all right for a lot longer.
One minute, the mackerel is happily swimming around Cork harbour, up to no harm, when the sprat pass by in a silver blur. He gives chase. So do others. Lots of others.
Shoaling together, they pursue the lighting-speed sprat, get much too close, fizz up the waters and twist up in a heap, and, in their feeding frenzy they get too close to the slipway at Monkstown.
It was one slip too far for slippery Mr Mackerel, as he got flipped out of the water, on to the slipway at the Sand Quay. And, before he could flap his way back to sea, he got scooped up in the hands of a local boy who had been passing by — and who kept a tight grip.
“I had no rod or anything, he was just there and I caught him in my hands. He was in the pan at home, frying, within ten minutes,” recalls the unarmed angler, John O’Driscoll, a Monkstown and Cork harbour native, who seized the moment and seasoned his lucky catch in jig time.
The zero air-miles meal was facilitated by the short distance between the slipway and the then youthful John O’Driscoll’s family home, called Gort, at No 8, Marine Villas, a couple of hundred metres away at best — or at the worst, if you’re an unfortunate fish.
Mackerel don’t shoal too much any more within Cork harbour, but there’s always something on the move.
Line anglers still line up along the old railway line route by the water’s edge, and there’s always some sort of boat movement on the waters. And, if there isn’t, well the tide is always racing past one way or the other, along this narrowing strait between Cork’s inner and outer water harbour and stretches.
Yes, indeed, from a prime viewing perch like Marine Villas, there’s always something to watch, and now that No 8 is up for sale for the first time in over 70 years, it’s time for a new family to appreciate its setting, space, potential, and vista.
It’s brand new to market this week with agents Der O’Riordan and Kevin Barry, of Barry Auctioneers, who price what’s going to be quite the prized gem at €595,000.
Marine Villas — also at various times known as Marine Terrace and Marine Cottages and even, at one time, as the Siamese Cottages, given their twin-sets — comprises a run of seven pairs of quite substantial semi-detached villa-like homes.
When first built, several of the houses were rented out as holiday homes for Cork families vacationing from the city for the summer months, with the breadwinner going up and down to the city for work, a commuter later served by a rail line when the Cork-Passage West line got extended to Monkstown and Crosshaven between 1902 and 1904.
You wouldn’t know it from the outside, but these Marine Villas homes even have basement levels, and when one of the last resales occurred here some years ago — in poor order with a few missing floors — the Cork family that bought it lavished extra investment on the house.
They even future-proofed it for later life, by installing a small internal lift.
Dating to the first half of the 19th century, semi-detached Gort has been an O’Driscoll family home since 1952.
It was bought by Michael and Terry O’Driscoll when Michael returned to Cork from Dublin in his early 30s as a director of construction firm Sisk: In the capital, he’d worked on projects including architect Michael Scott’s Busáras — now deemed an international modern classic of the era, and which went over budget to actually cost £1m to finish. Heady days.
Gort went on to accommodate a family of seven, five sons and two daughters, and they made best use of Monkstown’s natural and sporting amenities: Swimming, sailing dinghies, playing tennis, and also, later playing golf — with clubs for all sports to hand. Fishing, too, by rod and by hand, even on a memorably lucky day.
Two of the siblings live close to the family home still, and mackerel wrangler John O’Driscoll is now living just two doors away from No 8, Gort.
He says their clan are the second-longest established residents at Marine Villas, and that there’s a lovely community and neighbourly feel to the row.
It’s now an executor sale, as Mrs O’Driscoll has passed away, having lived almost right up to the end of her long life at No 8, eventually moving her bedroom down to ground level to a room with a big bay window, to continue to engage with world passing at the end of her garden.
“A property of this calibre does not come on to the market often,” say Barry Auctioneers. “These semi-detached houses form an integral part of Monkstown’s character, with panoramic views.”
Gort was extended to the side several decades ago and, more recently, had external insulation added to it to raise its comfort factors.
Surprisingly, it gets a C2 BER — a fair boast for a property that’s over 180 years of age.
Internally, it’s solid but dated, but with a new skin and a slate roof on top. Its new owners can opt to adapt the rooms within to their own tastes and 21st century family living needs.
The basement rooms are definitely redolent of an older era: “It’s where we were sent to study,” remarks John O’Driscoll with a laugh.
Agent Der O’Riordan says there’s great charm here, and even more potential. And while the agents can’t do actual viewings right now, there’s an online walk-through video to give a flavour of its flow and space and aspect.
Kevin Barry says the almost-2,400 sq ft yields three reception rooms, five bedrooms, and four bathrooms/WCs, all on top of the basement rooms.
There’s a long front garden with terrace and car parking, and behind is a shorter garden, previously used for vegetable and flower growing, with a rear access point also from road above, along with a good-sized garage for car, bikes, or dinghy storage.
At one time backed up by coach-houses and stables, Marine Villas are in the very heart of Monkstown, with local histories recalling their residents’ lives, including the time the pier collapsed, dropping 15 passengers waiting for a ferry into the water. All survived.
John O’Driscoll mentions too the heady days of shipbuilding just across the water at Verolme, and notable vessel launches, of large carriers and naval vessels: “Our dad would take us over for those big events, and we’d hope the boats would cross over and crash into Monkstown,” he recalls.
VERDICT
Steeped in Cork harbour history.
222 sq m (2,390 sq ft) Bedrooms: 5
4
C2
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