Blarney set for major reshape as Cairn Homes signs up to deliver up to 3,000 new homes 

Builder also involved in the construction of hundreds of homes on the former CMP site on the Kinsale Road

Ringwood Stoneview scheme proposal Blarney

Builder Cairn Homes plc has come on board for a transformational housing development set to reshape the historic village of Blarney, with plans for almost 3,000 new homes.

The Irish Examiner understands construction work is due to get underway in the coming weeks on a section of a 250-acre (101ha) edge-of-village landbank, which includes substantial lands at Ringwood and Stoneview. Phase one of the multi-phase development — with a potential value of up to €1bn when completed — will deliver 244 homes at Ringwood, with the first units expected to come on stream in 2026.

The ambitious project, mooted two years ago when a planning application was lodged, is moving forward after Cairn agreed a joint venture with landowners Clare Forrest and family, and Finbarr O’Leary, a Cork-based solicitor-turned-venture-capitalist.

Work is to commence in the coming weeks.

The Forrest family has farmed land at Ringwood for more than 200 years, while Mr O’Leary — a director of Rockfleet Joint Ventures Ltd — and Elkstone Capital Partners paid €7m to Nama for 105 acres at the adjacent Stoneview site, next to Blarney Business Park, four years ago. The two sites flank the N20 and encircle the lands earmarked for the long-awaited Blarney Railway Station and proposed adjoining park and ride.

Cairn Homes and the landowners were not available for comment.

The area earmarked for development was publicly identified over 20 years ago for strategic development, given the rail line access at Station Rd and scope for a commuter rail service.

The station and associated infrastructure works are subject to a railway order (planning application) with a target date for submission of the end of 2025/2026. Blarney is earmarked for a funded rail station as part of the Cork area commuter rail programme, linking to the city, Midleton, and Cobh.

Proposed in the first phase of development at Ringwood — as per the 2023 planning application lodged by Clockstrike Ltd, who are linked to Elkstone — are around 116 apartments in three and four-storey blocks, as well around 130 mixed-size homes, including terraced, detached, semi-detached and duplex, with a density of roughly 40 dwellings per hectare. A new 40-acre municipal park is also proposed for Ringwood, as well as a major new relief road, which will connect Blarney village to the planned Blarney rail station at Stoneview. It is intended that the new relief road will help alleviate current traffic issues in Blarney village by providing an alternative to Station Rd. A creche is planned in the short term, and the project could deliver other commercial, educational, and healthcare facilities in the future.

The Irish Examiner has previously reported that the Ringwood/Stoneview housing plan for the world-renowned Blarney village is for a concentric development, working from the village out. The Ringwood lands are within 1.5km of the village square, with the 15th century castle beyond.

Mr O’Leary has previously noted that the assembled lands “have been identified as one of seven strategic areas within the Cork City region, earmarked for compact consolidation and expansion according to the Cork City Development Plan (CCPD) 2022–2028”.

In 2023, he told the Irish Examiner that Blarney, which became a suburb of Cork City following the boundary extension in 2019, “is set to play a key role in the growth of the city as noted in the national planning framework which has set a population growth target of at least 50- 60% for Cork City and its suburbs by 2040”.

The Office of The Planning Regulator has warned that the growth rate for Blarney under the CCPD appeared excessive “particularly in view of the significant wastewater infrastructure capacity constraints”.

Cairn Homes decision to come on board is another major commitment to Cork, where it is also involved in a high profile scheme at 8.4a Creamfields on Cork City’s Kinsale Rd, which it bought from Dairygold this year for €25.6m, in the largest land development deal for Q3. The former CMP Dairies site will deliver 606 units, including 225 social and 381 cost-rental apartments. The scheme will be delivered an behalf of approved housing body, Respond, and is expected to take three years to deliver.