Trading up and down in the city and county across Cork

We take a look at homes for people to consider from Bishopstown to Douglas

Cloughduv, Cork
€595,000
Size	251 sq m (2,700 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	4
BER	B3

Coming on its 20th birthday in a couple of years is 15 Carraig Aoil, but it’s fresh-looking for its still quite youthful vintage, with an interior look almost of an older, grander house.

This three-bay home with sliding sash windows, covered canopy/porch entrance and feature, central hall with quality stairs and wrap-around landing as part of the double-height space, is guided at €595,000 by agent Norma Healy of Sherry FitzGerald who says the B3-rated 2002 build is bright, spacious with high celings, and “a perfect example of how to seamlessly combine style, practicality and functionality.”

Facing a quiet green area/turning circle with mature tres in a cul de sac in the popular scheme of detached one-off houses, it’s on a wedge-shaped site, not overlooked at the back where there’s a south-west aspect, and it has gardens set up for outdoor dining and BBQs, with decking, patio and detached garage/store room.

Internally has three reception rooms, kitchen/diner with black, granite-topped island and unostentatious oak units, utility and guest WC. Above are four bedrooms, (two en suite), and main bathrooms, all around the landing/stairwell.

15 Carraig Aoil Cloughduv Sherry FitzGerald

VERDICT: Excellent home with large, walled level back garden, perfect for kids, with services a walk away in Cloughduv village, and easy commute options to the city.

Bishopstown, Cork
€590,000
Size	145 sq ft (1,550 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2
BER	C1

Looking for space or storage? No 12 Bishopscourt Way in Cork’s westerns surburbs could fit many a bill, for its €590,000 AMV, give or take.

A mid to late 1900s era four-bed semi-d, it’s already been updated in all the key areas by its builder owner, has a floored attic (requiring smarter and more permanent stair access), sun room, garage and linked, insulated steel storage unit of similar size.

Set near the back of Bishopscourt Way, near Donscourt, pretty much in central Bishopstown, it’s a corner property by a cul de sac, with good off-street parking on a paved front garden, and the back is south-facing, overlooked by a glass-roofed sun room/conservatory.

Auctioneer Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald notes that it is C1 rated, smartly presented and already upgraded, making it an easy-move option for families on the home hunt on this side of town and don’t want to engage with builders in the current climate.

Mr O’Flynn says it’s “completely modernised, and in turnkey, walk-in condition.” Another key attribute is location, near schools, numerous shops and services, and third level colleges, MTU and UCC, easily reached by bike, bus or on foot.

No 12 has a good site (1/6 acre) with Indian sandstone patio, zoned gas heating, main living room with integrated stove/fire, pressurised water system, alarm and video access.

VERDICT: No 12 is a family home good to go for decades to come.

Old Blackrock Road, Cork city
€355,000
Size	102 sq m (1,098 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	3
BER	B3

School days are long gone now at Cork’s Rochelle: It’s two decades since the 70-unit mix of apartments, duplexes, and townhouses got built by O’Callaghan Properties on the grounds of the old Church of Ireland boarding school Rochelle on the Old Blackrock Road, later assimilated into Ashton Comprehensive.

Since then, O’Callaghan Properties has built the huge Navigation Square office scheme on Cork’s Albert Quay, less than 1km away from here and were due to get a planning verdict this month on even larger plans for the South Docks for mixed uses, including hundreds of apartments, behind the conserved facade of the Odlums building.

But, it will be years before that comes to fruition. In the meantime, already here No 4 Rochelle Lawn, is good to walk into, and is also within an easy walk of the city centre and Marina too.

Agent Karl O’Reilly of Savills guides the 1,098 sq ft, wedge-shaped first- and second-floor duplex unit at €355,000. It’s within a gated development, with balconies off the main living room and off the kitchen/diner.

It also sports an impressive B3 BER.

VERDICT: Ideal for those who don’t want house maintenance worries. Could suit a trader down who doesn’t mind steps, and could also help pay its way via rent a room rental tax exemptions too.

Douglas, Cork
€495,000
Size	180 sq m (1,925 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	B2

No 1A Inchavale Avenue Shamrock Lawn is a blow-in, among its neighbours — it’s about 50 years more youthful than its peers in this edge-of-Douglas-village estate setting, off the hill to Grange and Donnybrook, with every amenity to hand.

Built only in 2009 on an infill/corner site, 1A is a detached three-storey, four-bed home with a fresh feel, inside and out, not jarring in any way with its older neighbours (the tiles on the roof and porch really help), most of which are semi-detached and most of whom could only dream of a B2 BER too.

Just over 1,900 sq ft over its three levels, it was built by Noel Barry of Centurion Homes, who since has built high-end houses in Kinsale. Closer to the city he was involved in the sell-out Alyelsbury, in Ballintemple near Cork Constitution RFC.

This one-off is just on the market with agent Michael Downey of Era Downey McCarthy, who guides it at €495,000. It’s in walk-in condition, with enclosed courtyard-style back patio garden and off-street parking just off the top hill entrance to Shamrock Lawn’s runs of houses further in, with Douglas National School beneath.

It’s got two bedrooms on each of its upper levels (one ensuite) and four bathrooms also, and at ground is front reception, rear kitchen/dining room with high, feature glazing on the back wall as it leads to a high-ceiling unroom with roof windows.

VERDICT: There aren’t too many homes as new as this in the location, but some families might rather larger gardens.