City heritage house has seen UCC campus sprawl beside it 

Set next to UCC campus, this mid-terrace gem in the heart of ‘old Cork’ is steeped in history, writes Tommy Barker

UCC with its 2,500 trees across 42 acres is on the doorstep of 3 Western Road (on right of pic)

Cork City
€495,000
Size	142 sq m (1,528 sq ft)
Bedrooms	6
Bathrooms	6
BER	C1

ALMOST as old as its salubrious and constantly expanding neighbour, UCC, is 3 Western Road in Cork City, a mid-terrace Leeside home. It has the leafy sections of University College Cork’s (UCC) main campus and an architecturally acclaimed art gallery, the Glucksman, just metres away as the swan glides.

Wearing its age with pride: 3 Western Road Cork city for sale with Niamh Smith of Absolute Property

Dating to 1850, the house is proper “old Cork”, and seems to have been built as the Queen’s College directly across the Lee’s southern channel by Gilabbey came to fruition and erudition, opening in 1849 with 23 professors and 181 students after being endowed by Queen Victoria in 1845, back in otherwise dark times.

Rear of 3 Western Road

Not only has 3 Western Road seen the city expand miles along each compass point, to the west, south, and north, it has also kept an eye on the college’s expansion to as many as 25,000 students, and 3,000 staff today.

Lee's south channel divides UCC campus from Western Road

Old title deeds show the historic low-slung, two-storey, three-bay No 3 transferring in 1881 from Richard Pigott Beamish and William Horatio Crawford to Eleanor Woods and Charlotte Woods, and along the way since it has see-sawed from private home to rental.

One of the six en suite bedrooms

It may well see-saw again now, in 2023.

No 3 was acquired from the private owners of neighbouring property about a decade ago, by an appreciative small-scale private investor and has since been a welcome remove from the usual run of student lettings in the wider UCC hinterland.

Leafy setting

Past its sturdy, 19th-century retained heavy timber front door and original locks and pleasing facade with sliding sash windows, its 1,530 sq ft holds six en suite bedrooms, two at ground level, where there’s also a spacious L-shaped kitchen/dine, with access to a neat, south-facing courtyard/patio, with a high painted wall.

Enclosed patio/courtyard

The previous vendors retained the space between this enclosed courtyard and the riverbank facing UCC’s lower grounds when they sold to the current owners, and that space behind is very carefully curated private outdoor garden extension, seen not from ground level, but (tantalizingly so) from the rear bedrooms and the landing. There’s access (via a window) to a flat-roof space which gets day-long sun, and both levels have leafy views of the UCC campus, with the Glucksman Gallery hoving into the view in winter months when leaves shed.

G'luck now: the Glucksman Gallery and cafe is just over the river

The location is opposite the Killarney Guesthouse on the Western Road, near the Mardyke (and another guesthouse, Achill House, shows on the Price Register as a 2023 sale at €1.375m) and is within an easy walk of the city centre.

UCC campus, looking back to city centre, with Western Road on the left hand side

 It has the UCC campus on the back doorstep (owners of some properties in the city’s flat area find insurance for flood difficult after the 2009 release of huge volumes of water at the ESB’s Inniscarra dam upriver of the city).

No 3 is very smartly presented, with a neutral decor palette, good kitchen/social space, and the six bathrooms are done wetroom style, with sandblasted glass and stainless steel hinges, a high-end touch. It’s got a guide price of €495,000 cited by agent Niamh Smith, who handles sales for Absolute Property.

She expects interest from savvy investors for select student rentals (the vendor chose older students and said many friendships were forged here); from parents with college goers, UCC staff, and employees, or UCC itself may have an interest as it owns a lot of building along the Western Road, as it does along College Road.

Sliding sash window keep the character true

It may also suit for private consultants’ rooms (it’s an easy walk to the Bon Secours, or Mercy) or “just an individual owner who just loves the history and style of the house,” says Ms Smith, adding that “an interesting option for a purchaser to consider would be to live upstairs as an owner-occupier and rent the two ground-floor rooms to students, tax free up to €14,000 pa.

UCC has 23,000 students today

On the investment front, a buyer could expect a rental yield of 8% based on the house selling into the mid-€500,000s, at €3,600 per month/€600 per room.

VERDICT: More than a standard rental, a well-presented heritage home that’s even older than UCC itself.