A former fisherman's cottage in Blackrock village sounds quite the catch at €240,000

If you're looking to wipe the slate clean, check out Tabrasa, at No 9 Upper Convent Road

Thu, 22 Feb, 2024 - 17:50

Catherine Shanahan

Blackrock, Cork
€240,000
Size	86 sq m (926 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	C3

TABRASA, a blend of the words Tibula Rasa, which Latin scholars will translate as “clean slate”, is the name of this ever-so-skillfully re-worked two-bed in Blackrock village, which marked a new beginning for a young couple starting out.

Joyce Dennehy, who bought it in 2016, had been renting a few doors up, at No 5, Upper Convent Road, and seized the chance to buy No 9, when it came up for sale.

“It was livable, but needed modernising,” she says.

In the end, they did a lot more than modernise, hiring Billy Sexton of Brelon Builders, who was also a friend.

“I remember walking into the house at one stage and I could see the rafters,” the owner says.

The terraced house, a former fisherman’s cottage near the pier in Blackrock Village, had an awkward layout, with two small living rooms and a small kitchen with a bathroom off it downstairs. There were three bedrooms but no bathroom overhead.

“With Billy’s help, we opened up downstairs and put in a new bathroom upstairs,” says Joyce.

Downstairs is now open-plan, with the sitting/dining room open to the kitchen/breakfast room, but angled to allow a bit of privacy between the two rooms.

Upstairs, they got rid of one bedroom and put in a bathroom.

A relation, a “really nifty” carpenter, built in an upstairs utility using wooden pallets. More wooden pallets were used to create storage in the bathroom.

“We maximised every bit of space,” says the owner. They rewired and re-plumbed too, and put in new windows in the kitchen, while recycling/upcycling the windows in the rest of the house, all of which are double glazed.

They poured “thousands of pounds” worth of concrete on the ground floor and lifted and tilted a flat roof in the kitchen, which they extended, once they’d shifted the bathroom upstairs.

Old-style cottage door knobs were retained from the original house and an “old-school” fireplace added.

Some overseas purchases added more character, including ceramic door knobs for the kitchen presses bought at a Christmas market in Berlin and the landing light-fitting which came from Spain. Sister-in-law Cleo Barnham helped with the interior decoration.

By the time everything was done, No 9 was “a new home in an old carcase”, Joyce says.

While there isn’t huge outdoor space at No 9, the owners made the most of a little courtyard to the rear, replacing gravel with tiles.

At any rate with the ever-improving Marina on their doorstep, they’ve had good access to green areas, as well as a new children’s playground, the greenway/cycleway to Passage West, rowing clubs, a good choice of pubs and cafes, a weekend farmers’ market and nearby retail.

Rowers at Cork Boat Club, Blackrock village

“I grew up in Blackrock and things have come on so much,” says Joyce, adding that it has “a lovely neighbourhood feel”.

She and her husband David Dennehy were hoping to stay in Blackrock, but the couple now has a family and they’re relocating to more space in Riverstick.

Selling No 9 is Tim Sullivan of Timothy Sullivan & Associates and he says a buyer can just “walk in and hang their hat”.

“The main selling point is that it’s literally around the corner from Blackrock Village. Everyone loves the village, and all you have to do at No 9 is stroll out the door and you are there,” Mr O’Sullivan says.