Cosy nest at Kinsale's €495,000 Spideóg townhouse

No 16b Cork Street is one of three expertly renovated townhouses close to Kinsale town centre

Spideóg, 16b, Cork St, Kinsale

Kinsale, Co Cork
€495,000
Size	90 sq m (969 sq ft)-
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
BER	A2

THEY say birds of a feather flock together, and such is the case on Kinsale’s Cork St where three carbon-copy homes, named in honour of our feathered friends, share the same row.

No 16b, Spideóg, is at the centre of the terrace

Called, as Gaeilge, Smólach (Thrush) Spideóg (Robin), and Dreoilín (Wren), each has been rigorously renovated to deliver a trio of smart-looking townhouses that bear no resemblance to the units that they replaced.

What they used to look like is still visible on Google Street View and while there were, as now, three sets of steps and three front doors, you get the impression that a once-large home was subdivided at some point into three separate units — 16a, 16b and 16c. 

What the terrace used to look like

Back in 2017, when Google’s cameras rolled by, the building looked considerably different: the front façade was half slate, half render — a popular look around the town — and windows were Georgian-style with a multitude of tiny panes.

Disheveled in appearance, none of the units looked fit for the business of living.

Enter some canny developer and the fortunes of the terrace took a dramatic upswing. The down-at-heel threesome was replaced during 2024 with crisp-looking, energy efficient homes, each with its own brightly-coloured front door.

All A-rated, the buyer will qualify for reduced green mortgage rates. The buyer will also acquire a turnkey home, in a central location in highly desirable Kinsale town.

Right now, all three homes are being used for AirBnB, proving their rentability. Selling agent is Karl O’Reilly of Savills, whose focus is on selling Spideóg, the middle home, which has a slightly better BER than its neighbours (A2 v A3) because of its cosy position in the centre of the terrace.

As well as investors, Mr O’Reilly expects interest from buyers in search of a holiday home - a lock-up-and-leave pad - albeit with rental potential in between personal use.

Living room

.As it’s Kinsale, there’s never any shortage of holidaymakers, thanks to a sublime coastal setting, fine dining experiences, and a prestigious yacht club and marina.

At €495,000, Spideóg is one of not very many Kinsale homes that first time buyers might enquire after, and as it’s a three-bed, there’s potential to generate income by renting a room.

It’s a compact 90 sq m with an attractive layout: a living room inside the hallway and towards the rear, the kitchen/dining room, which runs the width of the house, beyond the guest loo.

The main bathroom and three bedrooms are upstairs.

Mr O’Reilly says the interior fit-out, by interior designer Niamh Mac Gowan, is “superb”. The external work is quality too, from the limestone front steps to the large paved patio space to the rear, “perfect for outdoor dining and entertaining”.

VERDICT: They'll be flocking to see this one.