Historic Douglas cottage hits market at €265k — same price as nearby new-build apartment

Charming 140-year-old Douglas cottage with modern upgrades offers energy efficiency and village proximity at a competitive price

11 Clermont Cottages, Back Douglas Road

South Douglas Road, Cork city
€265,000
Size	50 sq m (538 sq ft)
Bedrooms	1
Bathrooms	2
BER	B3

COMING soon, from a starting price of €265,000, are spanking new one-bedroom apartments at The View, Bayly, on Carr’s Hill in Castletreasure, not far from Douglas village, a suburb of Cork city.

A good deal older, and closer to Douglas village, is this one-bedroom cottage, with the same starting price of €265,000.

Those shopping for homes on this kind of budget will need to consider energy efficiency (A-rated apartment v B-rated cottage); distance from Douglas village (apartment 2.5km v cottage 0.4km) and outdoor space (apartment has private balcony v tiered patio to the rear of cottage).

If the cottage wins out, read on. It’s 140-year old No 11, Clermont Cottages, one of a terrace of 12 built to house workers at St Patrick’s Woollen Mills in Douglas, which O’Brien Bros opened in 1882. 

Workers at O'Briens Mills Douglas May 1933 

While the mill closed in the 1970s, the connection with Clermont Cottages lingers: the grandmother of the current owner was a member of the mill workforce.

“My nana, Veronica Lynch, neé Fleming, from Passage West, started working there when she was 15 years old and was paid 19 shillings and eight pence,” says No 11’s owner, Shónagh Lynch.

“She remembers the white cotton being dyed all sorts of colours and being used to make Garda and army uniforms.”

A consignment of wool destined for New York departs St. Patricks Wollen Mills, Douglas in 1929 

Shónagh’s grandmother, a weaver who commuted on the 7.20am bus from Passage West and had to wait half an hour for the mill to open, worked in Douglas from 1952 until 1965, when she had her first child, having married Corneilus (Neilus) Lynch, (Port of Cork), whom she met in 1958.

While Veronica never lived in the cottages, she remembers some of those who did. Family names included O’Callaghans, Kidneys, and Lombarts.

The cottages have changed hands a few times this century. The Price Register indicates a bulk sale of most of the terrace in 2012 and subsequent individual re-sales. Some of the re-sales featured in these pages and showed evidence of investment and modern makeovers

No 11 was renovated and upgraded and is in very good shape now — as it was when Shónagh bought it in 2022.

“Previous owners did a lot of the renovations, and they had great taste. I didn’t have to do a whole lot,” she says.

She did work on the flower beds and fencing out back and she collaborated with green-fingered neighbours to improve the planting out front. It’s all very well presented now.

Selling the compact 50sq m home on the South Douglas Road is Áine McLoughlin of AML Property who says the “thoughtfully renovated cottage blends character with modern comfort”.

Moreover a B3 energy rating was “a rarity, for its era”. 

Accommodation includes open plan living downstairs, with a sliding pocket door between the living area and the kitchen/ dining space to the rear, from where French doors lead to the tiered patio, with some pretty mosaic tiling.

Overhead includes a bathroom and bedroom. There’s a guest loo downstairs.

A new gas boiler was recently installed by Shónagh, as well as new stair carpet. Paintwork has been re-done throughout.

VERDICT: Cute, turnkey home in terrific location. First time buyers likely to have to slug it out with investors and downsizers.