House of the Week: Modern elegance at €490k Blackrock cottage

High demand for viewings at this four-bed bungalow in Blackrock/Mahon

21A Dunlocha Cottages, Blackrock

Dunlocha Cottages, Blackrock/Mahon
€490,000
Size	148 sq m (1,590 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2
BER	C1

THE chance to join ’the A-team’ at Cork’s Dunlocha Cottages has come around with the New Year market listing of No 21 A.

It’s one of a good number of more modern one-off homes built in the long back gardens of the mostly semi-detached cottages, in this century old setting in ‘old’ Blackrock/Mahon, and demand for viewings is said to be “out the door”.

A bird’s eye view of the c three dozen homes in the ‘old’ Dunlocha Cottages shows that about half of them have had larger and more modern second dwellings built to the back of the earlier 20th century dwellings, which typically were two-beds built for labourers by the local authority: just about all later arrivals so far are denoted by the appendage of an ‘A’ to the original dwellings’ street numbers fronting the street. The owners of No 21A Dunlocha Cottages have been in situ since 2009.

21A Dunlocha Cottages, Blackrock has an open plan kitchen/dining with quality granite-topped white gloss and walnut-trimmed units

No 21 itself last transacted in 2021 for a recorded €315,000, with ‘original stock’ cottages most typically of late selling in the €300ks, and just topped by No 14 fetching €417,500 in 2025, preceded the same year by the sale of No 8A, for €472,500.

Now, another ‘A’ comes along, in the guise of the four-bedroomed, c 1,590 sq ft No 21A which is guided at €490,000 by Midleton-based Adrianna Hegarty and Niamh Hegarty.

They say the discretely-sited four-bed has been “meticulously maintained to an exceptional standard, offering bright, contemporary living within one of Cork city’s most desirable suburban settings”.

Underfloor heating

Hugely rejuvenated Blackrock itself has become Cork’s suburb of choice for many, with its near-river Lee setting, walks, parks and the magnificent 32-hectare Marina Park and Atlantic Pond upgrades sealing the deal for many hunting down homes. Evidence of the demand and popularity across the board was, in fact, cited in the successful planning application for nine new infill ‘turnkey’ homes for the City Council by Boxline Developments behind Nos 19 and 20 Dunlocha Cottages, a mix of nine single and two-storey one and two-bed houses and apartments: it said 2,465 housing applicants stated Blackrock as an area of housing preference, with 81% on the list searching for one or two bedroomed units.

Approach avenue lined with prunus or cherry blossom trees

Those coming to view No 21 A will see a smartly-delivered four-bedroomed home, with one en suite, on a well-delineated site with old stone wall, block wall and fenced boundaries, with gravel across most of the site for ease of maintenance, along with a circular patio, with a small feature palm tree, and an approach avenue lined with cherry trees.

Right now, all of No 21A’s accommodation is on the one level, but the owners deliberately made the hall large enough to take a staircase at some future time if desired. It has its four bedrooms in one section, day rooms in the other, spanning a sitting room with gas fire, open plan kitchen/dining with quality granite-topped white gloss and walnut-trimmed units, plus utility.

Heating is gas fired and delivered underfloor, helping with the clean, crisp look, and flooring includes substantial gloss tiling and a carpeted sitting room: both this room, and the kitchen/diner, have sliding doors to the circular patios/al fresco dining area.

No 21A’s vendors have been lucky enough to be able to live a few months of the year in the sun, and are moving east from the city. The agents Hegarty Property have ‘come from the east’ to sell here at Dunlocha Cottages, a five minute walk from Blackrock village and pier, and say they expect right-sizers, and maybe even first-time buyers as “because it’s a bungalow it’s very attractive to a lot of people.”

VERDICT: the level of demand and interest in the location and layout was clearly shown here in day one of viewings, and the pace is likely to pick up all the more in the next few weeks.

The approach avenue to this one-off (with electric access gate) is lined with more than a dozen prunus or cherry blossom trees, ready to bust into pink glory come late March and into April….by which time a cherry-picking deal is very likely to be done on Dunlocha Cottages’ No 21A