Park life at its finest in Cobh: €595k period home with harbour and cathedral views

Family living is tastefully catered for at this lovingly upgraded period townhouse

2 The Park, Cobh

Cobh, Co Cork
€595,000
Size	186 sq m (2,002 sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	2
BER	exempt

“I can't resist a good chair,” says Gill Carney, one half of the couple that bought No 2 The Park, four years ago — a claim borne out by the various seats she has salvaged and skillfully reupholstered in the intervening years.

Evidence of her creativity is conspicuous throughout this lovely period property in one of Cobh’s more notable rows of homes. Having rented on The Crescent — the grandee of Georgian terraces — for 11 years, the Carney family bought their own home in The Park in 2022.

“It was hard to leave The Crescent, but we were lucky enough to find another fine period home,” Gill says.

It was dated, but family helped to get it where it is today.

Gill’s dad, John Horgan, a former oil tanker captain, harbour pilot, Rankin dinghy restorer and son of a shipbuilder, could turn his hand to anything.

When Gill arrived home with an ox-blood leather banquette bench (another ‘good chair’), salvaged from Gilbert’s restaurant in Pearse Square, her father helped her to realise her idea of retaining half of it as a seat and the other half as an ottoman storage footstool, which Gill reupholstered. Her handyman dad also put a roof on the chicken coop, at the top of the rear garden, when even the hens got fed up with endless rain.

Alan, a gifted musician, and vice principal at Bunscoil Rinn an Chabhlaigh in Rushbrooke, put down a gruelling week scraping lead paint off the stairs. He also reinstated window shutters, while his step-dad, Peter Kavanagh, built a media unit in the downstairs snug and helped with the structural work needed to open up the downstairs living space.

Before the renovations, the rooms were higgledy-piggledy: To the rear was a dark “grim” kitchen, while one reception room had been converted into a bedroom with a toilet unit.

A wall was removed, a steel beam installed, the toilet unit whipped out, and the two rooms combined into one big, bright, open, cohesive space, ideal for their family of six. It houses the kitchen, a dining section, and a delightful lounge area, framed by two tall windows, under a 10ft high ceiling, where light streams in from the south.

The formerly ‘dark’ kitchen is now a bijou lounge, reminiscent of the smoking rooms of a bygone era. It overlooks a backyard, where steps lead to the rear garden.

Even though the long and narrow garden faces north, because it is raised, it still gets sunlight. There’s access from it to a rear gated laneway.

The garden can also be accessed off the middle floor, from a charming conservatory on the stair return, which doubles as Gill’s home office. There’s a handy guest loo off it; the only bathroom when the couple moved in.

“We redecorated every room, but one of the first things we did was put in a second bathroom. Otherwise, it would have been chaos with four kids,” Gill says.

The new ‘vintage’ bathroom is on the top floor and includes a freestanding bath and separate shower, and fireplace unearthed during renovations — now a striking feature, surrounded by Victorian-green tiles.

Two of five bedrooms are on the top floor. All bar one of the five are big, generous doubles. Some, to the front, frame views of the magnificent gothic spire of nearby St Colman’s Cathedral, with the harbour also visible.

All of the effort poured into No 2 has paid off handsomely, from the light-filled hallway with re-sanded original floor, to the stripped-back staircase with its warm, natural grain, to the wonderful, open-plan living space, the scene of so many family gatherings.

“My mum’s in a ukulele group and Alan plays the piano, so we’ve had some amazing parties. It’s so much fun when everyone gets together,” Gill says.

Next month, Alan’s off to the National Concert Hall as musical director of We’ll Meet Again, the story of Vera Lynn. In the meantime, the busy couple — Gill has plans to resume the medical career she dropped out of 15 years ago, when her first son was born — are selling their beautifully restored home, which has has fully upgraded electrics, a new gas boiler, and an enhanced heating system.

Johanna Murphy, of Johanna Murphy & Sons, who is guiding at €595,000, says it’s an “elegant gem, that blends timeless period features with modern comfort and thoughtful design”.

Its location in The Park — where residents can enjoy a communal garden, with parking for several cars — makes it ideally located for a short stroll into town and to the train station, while a Cobh Connect bus service stops outside the gate.

VERDICT: Delightfully authentic period home, centrally located in Cobh. A good value trade-up for a family.