Turnkey four-bed in Cork’s sought-after The Paddocks hits market for €895k

Extended four-bedroom home in a sought-after Cork development offers privacy, energy efficiency and easy access to Douglas village

7 Tirol Close, The Paddocks

The Paddocks, Maryborough Hill
€895,000
Size	189sq ft (2,034sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	4
BER	B3

From the get-go, The Paddocks plugged into Maryborough Hill’s status as one of Cork City’s more desirable residential corridors.

One of the first housing schemes on the hill, it wasn’t your standard suburban estate.

For starters, the houses were notably larger than average for the era and the signals sent out by marketeers suggested that these were homes suited to professional families, and in a good neighbourhood to boot.

Built in the early 1990s, they sold well from day one, even if the €120,000 cost had some house hunters reaching for smelling salts.

Two decades later, sale prices at The Paddocks had jumped more than ten-fold: In 2012, 3,300 sq ft No 17 sold for €1.6m. A decade later, 3,400 sq ft No 15 sold for €1.02m, with both properties featuring in these pages.

Earlier this year, a smaller, 2,500 sq ft home in The Paddocks, No 1 Tirol Close, also made €1.02m. In a discreet cul-de-sac within the wider development, it was one of the scheme’s original showhouses, having first sold for €127,000.

The Paddocks was designed by Roddy Hogan Architects for the Horgan family, builders with a strong background in livestock and horse racing, who owned the land on which the development now stands.

Among their notable racing successes was Tirol, who won the 2000 Guinness in Newmarket in 1990 and subsequently doubled up at the Curragh. Tirol was a particular favourite of the late John Horgan, a cattle exporter and builder who passed away in 2024.

In tribute to the horse, parts of The Paddocks are named after him, including Tirol Close.

The house- price growth at The Paddocks over the decades is a mark of the quality of the build and it augurs well for the vendors of new-to-market No 7 Tirol Close, who have lived in the estate almost from the outset, albeit their home was initially used by the now defunct Porters Newsagents as a form of ‘corporate’ residence.

The current owners subsequently purchased it and have lived there for the bones of 30 years, enjoying the advantage of a generous corner site, with great privacy.

“We’re lucky, too, that the garden has an east-west aspect, so we have sunlight all day,” the owner says.

It’s a decent garden, well matured, with a fully fledged cherry blossom dressing it up just in time for viewings. A series of evergreens provide a natural screen along one boundary, with gabions along the other as an alternative to traditional fencing. A patio close to the house is in a sheltered spot, between the main house and a detached garage built by the owners “to house spec” in 2007/2008.

“I’ve been using it as a gym and home office and there’s a toilet there, too, so it’s a good, self-contained space, if you want to work from home or have a gym or art studio or the like,” says the owner.

The garage was one of a number of additions to the property.

Two separate extensions were built on to the main house in the late 1990s and early noughties.

“We went out the back, we went up, and we went out to the side and we totally transformed the original house from a c1,400 to 1,500 sq ft home to now well over 2,000 sq ft,” the owner says.

The first addition — a double extension to the rear— added a lounge area onto the open-plan kitchen/dining room on the ground floor, while, overhead, a box room was transformed in to a generous double bedroom.

The second addition — a sideways expansion — required the roof to be widened. it delivered another double bedroom and a very large bathroom. A back bedroom was also enlarged to a deluxe double with en suite.

“We ended up with four double bedrooms, two en suites, and a very large bathroom,” the owner says, adding that all of the bathrooms have since been upgraded “to hotel standard”.

The house grew with the family, but now that the household has shrunk as children grew up and flew the nest, the couple at No 1 are planning to downsize.

They leave behind a property in “mint” condition, with a better-than-expected B3 energy rating, given their home is more than 30 years old. Interested buyers can avail of green mortgage rates, thanks to the owners’ diligence: Walls were pumped, a stove was installed, the chimney was capped, and windows were replaced over time, as well as the front door.

Selling this pristine home is Trevor O’Sullivan, of Lisney SIR, and he says it’s “absolutely turnkey”.

It’s early days yet, but all of the interest is from traders-up, a chunk of whom were the underbidders at a bungalow called Nestor, in Rochestown Rise, which is ‘sale agreed’ via the same agent at €930,000, from a starting price of €795,000.

Mr O’Sullivan brings the 2,035 sq ft, No 1 Tirol Close to market with a guide of €895,000.

“Nearly all of the traders-up are cash buyers who have been renting while waiting for the right house to come along, which is a big change from last year, when deals were subject to sale of their own homes,” Mr O’Sullivan says.

No 1 — which is professionally landscaped out front — has off-street parking, and the vendor says the car is regularly parked up over the weekend, because they can stroll to Douglas village “in three or four minutes”. The area has an abundance of retail, schools, and leisure facilities.

“We’ve loved the convenience, the neighbours and the sense of security,” he says.

He adds that as their home is set back from the main road, they are shielded from the noise of traffic.

VERDICT: The legacy advantage of a scheme like The Paddocks is that the homes are quality builds in a prime location. They still hold great appeal for ‘professional’ families, bolstered by a good neighbourhood and a sense of being close to everything, yet tucked away. The homes themselves have benefited from regular upgrades and from strong re-sale demand. For all of these reasons, extended No 7 is an ideal family trade-up.