Expensively done up in 2007, classic No 29 Richmond remains a sign of the times, then, and now
A 'NO expense spared' deep retrofit, and polished reordering, was done to No 29 Richmond, a discretely hidden bungalow between Cork City's Blackrock Road and the Boreenmanna Road.
That was back in 2007, at a time when the property market was at its zenith, and builders felt free to charge as much as they liked … a bit like now??
Timeless 29 is listed with Cohalan Downing's MD Brian Olden
Now a superbly finished three-bedroomed dormer, on a screened, low-maintenance corner site within the 1960s estate of detacheds and semi-detacheds of some design aplomb, with partial cedar cladding, brick and reconstituted stone and latter-day earned charm, No 29 Richmond was taken by the scruff of the neck before 2007 by the late Kate and Tom Burke, who at the time were planning a downsize move from a large, detached period home called Parkhurst on the Victoria Road.
First appearances deceive...
Built for a city solicitor Barry Galvin way back in 1890, on extensive gardens and the only detached along Cork's Victoria Road, Parkhurst sold at the time for the Burkes for €2.5m: it was described in these property pages as 'a museum piece.' Some of the leftover 'museum quality' pieces have ended up happily here at 29 Richmond, itself some 70 years Parkhurst's junior, along with a range of feature stained glass panels, and magnificent Georgian and Victorian furniture.
Glass act
It was a classic downsize or rightsize move for Kay (nee Lyons, a retired physiotherapist) and Tom Burke: he'd been a general surgeon in Cork hospitals, such as the Bon Secours and South Infirmary: he also operated, literally as well as figuratively, at the army's Collins Barracks, where he railed against forced army marches (and, marathon running) due to the number of knee surgeries he was had to do, recalls his brother in law, Diarmuid Lyons.
No 29 Richmond is now an executor sale, following Kay Burke's demise in January after a period in a nursing home in Kinsale; she was predeceased by her husband Tom, who died aged 95 in 2013.
Easy-keep grounds perfect for downsizers
The couple's pristine, lightly lived in, and proudly maintained home at 29 is listed this weekend with agent Brian Olden of Cohalan Downing, who says it is elegant, in one of Cork's most desirable suburban enclaves, and was extensively upgraded almost 20 years ago, to a very high standard throughout, from the roof, down to the floors and out to deliberately planted low-maintenance gardens, full of colourful trees and shrubs and birdlife.
Mr Olden can expect downsizer/rightsizer interest from the get-go, but it may also suit a single person, a couple or relocators to Cork: less likely is a younger family.
A lot rides on the current layout now with the very best of the three bedrooms downstairs, with walk-in dressing area, plus separate en suite bathroom with shower, and quality throughout, including granite tops to the bathrooms' vanity units.
En suite ground floor bedroom with robes/dressing area off
All internal joinery is quality hardwood, with stained glass panels inside a number of doors, both internally, in the main front door and side panels, with more coloured glass sections in the bright and warm south-aspected sunroom, utterly private.
A carpeted stairs, with hardwood rails, leads to two plushly carpeted attic-style dormer bedrooms with eaves storage plus bathroom with shower/bath and heated towel rail, the latter a feature in the en suite's bathroom also, both also fully tiled in neutral shades.
Dormer vous?
The hardwood joinery, stained glass, matched with gleaming mahogany Georgian and Victorian furniture, stunning fireplace, black kitchen Aga, displayed books and bookcases, art, sculpture and fine prints and 19th century silhouettes givesNo 29 the air of an older era home, but the comfort factor of modern and efficient central heating, high insulation standards, double glazing, new floors indicates otherwise. As does a B3 energy rating.
Aga can? Kitchen with Aga, painted units, hardwood tops and overhead rooflights
No 29 has a bright kitchen, with painted units topped with oiled hardwood tops, Aga, and marble-tiled floor, with two overhead rooflights, with access to a patio, hall, and to a dining nook linked to the main reception room, with its end wall surrounding the fireplace and hearth in a crimson red hue.
Elegance...
Overall, there's just about 1,750 sq ft here, all spotless and well detailed, so it's not overly large and if bought by a single buyer or a couple, they could quite happily only live downstairs, apartment style, and keep the first floor for guests/family member visits.
Richmond, which connects to the Clanrickarde estate by the Boreenmanna Road, has long been associated with Cork builder Barry Burke, whose family sold 4.82 acres alongside back in peak times of 2007 to O'Flynn Construction, for a €15.8m — some €3.25m/ acre for the site now fully developed as Belfield Abbey: it's a price per acre not seen since 'the boom'....
Richmond Estate
Other and older homes in adjacent Richmond show a variety of life stage owner-occupiers, from older long-time residents to more recent arrivals with some considerable extensions on both bungalows and semis. One, No 30, sold nearly 20 years ago on a far larger quarter acre site (for a reported €730,000, 50% over its guide: how very 2025), was demolished and replaced with a very large two-storey detached home.
Back in January 2007, we noted here that No 29 Richmond had sold for c€575,000 figure as 'a three-bed home in need of upgrading, it had been price-guided at €485,000-plus in late 2005, when it hit the market. It now is being significantly upgraded.'
And so it came to pass.
It's reckoned that on top of the c €585k purchase price back almost 20 years ago, a further €400,000/500,000 was then invested in it — again, shades of 2025 costs — so it stood the Burkes €1m, or perhaps just over it, to get it to a perfect fit for their advancing years.
Parkhurst, Victoria Road, in 2007. Pic: Denis Scannell
Their subsequent strong €2.5m sale of their long-time previous Victorian home Parkhurst in 2007 must have taken the sting out of those costs for the Burkes. And,as for the buyers who paid them so handsomely? Well they are getting much of their outlay back out of it this year as they are selling a 0.85 acre plot with full planning for nine new builds behind the original (and also upgraded) Victoria Road detached Parkhurst for over its €1.55m AMV.
VERDICT: For mostly coincidental reasons, No 29 Richmond itself aligns with a number of signature and landmark mid- 2000s Cork City property market moves: what will its sale now tell us in years to come, about the 2025 market?
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Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Expensively done up in 2007, classic No 29 Richmond remains a sign of the times, then, and now
A 'NO expense spared' deep retrofit, and polished reordering, was done to No 29 Richmond, a discretely hidden bungalow between Cork City's Blackrock Road and the Boreenmanna Road. That was back in 2007, at a time when the property market was at its zenith, and builders felt free to charge as much as they liked … a bit like now?? Timeless 29 is listed with Cohalan Downing's MD Brian Olden Now a superbly finished three-bedroomed dormer, on a screened, low-maintenance corner site within the 1960s estate of detacheds and semi-detacheds of some design aplomb, with partial cedar cladding, brick and reconstituted stone and latter-day earned charm, No 29 Richmond was taken by the scruff of the neck before 2007 by the late Kate and Tom Burke, who at the time were planning a downsize move from a large, detached period home called Parkhurst on the Victoria Road. First appearances deceive... Built for a city solicitor Barry Galvin way back in 1890, on extensive gardens and the only detached along Cork's Victoria Road, Parkhurst sold at the time for the Burkes for €2.5m: it was described in these property pages as 'a museum piece.' Some of the leftover 'museum quality' pieces have ended up happily here at 29 Richmond, itself some 70 years Parkhurst's junior, along with a range of feature stained glass panels, and magnificent Georgian and Victorian furniture. Glass act It was a classic downsize or rightsize move for Kay (nee Lyons, a retired physiotherapist) and Tom Burke: he'd been a general surgeon in Cork hospitals, such as the Bon Secours and South Infirmary: he also operated, literally as well as figuratively, at the army's Collins Barracks, where he railed against forced army marches (and, marathon running) due to the number of knee surgeries he was had to do, recalls his brother in law, Diarmuid Lyons. No 29 Richmond is now an executor sale, following Kay Burke's demise in January after a period in a nursing home in Kinsale; she was predeceased by her husband Tom, who died aged 95 in 2013. Easy-keep grounds perfect for downsizers The couple's pristine, lightly lived in, and proudly maintained home at 29 is listed this weekend with agent Brian Olden of Cohalan Downing, who says it is elegant, in one of Cork's most desirable suburban enclaves, and was extensively upgraded almost 20 years ago, to a very high standard throughout, from the roof, down to the floors and out to deliberately planted low-maintenance gardens, full of colourful trees and shrubs and birdlife. Mr Olden can expect downsizer/rightsizer interest from the get-go, but it may also suit a single person, a couple or relocators to Cork: less likely is a younger family. A lot rides on the current layout now with the very best of the three bedrooms downstairs, with walk-in dressing area, plus separate en suite bathroom with shower, and quality throughout, including granite tops to the bathrooms' vanity units. En suite ground floor bedroom with robes/dressing area off All internal joinery is quality hardwood, with stained glass panels inside a number of doors, both internally, in the main front door and side panels, with more coloured glass sections in the bright and warm south-aspected sunroom, utterly private. A carpeted stairs, with hardwood rails, leads to two plushly carpeted attic-style dormer bedrooms with eaves storage plus bathroom with shower/bath and heated towel rail, the latter a feature in the en suite's bathroom also, both also fully tiled in neutral shades. Dormer vous? The hardwood joinery, stained glass, matched with gleaming mahogany Georgian and Victorian furniture, stunning fireplace, black kitchen Aga, displayed books and bookcases, art, sculpture and fine prints and 19th century silhouettes givesNo 29 the air of an older era home, but the comfort factor of modern and efficient central heating, high insulation standards, double glazing, new floors indicates otherwise. As does a B3 energy rating. Aga can? Kitchen with Aga, painted units, hardwood tops and overhead rooflights No 29 has a bright kitchen, with painted units topped with oiled hardwood tops, Aga, and marble-tiled floor, with two overhead rooflights, with access to a patio, hall, and to a dining nook linked to the main reception room, with its end wall surrounding the fireplace and hearth in a crimson red hue. Elegance... Overall, there's just about 1,750 sq ft here, all spotless and well detailed, so it's not overly large and if bought by a single buyer or a couple, they could quite happily only live downstairs, apartment style, and keep the first floor for guests/family member visits. Richmond, which connects to the Clanrickarde estate by the Boreenmanna Road, has long been associated with Cork builder Barry Burke, whose family sold 4.82 acres alongside back in peak times of 2007 to O'Flynn Construction, for a €15.8m — some €3.25m/ acre for the site now fully developed as Belfield Abbey: it's a price per acre not seen since 'the boom'.... Richmond Estate Other and older homes in adjacent Richmond show a variety of life stage owner-occupiers, from older long-time residents to more recent arrivals with some considerable extensions on both bungalows and semis. One, No 30, sold nearly 20 years ago on a far larger quarter acre site (for a reported €730,000, 50% over its guide: how very 2025), was demolished and replaced with a very large two-storey detached home. Back in January 2007, we noted here that No 29 Richmond had sold for c€575,000 figure as 'a three-bed home in need of upgrading, it had been price-guided at €485,000-plus in late 2005, when it hit the market. It now is being significantly upgraded.' And so it came to pass. It's reckoned that on top of the c €585k purchase price back almost 20 years ago, a further €400,000/500,000 was then invested in it — again, shades of 2025 costs — so it stood the Burkes €1m, or perhaps just over it, to get it to a perfect fit for their advancing years. Parkhurst, Victoria Road, in 2007. Pic: Denis Scannell Their subsequent strong €2.5m sale of their long-time previous Victorian home Parkhurst in 2007 must have taken the sting out of those costs for the Burkes. And,as for the buyers who paid them so handsomely? Well they are getting much of their outlay back out of it this year as they are selling a 0.85 acre plot with full planning for nine new builds behind the original (and also upgraded) Victoria Road detached Parkhurst for over its €1.55m AMV. VERDICT: For mostly coincidental reasons, No 29 Richmond itself aligns with a number of signature and landmark mid- 2000s Cork City property market moves: what will its sale now tell us in years to come, about the 2025 market?
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Network of abandoned Victorian tunnels discovered 26ft under giant sinkhole that opened up on ordinary-looking street
A GIANT sink hole has revealed an underground network of Victorian mining tunnels. Engineers working at the site, on Godstone High Street in Surrey, were shocked when they stumbled upon the discovery. 8 The first sinkhole appeared in February Credit: Reuters 8 More sinkholes appeared shortly afterwards Credit: EPA 8 A network of Victorian tunnels may be partly to blame for the major collapse Credit: SWNS The huge collapse, which Experts who are repairing the street say these sand mining networks may hold the key to what caused the sinkhole. But residents in the area claim they have been "left in the dark" over when construction will be complete, as reported by the BBC. Businesses in the area also continue to be negatively impacted by the major collapse. Read More Local authorities shared their hopes the road would be reopened by December this year. Lloyd Allen, infrastructure manager at Surrey County Council, said: "Currently, we're investigating the Victorian tunnels, plotting them to see the extent of them and where they go. "We'll likely be finished by the early part of December, but there's a lot of reconnecting services and redoing water mains, gas mains and electric cables." Mr Allen added how the tunnels "puts one of the pieces into place" over why the sinkhole unfolded. Most read in The Sun Although there are still "several scenarios" that have been put forward about the cause. Shane Fry, who runs a garage on the high street, told the BBC the sinkhole has slashed his profits by a third. "They said they would keep us up to date, but this hasn't happened," he said. "We need to know. It will benefit everyone in the area." Meanwhile, Will McLean, owner of a residential windows and doors company claimed the disaster has "reduced footfall to virtually zero". And coffee shop owner Sami Bristow, shared how her income is down about 20% compared to last year. 8 The first sinkhole grew to a length of 20m (65ft) Credit: EPA 8 The two massive sinkholes have caused havoc in the tiny village Credit: EPA 8 Work taking place around the sinkhole should be completed by December Credit: LNP "It has been hard-hitting especially with inflation and all the other things that small businesses are having to cope with," she added. Matt Furniss, cabinet member for highways at Surrey County Council, said: "Our focus will be on ensuring the road is safe to use, so the exact date will be confirmed once we are fully assured of this." Catherine Sayer, Tandridge District Council leader, added: "Things are moving as fast as they can. "The key thing is to get everything back to normal as quickly as possible." Locals have been allowed back into their homes after a risk assessment deemed it safe to do so. Christine Duncan, 57, who has lived in her home just outside the cordon for over two decades, says she is still in shock at what has happened. She said: "My husband was down the pub and saw a trickle of water. Then the sinkhole just suddenly appeared. "I have lived here for 24 years, and I have never seen anything like this before. I am still in shock. I can't make heads or tails of it. "I think it is to do with the amount of lorries that drive through here. We are only a small village. Is your property at risk from a sinkhole? There are thousands of natural sinkholes, also known as dolines, in the UK, particularly in the upland areas of northern England , according to the British Geological Survey. By and large, these are not actively subsiding, but occasionally new sinkholes form, particularly after heavy rain. Built up areas can be at risk and it is believed sinkholes are becoming more common in the UK, partly due to extreme rainfall, which scientists have linked to climate change. Dr Andrew Farrant of the BGS, says: 'By their very nature, collapse features caused by burst pipes or collapsed infrastructure are mostly likely to occur in built up areas or beneath roads, and could happen in other areas with similar geology and aging infrastructure. 'Many recent sinkholes have been caused by collapses of old sewers or culverts, such as the sinkhole near Merthyr Tydfil last December. 'There have been other recent instances of sinkholes due to flushing out of sands and weak sandstones, for example the sinkhole that closed Storrington High Street last October.' "I am very worried about how long it is going to take to fix the road. My main concern is that there are a lot of vulnerable people around here and there is a care home just down the road." Graham Brookes, 94, has lived in his nearby home for nine years - but says he has been involved in the area for decades. He agreed that the main worry is for older people who will have to walk a long way to get around the cordon. He added: "We realised something was wrong because the water pressure was down. Then we found out what had happened and realised how lucky we were to still have water. "It is not going to be an easy job to fix. It will affect everyone coming into Godstone. "The village will be very badly impacted by this. But we will get through it. It will mainly effect older people because they will have to walk all the way around. "The local businesses will also be hit hard as they can't get vans in. "It has already impacted the amount of people around. I went to the supermarket earlier and the car park was half empty when it is normally packed." Paul Ryan, 53, has lived in his home on the High Street for nine years. He said: "For the first 24 hours it was a major inconvenience. I was quite surprised, but this has been on the cards for a while. "The locals have been worried for a while about the HGVs going through the village. They use this road as a bypass to the M25 and come down at 60mph." A 40-year-old local, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "We were without water for a considerable amount of time. "We thought that water would be delivered to us but instead we had to go to a water station. "Our water finally came back on at about 3am this morning. "It is a very scary situation. The sinkhole is huge so we are quite worried that we are going to be evacuated. "The sinkhole will probably get even bigger which is terrifying. It is just a very upsetting time." 8 Locals continue to be affected by the sinkholes Credit: Reuters 8 Business owners say their income has been dramatically impacted Credit: PA
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Irish Independent
Diarmuid Gavin: The Waterford gardener who became one of the 19th century's most influential horticulturalists
William Robinson, who rose from humble beginnings, transformed the way we think about gardens and reshaped the English landscape In the quiet countryside near Kilmeaden, Co Waterford, a boy was born in 1838 who would go on to transform the way the world thought about gardens. William Robinson was not born to privilege, and yet he became one of the most influential horticulturists in history — an Irishman who reshaped the English landscape, one perennial at a time. Robinson's early life was rooted in toil. As a teenager, he worked as a garden boy at Curraghmore, the grand estate of the Marquess of Waterford. From dawn to dusk, he maintained the elaborate, high-maintenance plantings that were the height of Victorian fashion — exotic hothouse flowers, regimented bedding schemes and manicured formality. But even then, he felt something was wrong. Nature, as he saw it, wasn't meant to be clipped into submission. By his early twenties, Robinson had risen to manage the hothouses at Ballykilcavan in Co Laois. Then came the rupture. According to one enduring story, he stormed out after a row with his employers and left the hothouse fires to die overnight — killing an entire collection of delicate tropical plants. Whether fact or folklore, the tale hints at the fierce independence that would define his career. He sailed for London and by 1861 had secured a post at the Royal Botanic Society's gardens in Regent's Park. There, surrounded by the spectacle of Empire and the extremes of Victorian horticulture, Robinson's vision sharpened. He hated what he saw: endless rows of red salvias, blue lobelias and elaborate carpet bedding — all costly, artificial and ephemeral. Gardening, he believed, had lost its soul. So, he picked up his pen and began to fight back. Robinson started writing for The Gardeners' Chronicle, and then began publishing books with force and flair. In 1870, he released The Wild Garden, a revolutionary manifesto calling for a new kind of planting, one that embraced native and naturalised plants, hardy perennials, wildflowers and the beauty of ecological balance. Let daffodils spread in meadows, he said. Let ferns and foxgloves flourish in dappled woods. Three years later, he launched The Garden, a weekly magazine that became his mouthpiece for the next 40 years. It wasn't just a gardening journal — it was a battlefield. Robinson used its pages to champion fellow naturalists, challenge powerful institutions like the Royal Horticultural Society and skewer his rivals. He was sharp-tongued and opinionated, but his ideas were catching on. One of his most fruitful alliances was with Gertrude Jekyll, a painter-turned-gardener with an eye for colour and form. Robinson supported her when others dismissed her as too feminine or whimsical. Together, they shaped the Arts and Crafts movement in gardening, a gentler, more human vision of landscape. Robinson's writing reached a crescendo in 1883 with the publication of The English Flower Garden. It became one of the best-selling gardening books of all time. Structured as an encyclopaedia of plants suitable for different garden types, it was also a deeply passionate call for change. He urged gardeners to abandon labour-intensive, seasonal planting and embrace resilient, long-lived and ecologically harmonious gardens. In effect, he gave ordinary people permission to garden with freedom and instinct. Flush with success, he bought Gravetye Manor in Sussex in 1884, a semi-ruined Elizabethan house with more than 1,000 acres. There, Robinson planted wild bulbs by the thousand, created orchard meadows, and filled his borders with drifting perennials. He lived there until his death in 1935 at the age of 96. He had no children, but his ideas survived him. Today, Robinson's legacy is everywhere — in modern naturalistic planting, in the return to meadows and no-mow lawns, in the rise of pollinator gardens and climate-conscious design. Designers like Piet Oudolf, Beth Chatto and Dan Pearson all walk in his footsteps. Even the Royal Horticultural Society, once a target of his ire, honoured him by renaming their journal The Garden in 1975. For Robinson — this feisty, self-taught gardener from Co Waterford — had redefined the English garden. So if you ever feel the urge to stop pruning and simply let things grow, you're not being lazy. You're doing what William Robinson did — trusting the land and letting the wild back in. Plant of the week Allium Ornamental onions are very cheerful plants that pop up their perfectly spherical heads in May and June. 'Purple Sensation' is a reliable choice with a rich colour. For something more dramatic, try 'Globemaster' which has giant lilac heads. If you prefer white, 'Mount Everest' is a good performer. My own favourite is 'Christophii', star of Persia, a globe of beautiful starry violet flowers with almost a metallic hint to them. Plant in autumn in a sunny spot in fertile well drained soil or add some grit to heavy clay soil. Reader Q&A Can you grow wisteria from seed? I have a wisteria which produced lots of seed pods last year and was hoping to grow some more but nothing happened. There's a much easier way to propagate wisteria — it's called layering. You do this by bending a long pliable stem that will reach the ground. Where the stem touches the ground, gently wound the stem by rubbing with a knife and now bury this part in the soil — if necessary, use a bit of wire bent to keep it in place. This will form its own root system while still attached to the mother plant. Next spring, you will be able to dig it up as a separate plant and pot up or plant elsewhere.
