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REFURBISHMENT OF RINGMAHON HOUSE AND NEW SHELTERED HOUSING SCHEME

Ringmahon House was built around the beginning of the nineteenth century and is one of the most historic houses in the Blackrock area. James Murphy, brother of Bishop John Murphy of Cork, was granted a 21 year lease on the building in 1821.

The Murphy family were prominent merchants in Cork, involved in tanning, establishing a distillery in 1825 and later founding the famous brewery in 1856. More recently, the house became home to the Dunnes family (of retail fame), who financed extensive refurbishment works, including demolition of the adjoining caretaker’s annex, carried out in 2007.  

Parallel to these works, a new sheltered housing scheme, designed by Cork City Architects, was constructed within the grounds of Ringmahon House. This development on two floors includes 14 one-bed apartments and 2 two-bed apartments and was built on the footprint of the former stables and workshops.

The sheltered housing provides individual accommodation units capable of sustaining independent living with some communal space provision to support interaction between residents. The design, materials and architectural expression have been carefully considered in the context of the site, particularly its proximity to Ringmahon House.