Fix it up: D3 docklands cottage is ready for a refloat

A two-bedroom former workers’ terraced cottage at No3 Abercorn Road in Dublin 3 in need of a revamp. It comes with a living room, kitchen, a bathroom and a small back garden.

This is the sort of home that port workers lived in with families into double digits back in the day.

​Tell me more about the place...

Situated a few doors down from the house where playwright Seán O’Casey lived, this early 1900s home has just come on the market.

It’s on the edge of the IFSC and Dublin’s docklands, which means it is also close to transport links such as the Luas and Dart at Connolly Station, as well as numerous bus routes.

The downside is that prices have inflated in this once traditionally affordable location to such an extent that even small homes in this kind of condition are attracting a premium.

The bad news?

The house has been unoccupied for some time. The interior will have to be completely gutted, rewired, replumbed and redecorated at a minimum.

There may be scope to extend subject to planning. It currently has a Ber rating of G.

​The good news?

The agent’s brochure is at pains to point out the very decent ceiling heights and there may be an opportunity to ‘loftify’ the accommodation by installing a mezzanine floor. A future owner will certainly be able to avail of grants to improve the energy rating of the building, which may also qualify for grant aid under the vacant buildings scheme.

​How much to buy it?

The asking price is €200,000.

​And to fix it up?

An estimated €200,000 would be need to turn it into a high-spec modern city home including a small extension.

​What will I end up with?

Back when O’Casey was writing The Plough and The Stars, Dublin 4 would have seemed a galaxy away in cultural terms, let alone 45 minutes to walk.

But since 2005, thanks to the bridge named after him, that’s all changed. O’Casey may have been even more horrified by that thought.

At the very minimum, with the requisite investment and work, you could end up with the sort of two-bedroom city pad that would make the austere O’Casey turn in his grave.

You won’t get a habitable home in the neighbourhood currently for less than €350,000, nor one more central or connected.

​Who do I talk to?

Colum Butterly of DNG Fairview (01) 833 1802 will let you plough on with a viewing and let you decide whether No3 will have you seeing its stars.