I had planned to return from Blackrock to the city centre by bus but I was unwilling to wait an hour for the next bus so i got to explore Blackrock Road and Ballintemple village. I had forgotten that I once had a friend who lived on Blackrock road and their family home was huge and it still is but they moved to Australia decades ago.

Black, dark brown and dark popular appear to be the colours of choice on this road connecting Blackrock to Cork City centre.

According to some sources there are more than thirty properties on the market along Blackrock Road which is home to over 16 individual private homes that have sold for over €1m in the past decade, many for multimillion euro sums.

However, one thing that stood out like a sore thumb during my visit to Cork was the sheer quantity of derelict or unoccupied properties. It should be noted that Limerick and Belfast have similar problems as does Dublin to a much lesser extent.

In case you are wondering there are a number of unoccupied or properties in very poor condition along or near Blackrock Road.