THE great, big, warm, throbbing heart of No 2, St John’s, on Bull’s Lane, owes a great deal more to the people that lived there than it does to its physical structure. That’s not to take from its natural grace, which it has in spades. At its essence is a lifetime of joyous family memories, where every grandchild was given a special welcome, where every milestone was celebrated, and where sanctuary was at hand — for generations of doctors —from the emotional toll of a medical career. A rich vein of medics, going back many decades, has lived at No 2. Niamh Coffey, daughter of the most recent owners, the late Maud and Dr Brian Coffey, says the Maddens bought the house in the 1950s. Jack Madden was an ophthalmologist. He bought the house from the O’Connor family, whose daughter, Katy Keohane, went on to be a professor of neuropathology at University College Cork. Jack later sold it to a pathologist from the Bon Secours Hospital, JW Magner, who, in turn, sold it to Paddy Kiely, a member of a multigenerational family of doctors from Cork. It subsequently became the Coffey family home, when Maud and Brian bought it 48 years ago, after Brian, a University College Dublin medical school graduate, returned from his GP training in Suffolk. They reared three children there: Niamh, Marylou, and John, of whom. Niamh is also a GP, while Marylou is a primary school teacher in St Mark’s in the Glen, and John is communications chief at Musgraves. Niamh says her parents were a great team and that her mother, along with raising three children, was effectively her husband’s secretary, after he joined the Medigroup Practice on Cathedral Rd in 1974, where he partnered with Dr Owen Shorten. “Mum was brilliant. There were no mobile phones or pagers at the time. Dad was on call every second night. He would ring home in between visiting patients to see if any more calls had come in. Mum was constantly taking messages and passing them on.” Niamh believes the Bull’s Lane homes — there are three in the terrace, tucked off the main laneway — were among the first in the city to have phone lines, which would have been quite the luxury. It would explain why the houses were very attractive to doctors. The doctor/patient relationship with the laneway goes back to 1799, when a private asylum, called Bull’s Asylum, also known as the Citadella, opened at the end of the lane. Even though Bull’s Lane is at the city end of the Blackrock Road, the city fades away once you turn into the courtyard garden that fronts the homes in St John’s. Stepped well back from the laneway, it oozes rustic charm. Although the front entrance to the terrace is shared with a second home, with parking out front, there’s a great sense of privacy in this quiet residential cul de sac. To the rear, privacy goes up a gear, as the bottom of the garden is bounded by a magnificent old stone wall and the sides are lined with trees and shrubs, like magnolias and camellias, which look marvelous right now. Maud was the gardener, Niamh says, and was a woman of many talents. An avid sailor, she won the National Fireball Championship before she married. Later, she was involved in setting up the GP Wives’ Association. While the wives weren’t employees of the practice, their role in supporting their husbands was instrumental to the job and the aim of the association was to make their voices heard. Maud later worked in the multimedia department at what was then Cork Institute of Technology, now Munster Technological University. She was also a huge fan of Munster rugby, as was her husband, and they followed the Irish team on tours to Argentina, South Africa, and World Cups in New Zealand and Australia, but the house was always a solid base for family life. “It was our family home for 48 years, and, growing up, it was such a privilege, as it was a stone’s throw from the city, and yet was a sanctuary of peace and quiet. “It was always filled with laughter and happiness and was the setting for countless family gatherings: Milestone birthdays, pre-wedding celebrations, christenings of grandchildren, and every Christmas spent there,” Niamh says. Maud and Brian’s 13 grandchildren have fond memories of Bull’s Lane: Of the pavlova baked by granny to celebrate their birthdays; of grandad barbequing on the terrace above the back lawn; of playing ball; of collecting tomatoes from the glasshouse with granny, and of picking apples from the two large apple trees at the end of the garden. The 215sq m house was wonderful for entertaining, with two big, bright, high-ceiling reception rooms to the front, one with a feature box bay, the other with a timber floor, reclaimed from what is now Michael Flatley’s home in Castlehyde, sourced through O’Flynn’s Flooring in Douglas. A door leads from this room to the garden, which can also be accessed from the kitchen. A staircase, fitted with brass stair rods, leads from the warm, inviting hallway to four overhead bedrooms, one with an ensuite, another dual aspect, all doubles. There’s a study on this floor, too, which could be a bedroom. The study was an important part of Brian’s professional life, as he was involved in GP training and held a number of roles in the Irish College of General Practitioners, in the areas of education, assessment, standard setting, and the future of general practice. He was also chair of the college. Kerry football was high on his agenda. His grandfather was a dispensary doctor in Tralee, his father was a hospital physician, and a grand uncle, Denis Coffey, was a professor of physiology, who later became the first president of UCD. Niamh continues the family tradition and is now a senior partner in the Cathedral Road Medigroup Practice. Sadly, her parents died suddenly on successive February bank holiday weeks, in 2023 and 2024, and the house that was a family home for almost half a century has come to market. Selling this lovely property, which dates back to about 1800, is Tim Sullivan, of Timothy Sullivan & Associates, and he describes it as “a magnificent period residence, bright and spacious, well-maintained, with an abundance of character and attractive old-style features and a stunning rear garden”. Some aspects will probably be upgraded by the next owners, such as kitchen, bathrooms, and energy efficiency (currently an E1). The roof was redone eight years ago, the chimney was repaired, and the attic insulated. Rewiring and replumbing of the house was carried out in the last 15 years. The price for No 2 is €725,000. VERDICT: A home pulsing with heart and charm in a unique cityside location.