1,090 Homes. 30 Acres of Woodland. The Taoiseach on Site. This Is What Housing at Scale Looks Like.
The O'Flynn Group has broken ground on the first phase of its 1,090-home Dunkettle masterplan — the largest single housing scheme currently under construction in Cork. Taoiseach Micheál Martin joined founder Michael O'Flynn on Monday to mark the occasion. Here is what the development means for Cork, for housing delivery and for the communities it will serve.
On Monday 9 June 2026, Taoiseach Micheál Martin stood on a 30-acre woodland site on the eastern outskirts of Cork city and said what Ireland's housing sector has been saying for years: the country needs housing schemes of scale.
The occasion was the official launch of the O'Flynn Group's Dunkettle housing scheme — the first phase of a 1,090-home masterplan that represents one of the most significant private residential developments currently under way in the country. Joining the Taoiseach at the sod-turning were Lord Mayor of Cork City Fergal Dennehy, Cork City Council CEO Valerie O'Sullivan and Michael O'Flynn, Founder and CEO of the O'Flynn Group.
The first homes are already sold out.
What Is Being Built
The Dunkettle development sits on lands the O'Flynn Group has owned since 2003 — a site of approximately 30 acres set within mature woodland in the Glanmire area, south-east of the Dunkettle Interchange, with direct access to the N25 and strong connectivity to Cork city centre, Little Island and the wider metropolitan area.
Phase One comprises 550 homes — a mix of two, three and four-bedroom terraced and semi-detached houses, 156 apartment and duplex units across ten blocks ranging from two to six storeys, and a neighbourhood centre and creche. Planning permission for Phase One was granted by Cork City Council in April 2025. The first release of 40 units is already sold out.
Phase Two — for which a planning application will be lodged this summer — adds a further 540 homes, bringing the total to 1,090 units. A separate planning application will also be submitted for Dunkettle House and its surrounding grounds, proposing a refurbishment of the historic house, walled garden and parkland to provide retail, artisan food, restaurant and other uses — effectively creating a commercial and community hub at the heart of the development.
The masterplan includes what the O'Flynn Group describes as a "key highlight" — extensive community open space, designed to promote social interaction and well-being among residents, with 26 acres of parkland fronting Dunkettle House retained as public amenity space.
The Context: Cork's Eastern Metropolitan Growth Corridor
Dunkettle is not a peripheral site. It sits within what the Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028 designates as the city's eastern metropolitan growth corridor — one of the strategic locations identified for planned, phased residential expansion alongside supporting infrastructure.
The opening of the €215 million Dunkettle Interchange in 2024 transformed the transport connectivity of the area, removing a significant historical constraint on its development potential. Previous attempts to develop the Dunkettle lands were stalled by planning and infrastructure challenges that those earlier traffic conditions made insurmountable. With the interchange open and Cork city's eastern road network transformed, those constraints no longer apply.
Tom O'Driscoll, Property and Development Director with the O'Flynn Group, said the site was approached with a "clear emphasis on careful masterplanning to make sure the development integrates with its surroundings, while delivering a sustainable and long-term community."
The Scale Question — Does Ireland Build at Scale?
The Taoiseach's presence at the Dunkettle launch was deliberate. The political message was clear: this is what the Government means when it talks about housing at scale — a single masterplan delivering over 1,000 homes on a single site, with community facilities, open space and commercial uses integrated from the outset.
Ireland's housing targets require an average of 50,000 new homes per year. In 2025, approximately 33,000 completions were recorded — a significant shortfall. The Government's own analysis identifies the absence of large-scale, masterplanned schemes as one of the structural weaknesses in Irish housing delivery. Individual schemes of 20, 30 or 50 units will never close the gap between supply and demand. Schemes of 500 to 1,000-plus homes, planned comprehensively and delivered systematically, are what the market requires.
The O'Flynn Group's track record adds credibility to the ambition. Founded in 1978, the group has completed more than 15,000 homes across Ireland. Its partnership with AIB — which has backed several of its recent Cork developments including Drakes Point in Crosshaven, Clonmore in Mallow and Spa Glen — passed the milestone of 6,000 homes financed together in February 2026.
What This Means for Cork City Council
For Cork City Council — which has set among the most ambitious social housing targets of any local authority in Ireland — the Dunkettle scheme represents a significant addition to the city's housing supply pipeline.
The scheme is not social housing — it is private market delivery. But its scale, location and phased delivery programme provides Cork City Council with the certainty it needs to plan supporting infrastructure: schools, roads, public transport, water and wastewater capacity. The €2 million EIB grant secured by Cork City Council in 2026 specifically to accelerate retrofitting, and the €200,000 fund opened to revitalise the city's main retail street, demonstrate an authority actively investing in the livability of a growing city.
Valerie O'Sullivan, CEO of Cork City Council, was present at the launch — a signal of the collaborative relationship between the developer and the local authority that the Government's housing framework specifically requires.
The Bottom Line
The O'Flynn Group's Dunkettle masterplan is not the only answer to Cork's housing needs. But it is one of the most concrete demonstrations currently available of what private sector housing delivery at scale actually looks like in Ireland in 2026.
1,090 homes. 30 acres of mature woodland retained. A neighbourhood centre, creche, historic house and 26 acres of parkland. Planning permission secured for Phase One. Phase Two to be lodged this summer. The Taoiseach on site for the sod-turning.
Ireland needs more of this. Cork is getting it.
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