Ex-Munster star Peter Stringer's Cork penthouse apartment up for sale

A FAMILY’S new life in Dubai, with work in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, has brought the top-level Leeside penthouse of Irish rugby legend Peter Stringer onto the open market for just under €500,000.

The sporting icon and former Ireland and Munster scrum-half made the career move to Dubai three and a half years ago with his wife, Debbie, and sons Noah, now aged eight, and Oscar, five, and the family is happily ensconced there.

Peter says of his children: “They love going back to Cork for summers and holidays, meeting family, and keeping in close contact. But they both love school here; they love sport, playing rugby, football, hurling. They love everything about the place and the lifestyle.”

The temperature was in the mid-20s when he spoke to the Irish Examiner by phone.

Having touched down in the Persian Gulf to continue his career in sport, Peter is selling his waterside Cork penthouse at Harty’s Quay, Rochestown, close to his family roots in Douglas. The property comes with a large roof terrace.

Peter bought the top-floor, 1,165sq ft pad solo in 2006, having purchased his first home in Rochestown after his first cap for Ireland in 2000, aged just 23. “I had good people around me and good advice,” acknowledges the now 48-year-old sports star.

No 102 The Mizen at Harty’s Quay in Rochestown comes to the market with estate agent Trevor O’Sullivan of Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, with an asking price of €495,000. It is a well-positioned property prize with sporting pedigree — Stringer’s former home and, more recently, a well-minded rental.

Mr O’Sullivan says: “At that, it’s going to be very popular. It’s waterfront, in a tranquil setting and is in tip-top shape.” He is anticipating a rolling scrum of interest in the two-bed, 1,165 sq ft home.

Harbour-facing No 102 The Mizen comes with secure basement parking, lift access, lofty interiors with a feature mezzanine and, as its crowning glory, a secure roof terrace. The terrace was much used by the rugby veteran back in the day, as a private outdoor retreat with views, for post-training wind-downs and for post-match celebratory barbecues.

The fit-for-purpose pad was a valued home for the scrum-half for several years after he bought it off-plan from McCarthy Developments in 2006.

He made some personal tweaks, including an internal feature glass-block wall to bring even more light into a space already flooded with rays from six-metre-high glazing in the main living area and overhead mezzanine.

He never house-shared. Peter says: “I loved my own private space, I was happy with my own company, and they were long days when playing and training, so I really welcomed my own space at the end of it.”

With an eye for positioning both on the rugby field and in property, Peter Stringer says the Harty’s Quay location was a key decision-maker when considering apartment living, as his parents still live in nearby Douglas.

He met his life partner, Tower/Blarney-born Debbie O’Leary, in 2008. They later married in Marbella in 2015, and he retired from professional rugby in 2018 after a cup- and cap-laden career — 98 Ireland caps in total — spanning Presentations Brothers’ College, Munster Rugby, Ireland and the Barbarians.

He also lined out for a further seven years in England with Bath, Saracens and Sale Sharks, while owning several homes in Cork over the past 25 years.

It is little surprise the Stringer clan were prepared to up sticks for an adventure further afield. After all, ‘give it a whirl’ dynamo Peter Stringer donned the sequins in Dancing with the Stars in 2019 and later signed up for RTÉ’s gruelling Ultimate Hell fitness challenge in 2021, noting at the time: “I’m someone who really lives with regret if I don’t take on a challenge.”

Today, Peter Stringer works as a high-performance director with Modon, overseeing several sports codes and assets. He also retains Irish business interests, including a part-owned F45 gym at Cork’s landmark Elysian, which is used by a wide range of sports and non-sports athletes.

The decision to sell No 102 Harty’s Quay reflects his commitment to this current life chapter, even though, “I love it still to this day,” he says of the Rochestown apartment. The property has been rented to a small number of professional tenants over the past nine years, typically couples.

Working abroad with a young family is “tough, but enjoyable and we’re happy out”.

With four grandparents back in Cork, what about the family’s future heading into year four in the Gulf?

“Never say never. This keeps me involved with sport, which is where my passion lies and we still get back to Ireland a lot.

“We love Cork, we do miss it and love going back for summer and at Christmas, and we enjoy showing visitors around when they come to us.

“We travel quite a bit and when we’re home we stay with family and friends. We see as much of them as we can.”

For now, the busy, active family live in a house in Dubai, close to Noah and Oscar’s English-language school.

The Harty’s Quay apartment — the couple’s former home — sits atop one of the nine blocks in the 175-unit mid-2000s development and is one of just a handful of penthouses. It will appeal to buyers seeking a lifestyle property on Leeside.

On the fringes of Douglas, the gated development sits along the popular harbour greenway walking and cycling route, which Peter Stringer once used as a training run.

Facing the McCarthy Developments scheme Jacob’s Island across the estuary, Harty’s Quay is surrounded by water on three sides, says Lisney SIR’s Trevor O’Sullivan, who has previously sold high-end apartments at Lancaster Quay (€1m) and Blackrock House (€1.35m). He is guiding No 102 Harty’s Quay at just shy of €500,000.

VERDICT: With a strong fit-out, prime waterfront position and excellent condition, No 102 The Mizen is a standout city penthouse — much like its former owner.

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