Concern over stalled progress in bringing historic Cork building back into use

A CORK city councillor has expressed concern that the historic Boole House - once the lodgings of the famous mathematician, George Boole - may once again find itself on the Derelict Sites Register.

In 2017 the house was removed from the Derelict Sites Register following the completion of stabilisation works co-funded by Cork City Council and University College Cork (UCC).

After this initial phase one project work, Boole House was handed over to UCC which is now in ownership of the building and responsible for its completion.

UCC had outlined plans for the renovation of 5 Grenville Place, stating that the building would accommodate a range of teaching, research and innovation initiatives as well as a visitors’ centre to celebrate George Boole.

However, since the work in 2017, the project appears to have stalled, prompting criticism from historian and Independent Cork city councillor, Kieran McCarthy.

“I am not happy at all with the progress,” Mr McCarthy told The Echo.

“It was welcome in 2016 and 2017 that the unstable rear wall has been removed and the structure stabilised, with the addition of a new steel frame, which also supports the new floors and roof.

“The bow-fronted section was restored in line with RIAI Conservation best practice.

“It was a great project for this corner of the city and had many win-win situations – cleaning up the derelict corner around St Vincent’s Bridge and Bachelor’s Quay, bringing a sustainable use to the old Georgian building whilst highlighting a giant in international mathematical history, that of George Boole.

“But now everything has stalled and the building has veered back into a derelict state again, despite all the investment by Cork City Council and UCC.

“I have called on the council’s planning department to intercede and on UCC to find a use for the building before we are fully back to square one with a derelict site,” he continued.

In a statement, UCC said it is “fully committed to completing the refurbishment and fit-out of no 5 Grenville Place (Boole House)”.

“Both the building and site have been preserved and secured by UCC and the City Council, and as a result is not on the Derelict Sites Register.

“Boole House is on UCC’s priority list for capital investment, and the University is actively exploring funding options for the project.

“UCC expects to proceed with detailed design and tendering of the remaining works in 2022,” the statement continued.

In 1849, when George Boole took up his appointment as Professor of Mathematics at the newly opened Queen’s College Cork, now UCC, he first lived at a boarding house and then moved later that year to 5 Grenville Place, where he would remain until 1855.

He shared lodgings there with an old friend from his native Lincoln, Raymond de Vericour, who was Professor of Modern Languages at the college.

The 18th century building was where Boole wrote An Investigation of the Laws of Thought, which centred around his theory of logic and probabilities.