A PLANNING APPLICATION has been lodged for the proposed demolition of a derelict 19th century Gothic style house and the building of a new property on a site where a 64-year-old man was murdered in 2019.

In March 2023, a jury at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork found 31-year-old chef Ionut Cosmin Nicholescu guilty of the murder of Frankie Dunne.

Mr Dunne was found partially dismembered and headless on the ground of Castlegreine House in Boreenmanna Road in Cork city on 28 December 2019. His body was discovered under a tree on the property.

Cork City Council will next month make a decision on whether to grant planning for the construction of a new two-storey detached dwelling at the site.

The application is for the demolition of the existing two-storey house, as well as an existing single-storey outbuilding.

Planning permission is sought for proposed alterations to the existing entrance and all associated site works including services.

The property and its ground sold for €485,000 in February of this year. It had been uninhabited and in a state of major disrepair for many years.

It was distinguished locally by its distinctive Gothic architectural features, including dark silhouetted castellations. A decision on the application is due on 5 October.

Meanwhile, Nicholescu, who was a native of Branistea, Dambovita County, Romania claimed that he stumbled upon two men who had carried out the murder when making his way in to the derelict period house in which he was squatting.

He told police in Romania that the two men had made him bag the remains of Mr Dunne.

The jury however  rejected his explanation.

Ray Boland, SC, for the prosecution said that the “two phantoms” were a figment of the imagination of the accused. He said that Nicholescu had made up a completely unrealistic story about “baddies” who forced him to get involved in their crime.

Nicholescu was jailed for life for the murder of Mr Dunne, who the trial heard was a “much loved” father and grandfather.

Frankie Dunne

The chef had fled the jurisdiction following the murder. He was brought back to Ireland in September 2021 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant.

The trial had heard that the body of Mr Dunne could have remained undiscovered in bushes in the property only for local man, Joseph Pierce. He received a call from his wife who was worried about their missing cat called Mouse.

Pierce gave evidence in which he said that he had lived in the area for over 20 years but had never stepped foot in the garden of Castlegreine House until the afternoon of 28 December 2019, when he decided to give the area a quick browse before light was lost for the day.

Initially, he was in disbelief at what he saw under a bush in Castlegreine House and thought it was a mannequin or a holy statue.

Following the sentencing hearing, the Dunne family said in a statement that Frankie was a “kind and gentle man.”