I doubt very much your ancestors would have been in a 'tenement' in that area. Sunday's Well has always been one of the most affluent areas in Cork and the houses across from Buxton Place, houses which lead down to the Lee, are truly beautiful. Not far away is the Mardyke, a place where all Corkonians promenaded, but where the rich especially chose to spend their time. It is a lovely area all around there, especially in the Summer.
If memory serves me, Buxton Place may extend up beyond that big house, so that would explain the number of people living in that area.
Not far away you have the old Good Shepherd Convent, now converted into apartments, and the old Gaol. Strawberry Hill leads up to Blarney Street from near Buxton Place, and there you find yourself in very traditional old Cork, the ordinary working-class folks cheek by jowl with the rich of Sunday's Well. Worlds apart! I adore Sunday's Well and spent many a day there growing up in Cork. I walked through it several times a week and it has a lovely atmosphere. It is called Sunday's Well after the name in Gaelic 'Tobar Ri and Domhnaigh' which translates as 'The Well of the King of Sunday'. The well is much mentioned in Cork lore and as far as I am aware it is a feature still within living memory. The main Catholic Church of that area is 'St Vincent's' and there is a church of Ireland church building too, which has now been taken over by adherents of the Latin Mass.
I passed Buxton Place many a time and I am sure it extends, or used to, beyond what you see. It is a while since I investigated the area, though.
