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- 6/21/2025
The Great House Revival episode 4 2025
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CreativityTranscript
00:00All around Ireland there are old townhouses and estate homes, remote farm cottages and
00:08abandoned outbuildings literally rotting into the ground.
00:12I'm just worried that the whole wall will want to pop.
00:15At risk of disappearing forever.
00:19The task of taking on crumbling walls and preservation orders is a daunting one.
00:25It's not particularly comfortable, there's no heating for example.
00:28And saving an old building can seem an almost impossible ask.
00:33So to demolish this and put it back, I dread to think, the price of a small house.
00:39Have we taken on more than we can chew?
00:42But in the right hands, the results can be truly astonishing.
00:49In this series, I'll meet people who are determined to take on this challenge.
00:53As an architect with a passion for restoration, I am fascinated to see how they're going to
01:00transform their dilapidated old buildings into unique 21st century homes.
01:06Brought back to life with passion and imagination.
01:10Great architecture responds to the needs of the people that live within it.
01:28Throughout Ireland, but nowhere more so than here in County Dudney Gaul, there is evidence of great Irish
01:36architecture, albeit in a humble guise.
01:42From fridge magnets to postcards, the image of the whitewashed, detached cottage is synonymous with
01:49Ireland the world over. Everything about them has a function.
01:53From the slope of the floors to the depth of the walls, there is design and purpose.
01:58For me, these buildings are misunderstood and they most certainly are overlooked and undervalued.
02:08But what if you are somebody for whom these buildings have a meaning and a value?
02:15Can you restore them and remain true to the simplicity of the character and yet create a warm,
02:23modern home that you and I would like to live in?
02:26This is exactly what Irene McDermott is planning to do with the ancestral home she inherited in
02:34Leenann Kiel on the edge of the Inishon Peninsula in County Donegal.
02:39Her cottage is part of a small enclave which is one of the last remaining examples of how
02:45communities lived together in the past.
02:48Tucked away in the corner of this wild, unspoilt and dramatic landscape,
02:53this cottage has been home to Irene's mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and even her
02:58great-great-grandmother. So to say the ties run deep here is a bit of an understatement.
03:05My family, going back generations, lived here and they were tenant farmers.
03:10The date I have is from 1780. There were five farms here, this is known as a clochen, which is Gaelic,
03:17I think for a small holding. But they were all related, they were all, you know, related by marriage.
03:23Irene's 91-year-old mom emigrated from here as a young woman to the UK and raised her family there,
03:30but brought Irene home to Donegal every summer to stay at her grandmother's cottage.
03:35Today, Irene is a nurse in the UK, but she has decided to devote her NHS pension to saving her
03:42beloved family home from dereliction. For her, it's entirely a labour of love.
03:48You know, I always loved it here. It always has felt like home to me. I mean,
03:52I have pictures of myself on the Strand with my mum and my dad and my brother and sister.
03:56Irene has managed to raise €100,000 to rescue her beloved Dean Anne Keel cottage.
04:04To hold the decay, she has already spent €30,000 on rebuilding the walls and re-thatching the roof,
04:10and now has a mere €70,000 left for the entire restoration and transformation of the cottage.
04:16I'm very scared, really scared and thinking, what have I done? I'm not particularly wealthy,
04:21I'm a nurse, and I got my NHS pension, and I thought, well, there's my pot. So that's kind
04:28of what I used, you know, to start the ball rolling. Although Irene and her Kilibegs-born husband
04:34raised their two sons in the UK, Irene has harboured dreams of settling back here for as long as she can
04:41remember. I could see myself back here permanently. I hope.
04:46Up until 2014, Irene's uncle Michael was the custodian of the family homestead.
04:54Michael didn't marry quite a private man, quite a quiet man. He didn't like change. I mean,
05:01he was very sensible, but, you know, he didn't like rushing into things, so he'd take his time.
05:05Irene continued to visit regularly, but when her uncle moved into a mobile home on site a number of
05:13years ago, the cottage fell into disrepair. He was quite happy. He had no running water,
05:20he had no toilet facilities, you know, but he was happy. In 2014, Michael passed away and left the
05:27cottage to Irene. I think, well, I think it was about 12 or something. I don't know why, but I wrote a
05:34piece of paper with my name on it, and I said to him, if anything happened, can I have the farm and
05:40the animals? I found that when he passed away, I've still got it.
05:50As I drive north along the Inishon Peninsula, I'm struck by the startling rate at which our
05:56traditional thatch cottages are crumbling and dissolving back into the ground, so much so that
06:01today there are less than 2,500 of them left. But for every one of these ruins, there is a story of
06:08a family, a story of fortitude and endurance. I'm looking forward to meeting Irene, who is putting
06:15her life savings on the line to make sure her family home endures, and with it, a little piece of
06:21power of heritage. Hello, Irene. How are you doing? What an amazing building, isn't it? It's beautiful,
06:29isn't it? Would you like to come and have a look? So this is it. This is, this is, this is the home today.
06:41When you're outside the house, because of the thatch, it doesn't look too bad. But when you come in here,
06:46you can still see the extensive amount of work you have to do. Yeah, there's a lot to do. Yeah,
06:50it's a big challenge. It's obviously totally unlivable at the moment, and there are no services,
06:55there's no water, there's no facilities. Are you getting in some water? Yes, yes, yeah.
06:59Ah! Yes, definitely getting water in. What I think is extraordinary is its simplicity.
07:06Yeah. Originally, this was the cottage. This was it. Just, yeah, from that wall there to this,
07:11this end here, this was, the whole family would have been right here. And they had a kitchen bed.
07:15Some people call them settle beds, but the kitchen bed was there. It looks quite small,
07:20but in actual fact, you know, my mom and her brother used to sleep in there.
07:28So, Irene, we're in the modern extension. You are, yes. There used to be a great big
07:32wheel here, and this is where all the threshing was done. So a lot of dust.
07:36But as a kid, this is your room. This was our room. We used to have two big iron beds that
07:41the bottoms were here, head there, head there, water there, and the fire would be lit.
07:47It would be a lit fire at night.
07:53Irene's house began as a one-room cottage that was gradually extended one room at a time.
07:59Initially, a wheat thrashing room was added to the left of the front door. Her grandparents then built on
08:06a bedroom to the right of the kitchen. And finally, a buyer for keeping the animals was added at the
08:12far end. Irene plans to keep the original cottage as the heart of this house. Her grandparents' room
08:20will be restored as a master bedroom and a bathroom. The threshing room will become a new sitting room for
08:27Irene. And finally, the buyer at the end of the house will be transformed into a guest bedroom.
08:36So if I take you up the other end, this would have been the second room added onto the house
08:43in the early days. It looks very ancient, doesn't it? This was my grandparents' room and my uncle's.
08:51And it looks very high, but obviously the floor is not in its original place. There were floorboards,
08:57but they completely rotted. And they went to probably the level of that.
09:01They got the posh fireplace. They did. I would say it's beautiful,
09:06but I don't remember that working myself. My mum would, and she does remember painting it. And
09:12whenever they were going to have the Stations of the Cross, everything got painted. That was a done
09:16thing here as well. It was just like spring cleaning in a sense. Everything would get a lick of paint.
09:21Irene desperately wants to save the family home that means so much to her. And although she believes
09:29her aspirations are modest, this is a difficult building to work with. It might not be listed,
09:35but this centuries old cottage will not be easy to restore in a way that maintains its original
09:42character. There has never been running water, proper electric wiring, or even a toilet. And with
09:48a limited budget of 70,000 euro, it's going to be some job to update this cottage to modern levels of comfort.
09:55Irene goes back to the UK, leaving the cottage in the capable hands of conservation architect Duncan McLaren,
10:07who, like Irene, is committed to restoring this cottage to its original character.
10:15Ultimately, the house has to be comfortable. It has to be practical. And that's, I suppose,
10:19that's the highest priority. Obviously, the restoration of the building, it does add a layer
10:24of complexity that we could avoid if we went about things a different way, but you'd be left with a
10:30different building. You know, this building has a unique character, so that's really what we're
10:36trying to capture as much of that as we can. Here in Lienann Kiel, Irene is continuing the tradition
10:45of the long house. Today, she's knocking through the gable wall to create a new bedroom from the bar,
10:51where the animals would have slept in the past.
10:56It's always a little bit worrying, because when we look at the material that the building is made
11:01of, most of the mortar in the walls here is made of earth. What we found when we were doing the roof
11:07was that the earth had been washed out in lots of places. The worst thing that we can find when we
11:13start breaking through this opening is that there'll be nothing holding it all together, so
11:18the risk is that the wall can start to unravel. I'll be happier when it's done.
11:24Builder John Doherty has his work cut out. That's tough labor, yeah. It takes three times as long,
11:29basically. You just don't know what you're going to get in the middle of a wall. A clay pipe.
11:36But this 18th century cottage was never built with modern conveniences in mind.
11:41So we're running the cables through the floor. One of the key issues is you can't bury the
11:46socket boxes into the two-foot stone wobbly walls. The only place the cables can run are either
11:52overhead concealed under the thatch or under the floor.
12:03I'm full of admiration for Irene's personal commitment to save her family cottage, but I can't
12:09help wondering why she is the exception to the rule. I've come to Gorta Hork in north-west
12:15Donegal to meet Greg Stevenson, co-author of Traditional Cottages of County Donegal, who has an in-depth
12:21knowledge of the significance of these cottages. We're losing these cottages, and their value today
12:28is perhaps seen as something cute, as something good for tourism, something which is good for the economy.
12:33And all of that's true, but also I think it's much more important than that, because these are the houses
12:36that tell the story of the Irish people. This is the heritage of Ireland. This is the story of the folk
12:42of Ireland.
12:42I just wonder when people pass by these cottages, is there a stigma attached to them? That it was
12:49sort of associated with our poverty? And maybe people are reticent about moving into that. And we do
12:57need to move on, because they are so important, and there are so few left in the country.
13:02And I think you're right. I think people in the past have associated these with poverty,
13:06and they've wanted to move on from them.
13:10The cottage we're standing in today is the birthplace of author Mickey McGowan,
13:15and a unique example of these rural traditional buildings.
13:18The beauty of this cottage is that it really hasn't changed since the 19th centuries. It's not so much
13:25a restoration as just an original example, which we're so fortunate to have.
13:29So this is a bog oak roof. All of this wood would either have washed up on the beach
13:33here in Maharoti, or it would have come from the bog. So these are possibly very ancient timbers,
13:39thousands of years old, which have been preserved in the acidic, peaty conditions of the bog.
13:44And of course, that's why they've survived in many ways, because it's so hard,
13:47and it's so hardy, this wood, and they've survived right into the 21st century.
13:50And behind you, you've a lovely little box bed. Absolutely fantastic box bed here,
13:55and there's two wonderful ones, there's twin box beds in the bedroom next door.
14:02Irene is still in the UK, but I returned to her cottage at Lean Ann Keel,
14:07with a whole new appreciation of the value of what she's trying to do here.
14:11Today, we talk about eco-friendly homes. This house was literally built from the environment.
14:22250 years ago, there were no building materials, so you had to use everything that was around you
14:28in the area. So the stone came from the mountains, the pebbles came from the beach,
14:33the timber came from bog oak. And in fact, because of the size of the timbers, they actually defined
14:42the width of the room. And that's why these cottages are one room wide, because you couldn't
14:48get timber. There was two rooms wide. So when they built a cottage like this, you started with one
14:54room in the middle, and then you added one room to one end, and then you added one room to the other
14:59end, and so on. The reason that the floors sloped down to the door is that if you did have a flood
15:07or water coming in, it wouldn't actually get up to the fire and put it out, because the fire was the
15:13most important thing in this home. Summer, winter, autumn, spring, it didn't matter. There would have
15:19been a fire lit there, which would be continuously burning. It kept the roof dry. The family were out
15:27on the land, trying to eke out a living. The whole family got involved in bringing in the harvest,
15:34because if they didn't bring in the harvest, they starved that winter. It was as simple as that.
15:42For Irene, this was no hovel. Her memories here are ones of her grandparents, her mother,
15:50and the fact there was no running water or toilet is irrelevant.
15:58However, we're not as hardy as our ancestors, and to make this cottage fit for purpose for
16:04Irene today is more complicated than it seems. This restoration could well turn out to be a battle
16:11between the head and the heart, with Irene's purse stuck in the middle.
16:21It's over a month since my last trip to the tip of the Inishown Peninsula.
16:25Duncan has been working hard, while Irene has been in the UK. But she's back now,
16:31and I'm eager to see if she's happy with how things are moving along.
16:34So work's progressing on the house? Yeah, yeah. I know you can't really tell from the outside,
16:42because nothing on the outside is really going to change a lot, but from the inside point of view,
16:46they put the pipes underground. Services to go under the house, I think they had a mini digger in to do
16:52that. Right. I wanted to have a chat with Duncan. I did email him about the windows to say that I was
16:57a little bit concerned that they're not really in the best of condition. You can't really see through
17:02them very well. You'd think they were frosted, but it is literally from sand and salt and wind and just
17:09over the years. As a conservation architect, Duncan is determined to do everything in his power
17:16to save the original windows, if at all possible. They obviously look very bad, but they are still,
17:22we think, are in a repairable condition. Salvageable. Salvageable, that's right.
17:27But to start with, they need a really good clean, for which Duncan has a most unusual,
17:35and might I say, low-tech solution. So we've been trying some different cleaning materials. There's
17:40basically ordinary baking soda, bicarbonated soda and white vinegar. So when you mix them together,
17:48you get a little chemical reaction starts to take place. Right.
17:51No, I suppose in most houses we come across, the glass wouldn't be such an issue. I think the key
17:59thing here is Irene's not sure that she'd be able to see out of the windows. Yeah, which you'd like.
18:04Which obviously she would like. I need them to be functional, to be able to open and to close,
18:11and to see out and bring light in. So I'm quite concerned at the moment. Duncan is still quite keen
18:18that we try and restore as best we can. We've probably gone as far as you can go on that, I think.
18:23What do you feel about this sort of level of life? It's very difficult to assess now.
18:27It is very difficult. It's like, you know, if it's a sunny day and you walk in,
18:31but then I remember that when I was younger. You walk in, you can't see for a minute,
18:35but you do soon sort of adjust.
18:40In restoring this cottage, Irene is bringing her whole family history,
18:45and her memories of it back to life. Her desire is to create a link between past and future generations.
18:54So it's understandable why she wants to remain true to the cottage. However, that comes at a price,
19:00and as we saw today, that price could be something as essential as natural light.
19:06While Irene and Duncan work faithfully to preserve the very unique character of her family cottage,
19:27I've come back to Gortahor to catch up with Brian Lafferty, the man who restored the most iconic aspect of her cottage,
19:34the thatched roof. Brian, there's fewer thatched cottages, so how do you feel about that?
19:41It's a bit sad to see them all disappear, and I think in a few years' time they will disappear.
19:46Because of the cost? Well, the cost is one particular thing, yeah, but
19:51people seem to want to move on to bigger and better houses.
19:54Keen to get first-hand experience of this dying art, I happily don the hat of the thatcher's apprentice.
20:05It's a very slow process. That's other styles of thatching you can put on the full bundle,
20:13Yeah.
20:13and move it up the roof. But this is broken down into small handfuls.
20:17And the important thing is not to show too much of your stem.
20:23Brian, you did Irene's roof.
20:26That's okay, yeah.
20:27You did quite a good job.
20:29That's okay.
20:31It was almost gone.
20:34You know, probably it was just fortunate that Irene got the cottage leg because
20:41most other people would have knocked it. It was in terrible condition.
20:45So, Brian, you come up here and you work away.
20:50You see, it's nice and quiet. I have some great memories. I don't drink a lot or hardly any at all.
20:57I remember doing a job for a lady one time and she was very superstitious.
21:01Right.
21:02And every evening I had to suffer and drink a can of beer.
21:08Right.
21:10Because she said her father always said that a dry thatcher was a wet roof.
21:15You're right.
21:26Saddened by the demise of this beautiful craft, it is with great enthusiasm that
21:30I have come to Bondoorn in County Donegal to meet architect Declan McCabe,
21:34McCabe, another champion of these near-extinct cottages.
21:39All of these buildings tell a story.
21:42You know, they're part of our culture, part of our history.
21:45It's very easy just to let them go, you know, and let them disintegrate.
21:52Declan's creative approach has been to open the door to modernity and an abundance of
21:58light while still conserving the character and integrity of the original building.
22:02We've created a glass link so that when you move from the old building you can get a glimpse
22:08of the old cottage.
22:09It's actually really noticeable from the staircase when you're coming down and it's really powerful.
22:16The fact that the catch doesn't touch anything.
22:21I think the excitement in a project is actually building the old with the new.
22:25I think it's terrific because, you know, it's different.
22:28The stone is different, the detailing, the lovely glass balcony upstairs.
22:32You know, there's lovely details here.
22:35The old cottage is all about intimacy, coziness and comfort.
22:40The new extension is light and airy, open plan living.
22:44But with so much charm and history to recommend them, why does Declan think we are letting
22:51these cottages die out?
22:52A lot of people are put off buying a protective structure.
22:56Are they too hard to heat?
22:57Damp issues.
22:58Insurance premiums for thatch cottages in Ireland are very high.
23:02You take a pensioner living in rural Ireland to pay two to three thousand per annum on insurance
23:08is colossal.
23:09These are all key factors and people making a decision and the easy way out very often is
23:15just forget about it and build a new house or a new home.
23:19In my opinion, an awful lot of cottages are just undervalued.
23:25There's something really enjoyable about living in a space, being able to touch that material
23:33where generations beforehand have done so.
23:41One area where there is a glimmer of hope for the survival of these cottages is tourism.
23:47Over the last number of years, they've become a major attraction for tourists eager to experience
23:52our vernacular Irish architecture.
23:55Mamor cottages are a group of four original Donegal-style cottages only a few kilometres
24:01up the road from Irene's.
24:03I've come here today with Irene with one question in mind.
24:06Are they bright enough inside?
24:08Oh, that's nice.
24:11So, initially when you come in here, you know, you just get this sense of such a lack of light
24:19compared with modern houses today.
24:21Yeah, yeah.
24:22And I know that's noticeable, but I like it because I think it feels so homely and warm.
24:28It is, it's just nice, it's a nice natural light.
24:31When you close the door, you know, it really is quite dark.
24:37That's how I remember it.
24:39I think I need a torch.
24:40You can have a tilly lamp, always a good idea to have one handy anyway, because if the lights
24:46go out, it's going to be dark.
24:47But, um, it's just something about it.
24:50It feels really natural as opposed to the bright lights, sort of, that you have.
24:55And of course, a lot of the time you're going to have the half door.
24:59Yeah.
25:00Let's so much more light into the space.
25:03I tell you what's interesting is now that we're here a little while, your eyes do adjust.
25:08They do.
25:11Yeah, they do.
25:12They do.
25:13I'll be warm.
25:14Oh, that's nice.
25:16So we're sitting here and we're very comfortable.
25:19Yes.
25:20It is the middle of the summer.
25:21Yeah.
25:22And I have my jacket on.
25:23Yeah.
25:24So I wonder what it's going to be like in the middle of the winter.
25:26I wouldn't like to live particularly in a house all the time and feel cold walking around
25:31from room to room.
25:32I don't mind, you know, if you're, if you're busy and you're moving around, just popping
25:35an extra jumper on.
25:36But in the evening, if you were sitting here, I wouldn't like to get up and be warm here
25:40and walk and be really cold in the bedroom.
25:41So I do hope to have some form of heating that's just, just ticking over where there's a bit
25:48of a warmth, you know, it's not particularly, I don't need, you know, a very, very hot.
25:53I mean, some of our modern houses are perhaps overheated and I think it's quite nice to have
25:58the odd draft, to be honest.
25:59I think it's healthier.
26:00So you're exploring that at the moment with them?
26:03I am.
26:04And I mean, it is important also because when family come, you know, there might be,
26:08there'd be older people, there'd be younger people.
26:10You know, I don't want people to feel cold and uncomfortable.
26:18It's a stressful business carrying out a restoration from another country.
26:23But Irene is acutely aware of why she's doing it.
26:26When I'm in England and I'm working, there's not a minute in the day and you don't get
26:30time to stop to eat or to stop to drink.
26:32And, you know, sometimes I think it would just be nice to be here to stop.
26:36This is where I stop.
26:40This is my happy place.
26:42The very minute I arrive here, I relax.
26:45Memories come flooding back.
26:48When the turf fires are on, the smell of the turf in the air even, I think about people
26:53that were here a lot.
26:56It's the sort of place you do think about them because their presence is here still.
27:00Irene's close ties to her people, the Carnies, is evident.
27:08They obviously have a special place in her heart.
27:10But what kind of people were they?
27:13I've come to meet genealogist Nicola Morris to find out.
27:17The earliest documentary evidence that we have for the Carnie family comes from the Tithe
27:22Plotman books.
27:23This is a land survey taken in 1827, which documents three Carnie households, John, Edward
27:29and Brian Carnie, together leasing 56 acres of land.
27:33And that sort of together part is quite important.
27:36Right.
27:37Because the Carnies were living in a kind of a cluster of housing.
27:41So this kind of clocking system or Rundale system where the houses are clustered together
27:46and they collectively essentially farm the lands around them.
27:49They're pooling their resources together to sort of maximise the output from them.
27:54It's just fascinating because this is sort of a little microcosm.
27:57And one of the things that keeps coming up in all of these accounts of people who visited
28:01the parish in the 19th century is the rich soil that was there.
28:05They used the seaweed from the shore and manure to improve the soil.
28:09So they were very successful growing crops.
28:11So they were growing potatoes.
28:12They were growing oats.
28:13They were growing barley.
28:14They were growing flax.
28:15So by the time we get to the outbreak of the famine, so the failure of the potato crop
28:19in 1845, we get several accounts which give us an idea of how people might have faced
28:27the famine.
28:28So one of these is a letter from a local rector, Cruickshank.
28:32So in August 1846, he's writing to the Famine Relief Commission to send money back because
28:41he doesn't believe his parishioners need it.
28:43There is no specific want at this time.
28:46What an honest man.
28:47I know.
28:48He's also saying that the price of grain in the parish has gone down.
28:51So we're looking at there being potentially a surplus of grain as well.
28:55So that's August 1846.
28:57We're almost one year into the famine now.
28:59And this speaks to, again, comments that were made about the quality of the soil that had
29:03been cultivated in the area right around Leenann and Leenann Keel.
29:08They had created a very, very valuable land for cultivation.
29:11So the crops were really good.
29:15Irene had hoped she would be in her brand new restored Donegal cottage for November.
29:20But that was before she took into account summertime in Donegal.
29:24It's holiday time.
29:25It's festival time.
29:27So I think there was a bit of a lull.
29:29I thought things weren't happening because things were quite quiet.
29:33I wasn't hearing from Duncan.
29:35I suppose the biggest issue, there's not a lot been happening.
29:40And that's partly to do with builders' holidays.
29:44Two weeks of the six.
29:46Most people are away at some point, including myself.
29:48Last week there was the Clon Mani Festival and basically nobody works then.
29:55And so that means that I suppose we've had four weeks work and even that's been fairly intermittent.
30:03So I suppose the concerns would be now that we need to get things back on track.
30:07It's the end of the summer, people start to focus again on work.
30:11Given that I thought that the end was maybe in November.
30:16That's not indefinite, I think.
30:17But I thought there's a lot to do.
30:20What's left to do really is there's quite a lot of joinery work, kitchen units to build, windows to repair, the front door and the glazed door for this room.
30:32Once they're done, we're into a second fix.
30:35The plastering, as you can see, is ongoing at the moment, so that shouldn't take too long.
30:40Then we're into whitewashing.
30:42So where are we now?
30:44We're in the middle of August.
30:45So, yeah, I think November, really, if you allow for drying time as well, that really is a good target.
30:55Oh, wow.
30:57I keep thinking of how much maybe is to do and hopefully there's enough money to cover it all.
31:02You know, that kind of crosses my mind every now and again.
31:04I mean, I sort of look at the budgeting that Duncan had given me and seem to be okay.
31:11I'm delighted the services are sort of almost in.
31:14I mean, the electricity first and second fixes.
31:17But, yeah, I think a lot about the heat.
31:19I'm still not 100% sure of how the heating's going to work.
31:27I am off to County Down to meet a pioneering couple, Stephen and Clare Golombosky-Byrne,
31:33who have restored their 1840s home, lack in Cottage on remarkably little money and have found ways to heat it with equal resourcefulness.
31:42We didn't have any money, which has made us very inventive.
31:45We have a lot of reclaimed bits and pieces.
31:47Our kitchen is made from the ceiling that came out of another room.
31:50I love the old extension.
31:51You know, it's all, we had a very small budget.
31:56What was your budget?
31:5715 grand.
31:58Yeah.
31:59People would be very envious.
32:01In eco-friendly house, there's sort of extremes.
32:04Yes.
32:05And to a lot of people, you'd be out there.
32:07Yeah.
32:08We're off-grid.
32:09We grow our own fuel as well.
32:11We harvest rainwater.
32:12We take care of a lot of our own waste on site, that sort of thing.
32:16A lot of it's about having smaller bills.
32:18If you say to most people, would you like a house that has a 50-pound-a-year heating bill and no electricity bill?
32:25If you could reduce your running costs to next to nothing, wouldn't you do it?
32:29This looks like a Heath Robinson railway engine.
32:32You're just expected to sort of move.
32:34It's called a rocket mass heater.
32:36Rocket because of the sound.
32:37And mass because it's heating this bench.
32:40So that heats this room?
32:41And that heats this room, yeah.
32:43So, does that balance between restoring and the reality of living in a house like this?
32:50Yes.
32:51As time's gone on, we've realised, you know, that the balance has maybe shifted more in the direction of the practicalities.
32:58So when we first came, we wanted to just preserve it as a traditional cottage.
33:03And then we realised that there has to be a compromise to make it a usable family home, mainly in terms of warmth.
33:10We use natural materials, so we've lime and hemp plaster in here.
33:13It's simple and it's easy to do.
33:15That was the main thing.
33:16We could do it ourselves.
33:17Yeah.
33:18Put it on by hand.
33:19Slapping it well on the walls.
33:20That's great.
33:21Everyone came and had a go at it.
33:22That's about 10 or 12, just sometimes.
33:23And literally just lashed it on.
33:24Yeah.
33:25It's breathable, but it does have a good insulation value.
33:28You know, over the years, we had more bare stone and we've gradually covered some of it up.
33:32It's very cold.
33:34You get a real cold spot.
33:36We've got over the idea of having a bare stone, but it just makes it a much more comfortable place to live in.
33:45I've come into this room because this is the original wall.
33:50It's a granite wall.
33:52When you put your hand to it, you can feel the cold coming through.
33:56And here you have the lime hemp mortar where the wall has actually been plastered, but also insulated because of the hemp in it.
34:08When you put your hand on this, it's so much warmer.
34:11I think up in Donegal in the cottage, this will be one of the issues as to how insulation is going to be resolved.
34:19For me, I know what I'd like for my creature comforts.
34:23What I loved about today is that Steve and Clare have shown us how feasible it is to restore these old cottages.
34:34Not only have they saved something that would have been lost forever, they've created a cosy contemporary home.
34:41Amazingly, they've done that with little or no debt or running costs, which challenges our whole approach to funding of a home.
34:51It's October in Leenankeel, and any hope of Irene's cottage being ready for November has faded with the summer heat.
35:07Yeah, it's probably about two months since I was last here, and so I wasn't quite sure what I was going to see when I arrived, but I think I probably thought it might have progressed a bit more than it had done.
35:18I had had a conversation just before I came and, you know, I was told, you know, we'd be handing over fairly soon in a few weeks' time.
35:24So I think when I walked in the door, I was a bit shocked. I thought it still looks a bit like a builder's yard.
35:30There's no one single reason. We weren't particularly affected by the hurricane here. That was just a big storm.
35:37More of an issue is with the mudslides there at the end of August when they had torrential rain.
35:42Quite a few buildings were affected by that, so builders have been pulled here and there to deal with insurance claims.
35:49Part of the issue is there isn't a lot of space in there, so there's space for the joiner to work and then he has to stop for the plumber to come back and the electrician and so on.
35:58So that makes it a very difficult job in terms of stopping and starting.
36:03You know, I have been reassured that it is going to be okay and that it will be done, but it's quite hard to visualise that at the moment.
36:11The joiner will be here full-time for the next week and that will make a big difference.
36:17Realistically, we're looking at the builder's work being finished in about a week to ten days' time.
36:25With temperatures dropping, heat is foremost on Irene's mind, and Duncan thinks he may have found a solution.
36:33The main strategy for heating was to kind of keep it simple, so we'd made provision for a stove.
36:39And I think over the course of the project, we've found, you know, better types of stove that will make the house more comfortable.
36:47I like the fact that when it goes out, there's still about ten hours worth of heat in it because it's ceramic.
36:52Yeah, it's basically a big storage heater, which is good, yeah.
36:55There is one particular stove that Irene's very keen on, but that comes with a cost.
37:00It wasn't included in the budget originally.
37:03I'm assuming you'd want it fairly central, but...
37:07It's twice the price of the original quote for about $1,500 for a basic black enamel type stove.
37:16I might be going over budget on there.
37:19My thoughts are that I still would like to go with it.
37:21I think it would be the better option for this house, and hopefully I'll be able to sort of, you know,
37:27add to the budget a little bit more, but not hugely, not more.
37:31So Irene's tentative deadline of November has come and gone when I arrive in December to check on progress.
37:44At least from the outside, there are some signs of change.
37:48Hello, Irene.
37:49Hello, Irene.
37:50And you've got a new door.
37:51I have, yeah.
37:52Isn't that great?
37:53A door and a half.
37:54Isn't that wonderful?
37:55You just have to remember to talk.
37:58Let's see, what do you think since the last visit?
38:01All finished.
38:02I wish.
38:03Not quite.
38:04Not quite.
38:05And you're a bit frustrated, Irene.
38:07Yeah, a little.
38:08A little.
38:09I think when I first came in, I was visualising a little bit more has been done.
38:13There still seems such a lot to do.
38:15You know, in my eyes, I mean, I just think, oh my goodness, there's no sink in and there's no, you know, there's none of the appliances.
38:22You can't move in.
38:23No, not yet.
38:24Once the kitchen is finished and the stove, which is quite a big topic at the moment, we're still in the process of deciding whether we can or we can't go for the one that I've actually chosen.
38:36You're lucky enough that you have lots of air flowing through still, a bit of a draught.
38:42Yes, well ventilated, definitely.
38:45You have no insulation on any of the walls, so the reality is, is that you're going to have to keep heat in here.
38:54Yeah, you know, you'd need a constant heat, which I would definitely have with the heaters, you'd have to have them on so that they are ticking over.
39:02Robes on the floors, maybe.
39:03Absolutely, yeah, definitely. And furniture in will make a difference. And obviously, whatever.
39:09And to be able to see out your windows.
39:11Yes, see out the windows.
39:12You don't want much, do you?
39:13No.
39:14You're just so chilled out. I can't get over you. You're just so chilled out. I'd be absolutely up the walls.
39:20Which, no, I don't, no, I don't think that would get me anywhere. No, I'm just, I take it as it comes and, you know.
39:27But you would like to see an end.
39:29I would like to see an end, and soon now.
39:31What furniture do you have?
39:34Well, I have small items.
39:36Most of the things I've got are aesthetic things to put on the walls and things like that.
39:42I'm not quite sure, sort of, what style or, you know, I want comfort and I want functional.
39:48So we're going to go jumping.
39:50Will we go enjoy ourselves?
39:52Yes, why not?
39:53Go ahead.
40:02Like that chair?
40:03Yeah.
40:04In keeping with Irene's love of upcycling, recycling and reusing, I've brought her to McConnell's second-hand furniture shop in Buncranagh to see what treasures we can find.
40:16So that's your wing back, isn't it?
40:18The wing back type.
40:19I think if you could get a footstool, I think because your floors are going to be cold.
40:23Yeah.
40:24It's actually very comfy.
40:32I'd take the best one of those.
40:36It was great having Hugh's advice and his eye.
40:39Look at that fabulous little chaise long for you.
40:42I think that would be perfect for you now.
40:44I do as well.
40:45I could easily go to a new shop, but you don't get the quality and it's lovely to see the older things that are upcycled.
40:52Yeah, all we need is somebody to bring to you.
40:55That's lovely.
40:56We are a bit of a throwaway society.
40:58I like things that last.
41:00Oh great, the money.
41:02You brought the money, thank goodness.
41:04I brought the plastic to use things that have been used before.
41:08To me, it fits in well with the cottage.
41:10The little pink chair is two, this lovely chair which is three.
41:14I couldn't see a lot of new furniture sitting in that house.
41:17It just didn't seem as though it would be right.
41:19Really, all I need to complete this is to have the house finished so I can get the furniture in.
41:31I've seen a lot of impressive restorations in my time.
41:34They're big, they're bold, but funnily enough, impressive restorations can be intimate, small and personal.
41:42I think that's the journey that Irene has been on.
41:47She has taken a cottage which was going to fall into the ground and restored it.
41:53Other people would have just dismissed it and built a bungalow beside it.
41:58What impresses me about Irene is she's undertaken this restoration with love and passion because of her memories.
42:05So it's a very personal journey.
42:08And here it is.
42:25How lovely to see this cottage brightly whitewashed again.
42:29The way it would have been in Irene's grandmother's time.
42:36Hello.
42:37How are you doing?
42:38How are you?
42:39Very good, thanks.
42:40Nice to see you again.
42:41It's so nice to see you.
42:42Nice to see you as well.
42:43Well, you've been busy, haven't you?
42:45Yeah.
42:46In this stunning, modest cottage, Irene has achieved a lifelong dream and finally made a home here.
42:54She has modernised it while remaining true to its character.
42:58Every corner whispers of her past, of her relatives that have gone before her and that are so dear to her.
43:05It's cosy, it's inviting, it's calm, it's relaxing.
43:10It's what every great home should be.
43:12A place of refuge, of solace and of sanctuary.
43:16A place that would restore you.
43:18She has effectively upcycled this cottage and everything in it.
43:25Slightly different, isn't it, from last time?
43:27Well, it's amazing because the kitchen wasn't here.
43:29And this is some of the furniture we chose, do you remember?
43:32Which is great.
43:33Yeah, it really, really looks good.
43:35And the fire.
43:36The fire is amazing, I'm really happy with that.
43:39The size of it just suits the fireplace.
43:41I think it looks good.
43:43Do you want to?
43:44And it's warm, it's lovely.
43:45It's the sort of thing you feel like you want to hug.
43:48And how much did that cost?
43:49It cost, I would round up probably about £4,000 because I had to have it delivered from England, from Cornwall.
43:55It's a Cornish masonry stove.
43:57It's supposed to radiate heat out for a good ten hours, you know, once it dies down.
44:03Well, I think it's fascinating because it looks like layers of sand.
44:07Yes.
44:08You can feel the radiant heat from here.
44:09You can, yeah.
44:10It's great.
44:11It's cosy.
44:12I love the fact there isn't any clutter.
44:15Yeah, yeah.
44:16I think I want to keep it sort of fairly clutter free.
44:20Because again, these sorts of houses, they didn't have a lot of clutter.
44:23No, they didn't.
44:24They had basic things that were practical to use.
44:26Pots that we use, pans that we use.
44:28You know, I think minimalistic is better.
44:31The old trashing room has become a lovely sitting room.
44:38Right.
44:39This is the other room.
44:40I don't even remember what this was like.
44:41Dark.
44:42Yeah.
44:43Yeah.
44:44It was dark, wasn't it?
44:45You have some of the bits of furniture we bought?
44:47Yeah, yeah.
44:48We bought these and I'm just, I mean, that is so, it's so comfortable and it's lovely.
44:52It's very inviting, I have to say.
44:53Isn't it fun?
44:54It's very inviting.
44:55And this little chair as well, which is lovely.
44:57It's really, really nice.
44:58You know, it's cosy.
44:59It's cosy.
45:00This is as it would have been, you know, 200 years ago.
45:06Yeah, it is really.
45:07It hasn't changed apart from, yeah, the furniture.
45:10The structure of it, it really hasn't changed.
45:12It's the fact that you didn't have any inclination to go and try and put plaster up there or cover
45:19it up or anything.
45:20No, no.
45:21Which in fact would have been very wrong for the extra roof, which needs to breathe anyway.
45:24Yes, yeah.
45:25Will we go and pop inside?
45:26Yes, yeah, certainly.
45:27The budget has overrun by 5,000 euro, which with the extra spend on the stove gives a total
45:34of 107,000.
45:36And from what I can see here today, it's worth every penny.
45:40However, I'm wondering just how warm it is at the far end of the house with the exposed stones.
45:47This was the old buyer, Irene?
45:48It was, yeah.
45:49So I never thought I'd see, you know, it looking like this.
45:52You know, it actually turned out really, really well, much better than I thought.
45:57Just a couple of issues I need to probably address.
45:59And that wall's beautiful, but there is an issue with draught.
46:02It's very cold to touch and you can feel it.
46:05I can hear it coming through.
46:06We can hear through the wall as well.
46:09So, you know, we can eavesdrop and we don't need to lift up the eaves to do that.
46:15No, exactly.
46:16Ideally, what you should be doing, Irene, is trying to insulate it from the outside.
46:20Right, yeah.
46:21Because then you can keep the...
46:22Keep the feature, which is...
46:23Yeah, which is lovely, isn't it?
46:24Yeah, it is lovely.
46:25Irene's son, Daniel, is gobsmacked with what his mum has achieved.
46:32What have you got here?
46:33Well, these are some of the pictures at the beginning of the process.
46:37It's quite frightening when you look at it.
46:39Yes, yes.
46:40It's incredible where we've come to from the beginning.
46:43And, Daniel, what did you think when your mum came home and said,
46:46I'm going to restore this beautiful coffin.
46:48Look, that's it.
46:49As you see the picture, see?
46:50Where it is now from that, it's just...
46:53I think it's amazing.
46:54It's a massive task.
46:55And you'd think she was mad looking at him now.
46:57When I was younger, I'd be over here once a year and that's...
47:01It hasn't changed that much.
47:02No.
47:03What she's done with it.
47:04It's kept the character of the place.
47:05What would Uncle Michael think if he was sitting here now?
47:07I think he'd love it.
47:08Because I can see him sitting in his chair now, piping hand.
47:11It's been kept simple.
47:13There's no flash bits.
47:14It's just as it thought it was.
47:16And he liked that sort of thing.
47:17Simple man, simple things.
47:22To know that you've got all that history.
47:24And it's all in this one house.
47:26And it's still...
47:27We have my brother's daughter over.
47:29She's two.
47:30And we've got a photo of her outside the door.
47:31And we've got photos of my nan as a baby.
47:33So that...
47:34It's just that history is continuing now.
47:35Because it's all...
47:36It's been done up rather than photos like that, so...
47:39Because it's not like a normal build, is it?
47:41It's trying to erase something out of the ashes.
47:48The first time we met, the roof was on.
47:50It was all grim.
47:52Yeah.
47:53Dark.
47:54And you were worried as to whether you'd have enough light and heat.
47:59Yeah.
48:00Yeah.
48:01I mean, they were huge worries in a sense.
48:02Do you think you've achieved that?
48:03Nearly there with the heat.
48:05And I know we did...
48:06We had quite a tussle with the windows.
48:09Because we spent many a time wiping window panes.
48:11I remember.
48:12But I am absolutely delighted.
48:14I think the carpenter did an amazing job.
48:16They really are.
48:17And they're functional.
48:18They do open the way they used to open.
48:20I think it serves its purpose.
48:21And I do feel the light is certainly adequate.
48:24But sometimes, funny enough, you know, when you've got the...
48:27You're sitting here and you've just got the firelight.
48:29You know, it's peaceful.
48:31It's nice.
48:35When I come into this house, it's quite emotional.
48:38Yeah, yeah.
48:39Because I would have gone to a house not dissimilar to this when I was a kid.
48:43Right.
48:44But as you said, the difference between the house now and where your uncle Michael was
48:49here is you now have running water.
48:51Yes.
48:52Yeah, yeah.
48:53You know, you have your oven.
48:54You have your fridge.
48:55Yeah.
48:56You have a bathroom.
48:57Yeah.
48:58I mean, that's huge.
48:59Because, I mean, obviously I've grown up in a generation where I did have those things.
49:02Except when we came here, we just fell into it.
49:04It was really bizarre.
49:05So you now have a luxurious cottage.
49:09Yes.
49:10Because you've got a fabulous bedroom.
49:12Yes, absolutely.
49:13You know, you have a lovely little sitting room.
49:16Yeah.
49:17And you've lots of space, really.
49:18Yeah, it is.
49:19It's very spacious, really.
49:20I don't think you need much more.
49:22I don't need lots of furniture in here.
49:24You want somewhere for people to sit, somewhere for people to eat, and then a little area to,
49:28you know, go out and relax.
49:30Lots of up-cycle things.
49:31Yeah, yeah.
49:32Well, I know in my heart that Michael would have liked that, but he didn't like new.
49:36And he would like things to be reused.
49:39In restoring this cottage, you've done this with an absolute simplicity.
49:43I just don't think I could have seen a modern house sitting here.
49:47Oh, but it's just not me.
49:48You know, this is part of me.
49:50I'm blown away.
49:52Oh, that's really nice to know.
49:54I think you personally have done an amazing job.
49:57Very sensitive.
49:58It's very simple.
50:00Long may you enjoy it.
50:02I hope so.
50:03Honestly.
50:04And you've been left with a wonderful legacy.
50:06Honestly, you know, a cottage that was gone.
50:09Honestly, it was gone.
50:10Yeah.
50:11And you've just really brought it out of the earth again.
50:14Yeah.
50:15I love when somebody knows what they want.
50:28So many of us have become slaves to fashion, which so often is excessive and superfluous.
50:43But what Irene has shown here is her unwavering commitment to simplicity.
50:50The very best of architecture is based on the principle of form follows function.
50:56And these cottages were built on those principles.
51:01Irene's restoration has faithfully followed them.
51:05Hundreds of thousands of these cottages have been lost to us and continue to be.
51:11But thanks to Irene, this one has been saved.
51:18Fantastic.
51:19Thanks.
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