- 2 days ago
The Great House Revival episode 8 2025
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:01Our past is alive in our old buildings.
00:05They speak of our history and offer solid solutions for today's housing needs.
00:12I'm following restorers as they battle through the good, the bad,
00:19and the awful challenges of rebuilding ruins to create homes fit for the future.
00:30On the lower slopes of the Stack Mountains in North Kerry, five kilometres from the nearest village,
00:40I'm making my way down a boring two-pothold for cars on a December day in 2023
00:47to meet 26-year-old engineer Ciaran Cotter at his late grandmother's farm cottage.
00:55How are you? Ciaran, I'm good enough, how are you?
00:57Lovely to meet you, Ciaran. How are you?
00:58I'm sure I'm great. What's the job?
01:01It's been empty since she passed away in 2010.
01:05But it has a special significance to Ciaran.
01:08He's passionate about booking the local trend for emigration,
01:13and wants to stay on home turf and transform it into his home.
01:18You were born here, weren't you?
01:20That's right, yeah. Beginning of my life I lived here,
01:23along with my three older brothers and my mum and dad in this one house.
01:26The family swapped homes with Ciaran's Nana Mary after his grandfather died,
01:32moving into the home farm while she took over this older cottage.
01:37There are so many memories, like, for example, that there's a bread bin over there.
01:40Oh, yeah.
01:41That I really want to keep.
01:42My Nana used to always keep biscuits in there.
01:45In particular, wagon wheels.
01:47My Nana being here, we were over and back the whole time.
01:50You know, the smell of turf smoke used to just fill the yard.
01:53Ciaran has already begun work by stripping out some stud walls.
01:59So, three rooms. What's the layout going to be now?
02:03This will be all one open-plan room, kitchen, dining room, we'll say.
02:08To the right of the kitchen, living room will be a bedroom,
02:12bathroom down the end, loft bedroom above that.
02:15To the other end of the house, there's going to be a kind of a cosy sitting room.
02:19It's a big house. What size is it?
02:21A 90 square metre floor limit.
02:23OK, and you'll be adding a bit on as well, up at each other.
02:26Yeah, exactly, yeah. All right, I thought you were going to talk about the extensions.
02:28No, no, no, no, no, you don't need an extension. Not alone, no, no, no.
02:33At 90 square metres, this building is surprisingly large.
02:38Entire families were raised here, and there's no need for single Ciaran to build on at this point.
02:45We're in what I suspect was the main bedroom in the original house.
02:49That's right, yeah. I think I wouldn't say it was a double bed, bunk bed, cot.
02:54In here? In here, yeah. Cozy, like, you know.
02:57Very cozy.
02:58Everything at arm's reach, like.
03:00So this is going to be a bedroom again.
03:01Where we are.
03:02Yeah. Yeah.
03:03And somewhere along the chimney breast here, there'll be a stairs to go up to the loft.
03:09Where there'll be another bedroom.
03:11What possessed you to take this project on?
03:14When you see it vacant for many years, I always thought it was a shame.
03:18My three oldest brothers didn't really want to take it on.
03:21I always kind of pictured myself living here and maybe have a vegetable garden, a couple animals, that kind of thing.
03:26I was delighted to take it on.
03:27I have to say, it's a beautiful scene.
03:30Yeah.
03:31So personally, in this part of the house, I think the bathroom should go where I am, here.
03:37Yeah, yeah.
03:38And then all of a sudden, that's your bedroom, which is now the full width, you know?
03:45Oh, yeah.
03:46So you're not wasting space and you've lovely natural light coming in to your bedroom.
03:55Ciarán plans to retain the existing layout of the cottage, as it was in his childhood, with the bedroom behind the hearth and the bathroom at the far end of the corridor.
04:06I'm suggesting he swaps the bedroom and the bathroom around, shortening the corridor and maximising space for his main bedroom.
04:16This would give him the option of incorporating stairs to the loft into the bathroom.
04:21At the other end of the house, the formal sitting room will be left as is, off the open-plan living kitchen area, which forms the heart of the home.
04:33He will demolish the 1960s extension to the rear, returning the building to its traditional rectangular form.
04:44But you need to get an engineer or an architect to draw up a set of planned sections and elevations of the house.
04:52At the moment, it's kind of looking like I don't have the budget for an architect.
04:56Here I am.
04:57Yeah.
04:58Come on, come on, Giarán.
04:59Please, I'll give you what we call jaw wages, you know, I'll feed you and tea and biscuits and everything.
05:04There you go.
05:06Ciarán plans to do all the work himself and has already made inroads into the restoration by replacing the old corrugated roof with a new one,
05:17which he has yet to cut to size, stripping the external walls back and working on the lime pointing.
05:24So I'll be lime pointing all the exterior walls.
05:26And then lime render.
05:28And then lime render, yeah.
05:29You know, as nice as the stone looks, originally it would have been lime plastered.
05:35Yeah. As and from January, you're actually going to be working full-time on this.
05:41Yeah, that's the right idea. So, look, it's a great opportunity. I know it's a bit of a risk, but it's kind of needed with the budget I have and the amount of work to do.
05:50So, Ciarán, talk about the budget.
05:55Yeah. This is the thing. So I've been lucky enough to be approved for the vacant property refurbishment grant.
06:03So that's 70,000 euro. And all it is is another 5,000 on top of that.
06:11Oh, sorry. 75 including the grant.
06:15Yeah, yeah. But you don't get the grant until you finish the work.
06:18Yeah, yeah. So how are you bridging that?
06:20Yeah, with loans, yeah.
06:22So it's very tight, Ciarán.
06:23It is, yeah, definitely.
06:25Because things are so expensive.
06:27Yeah. I'm up for it. I'm more or less self-taught. I have some experience pointing. I've read a couple of books on all houses.
06:35Very important. The books are very important.
06:38Yeah.
06:40All these books will be holding up bits of timber in the kitchen next, I suppose.
06:44So, tight budget and your timelines?
06:46I'd hopefully like to be finished at the end of September.
06:49Of next year.
06:50Of next year, yeah.
06:51In for Christmas?
06:52In for Christmas, as they say.
06:54In for Christmas.
06:55I think you're amazing, at your age, you know, to be undertaking this project.
07:00You know, to be honest, this is what I want to do, to renovate this house. I see this as, like, my journey, my big exploration, you know.
07:11Thank you very much, Ciarán.
07:13All right.
07:14All right. I'll walk you out.
07:15Oh, you should walk me out.
07:17Ciarán's a Gen Z-er, with a passion for the old, and an idealistic mission.
07:26I actually found today very emotional. The relationship of Ciarán being born in this house, and his ambition to move back into it is quite extraordinary.
07:38My concern is slight naivety in terms of the amount of work that has to be done. Even more problematic is the budget he has.
07:48The problem in today's reality is, in doing up a home like this, you have to bring in the plumber, the electrician, the specialised plasterer, the windows, et cetera and et cetera.
08:03And I don't know if his budget is going to stretch to allow him to complete this project, but I really hope he does.
08:13Because if so, he'll be demonstrating a cost-effective way to afford a home, while also preserving that absolute classic of our architectural heritage, the vernacular cottage.
08:28Every field and farm yard has a house like this in it, and it's just huge potential.
08:37It's January 2024, and Ciarán's kicking off the new year with a smashing start.
08:44The roof of the extension had collapsed previously, and the water was just flowing off the collapsed roof into the back door.
08:51And I kind of saw this extension as a bit of a wart on the original house, so I was, yeah, keen to get it done.
08:58Ciarán has roped in some help.
09:00My best friend DJ is with me here today. He's also a cousin of mine. I've known him since I was born.
09:07He's been the main man, really, like, you know, my main man to get onto for help.
09:12Definitely in rural Ireland, if you're a first or a second cousin, you're going to be roped into this act of things, so that's kind of how it goes.
09:18Their first task is to erect scaffolding. It's not something either of them have ever tackled before.
09:26Sure, we'll put it over this side for now anyway, and see how we go.
09:29Yeah, exactly.
09:37We spent a bit more time than expected putting up the scaffolding this morning.
09:40Knocked out the first block, that was fine, the second and third block.
09:47Might have to reckon cut that one out.
09:51And the fourth or fifth block came down.
09:57Straight down into the water for you.
10:05It's beginner's bad luck.
10:12Use the point of yourself to go out the floor and, you know, take these challenges head on.
10:17After the initial snags, the cousins find a rhythm and walls come tumbling down.
10:26It doesn't take long, lad.
10:27It doesn't take long, lad.
10:28It doesn't take long, lad.
10:29It doesn't take long, lad.
10:31Ciaran lived in Germany and the Netherlands before his graal for his sense of belonging brought him back to Kerry,
10:38and his local village of Nock Nagoschel, which is facing a steady decline in its population.
10:46Determined to bring life back here, Ciaran and his friends have set up the Future for Nock Nagoschel plan to lobby for services and infrastructure.
10:55So I suppose I'm one of the few younger people involved in this kind of thing.
11:00But look, I don't blame young people either for leaving, but we're just going to try and build something that they can come back for.
11:07It kind of goes hand in hand with building a house, really.
11:09I'm involved in this project because I want to live here and I want to create a future here.
11:17Aside from the serious planning, Ciaran also does his best to keep up spirits, running the local Halloween celebration and gigging in the local bar with his band.
11:28He sees the restoration project as a way of inspiring others to stay in the area.
11:36Just days after demolition of the porch, Ciaran's friends and family assemble to take down the rotten ceiling joists and walled timbers.
11:46There was stud walls, kind of against the original stonework to kind of box the room, dry lining they called it.
11:54So I'm removing all of that and all the timber studs.
11:57His father, dairy farmer Richard, is only too happy to help his youngest son out.
12:04I'm delighted to see the house being renovated and I'm looking forward to helping him every step of the way.
12:10Ciaran's very much into the old way of doing things, you know, lime plastering, so we'll be learning as we go along in that as well.
12:17Ciaran's older brother Richie is moving to Australia in a week's time.
12:22Before he leaves, he wants to do what he can, when he can.
12:28Me and Ciaran are best friends, yeah, very close.
12:31I never thought any of us would ever do up this house.
12:33I thought it probably would have been knocked and turned into an extra farmyard in the future.
12:38But yeah, no, it means an awful lot to my parents and my grandparents looking down on us as well.
12:43Ciaran's aunt has happy memories of her mother living here.
12:46When the boys started to grow up and they were always coming over here to Nana's, Ciaran was two or three.
12:53He'd come in here and his little book was always up in the couch.
12:57He'd pick up the book and he'd back over and sit up in Nana's lap to read the book for him.
13:02And that was done every day.
13:03Ciaran's deep affection for the cottage means he wants to maintain and restore as much of its fabric as he can.
13:13He's meeting local historian Tom Dillon at Killarney's Muckross House to explore a replica of a traditional farmstead much like his own.
13:22The single room wide, long houses, they were found to length and breadth of Ireland one time.
13:28Often they were kind of centred around the heart of the house or the kitchen.
13:32The social hub, the communal hub.
13:34Exactly, yeah, and the heart of the fire.
13:36The building materials then from these houses was all taken from the environment around them.
13:41So that's what people mean when they say vernacular architecture.
13:45It means it comes from the environment around us.
13:47If there was limestone in the local area, limestone would have been used to make the walls of the house.
13:53Other places, there mightn't be any stone at all and they'd actually use the mud in the fields.
13:57The earliest maps showing Ciaran's cottage is 180 years old.
14:02But the building may be much older.
14:06And I know looking at the maps of Turinard where your house is, there were lots and lots of lime killings in the area.
14:12Yeah, they must have been fun, the building anyway.
14:14Yeah, yeah, it's interesting.
14:15Vernacular cottages like his were generally built by the families who lived in them, with help from the local community.
14:24Families would club together and help each other, like neighbours would come together.
14:27The maillies they called it. It's humbling to hear.
14:29And the lovely thing about these houses as well was they were rambling houses.
14:34Certain houses in each neighbourhood became known as rambling houses, where the community would gather to dance, sing, tell stories and share news.
14:43The cottage we are visiting is a replica of a rambling house.
14:47People had no entertainment. There was no TV or Netflix or any of the things that we get to do.
14:52Yeah, make their own entertainment, yeah.
14:54No, no, Google or anything like, you know, and YouTube even, anything to watch, listen to music. You know, this was all live, people could play music and likewise the step dancing.
15:03Because there was a couple of rambling houses in Ochnagoshill. There was probably a rambling house in every town then, wasn't there?
15:08There would have been, yeah.
15:09Yeah.
15:10It was lovely to hear, like, that there was that, you know, intimate community and everyone was, there was a strong bond between everyone.
15:16Yeah, like a social bond, you could say.
15:19Yeah, yeah.
15:20It's hard to imagine Ciaran's isolated cottage doubling up as the local dance hall. But community help is central to his project.
15:29Back on site at the end of January, Ciaran and his friends have finished removing the stud walls, returning the building to its original three-roomed shape, centred around the hearth.
15:43Today, with help from his brother, Lorcan, he's dipping into his limited budget to bring in the heavy machinery, or rather a mini-digger and muck truck, to lower the floor levels and allow for plumbing and insulation.
15:59The machinery is necessary today, breaking out concrete, digging out old clay, soil. A wheelbarrow can only go so far.
16:07We're still plugging away every day. Happy out.
16:11So on site today is my oldest brother, Lorcan. He'd be the second oldest out of the four of us.
16:17He's the farmer, the contractor, expert machinery driver, and the mechanic, so if anything goes wrong...
16:24There's nothing quite like tempting fate.
16:30The tractor's left, coming off to the muck truck.
16:38I'd better go get tools if you're eating the bin.
16:41It's not too bad on you. It can be a bit awkward. There's always something breaking through.
16:47With machinery costing money, tension builds. But luckily Lorcan has the expertise to get things back on track.
16:57It's fairly busy now today. Fairly repetitive too. Just going to dig out as much as we can. And yeah, let's see how it goes. Hopefully no more breakdowns.
17:14The cottage may be miles off the beaten track. But in the old way, there's always friends and family dropping by.
17:23Today Ciaran's cousin James calls in and offers a dig out.
17:27James is an electrician. Yeah, really nice to have him around. Even just bounce some ideas off him.
17:32Nice to see him do something with this house. As far as I remember, we used to always be around here, don't mess around when we were younger.
17:37James is fully behind their teenage hangout zone, being restored to its old status as a grown-up home.
17:46He is up the walls of this at the moment. And do not fair play at him. It's very admirable.
17:51Between all the demolition and the digging, Ciaran's making fast progress at his Nana's cottage.
17:58But he hasn't had time to plan what it could look like when it's finished.
18:02His budget is minute, but I want him to aim high with simple and traditional yet uplifting finishes.
18:11I've invited him to meet me at Limehouse Cottage in South Kerry's Iveragh Peninsula.
18:17Positioned alongside a glacial lake, this farm cottage has been refurbished using traditional materials.
18:26It's just so simple. You know, when you look around.
18:30You can instantly feel it's a vernacular house, like it's an old house, isn't it? It's cozy.
18:35So the reason I brought you here is because I think the restoration and conservation of this cottage is really about the authenticity of the architecture.
18:44There's your kitchen. Look how simple that is.
18:47I love the long countertop. Open shelves. Beautiful. And the LED lighting. Belfast sink. Lovely.
18:53Lovely bit of pine. Yeah, yeah. It's nice and natural and warm, isn't it?
18:59The kitchen was salvaged from another property and cut to shape here.
19:03And I just love these. It's honest. Oh, yeah. Do you know? Yeah.
19:09Vaulted ceilings and wooden time beams run the length of the original building.
19:14The owners have built an extension with corrugated cladding to house the bathroom with views across the meadow.
19:23What finishes in your bathroom now?
19:25I really want to tie in the elements together like this. So that's really nice.
19:29Yeah, so that's just block work. Yeah. And then lime rendered.
19:34Just looking at this sink kind of reminds me. So I have an old copper cylinder. And I could try and repurpose that to make like a basin kind of thing out of it. Yeah.
19:46The owners have preserved the traditional hearth while allowing a view the length of the building to the glass box extension.
19:55From here is fabulous. So you could imagine sitting in your living room, looking down, you have your kitchen, you have all your cabinetry. Very simple.
20:04Yeah, very simple. So when I walk into your home, it's going to look like that. Yeah. Okay? Brilliant.
20:13It's not a big ask. No.
20:16This home shows how traditional, sustainable finishes, from hemp insulation and lime render to non-costly corrugated sheeting, can deliver an utterly elegant finish.
20:28I absolutely loved it. Yeah, I think I'm going home today, kind of a fresh vision. And to be honest, a bit of a spring in my step.
20:35You know, I'm able to see light at the end of the tunnel. So yeah, really happy with that.
20:40But back in North Kerry, as Ciaran's busy January comes to a close, things are less than serene.
20:47His early decision to re-roof the cottage has been vindicated by the destruction reaped on the outbuildings across the yard.
20:57The outbuilding here saw a lot of damage during storm Isha. I was actually here at the time, my brother and I were inside in the house, digging out the floor.
21:05I had my back turned, I just felt like somebody threw like a load of dust at me. And I turn around and I see the roof is split in half.
21:12So that could have easily have been the roof of the house. So got away lightly, I think.
21:19He dodged the winds this time around, but with pointing and shoring up still ahead, Ciaran's much-loved birthplace still needs a great deal of work to make it fully secure and far more to render it habitable.
21:34It's the middle of February 2024, and I'm returning to the North Kerry dairy farm where, since I last visited a mere two months ago, 26-year-old Ciaran Cotter has sped along with his low-budget restoration of his Nana Mary's traditional cottage.
21:58He's always coming up with novel solutions for his project. You've lifted all the floor, you've put down your hard core. This is amazing. It's like, what's call it, ash from a volcano.
22:11Yeah, now we've laid the bone glass insulation. It's an alternative to the damp-proof membrane, essentially. It's insulating as well. And it's made out of recycled materials.
22:21Recycled glass insulation comes in at over double the cost of other solutions. But Ciaran values its eco-credentials and believes it will save him money and reduce energy waste in the long term.
22:34In the long term. So then my ceiling goes in, I insulate where?
22:38Yeah, I'm going to insulate in between the joists. Gawk was for sheep's wool insulation, which I'm looking forward to using, like natural materials.
22:46All these things matter to me, because it's kind of about my ethos of having a lower impact and using what's natural.
22:54Ciaran is idealistic, from his budget to his ethics. This also plays out in his design plans, where he wants to upcycle where he can.
23:04I do really like the house we visited that had limestone around the sink and the bath and having like corrugated iron.
23:13Oh, on the walls.
23:14Yeah, like inside in the shower maybe.
23:16Yeah.
23:17I can see that our inspirational trip has nudged Ciaran into creative mode.
23:23And that'll be a shower tray.
23:24Yeah.
23:25Super.
23:26If I could find something like an old metal tub or like a whiskey barrel or something.
23:33No, just go for a shower tray. No, no, you're doing okay. Go for a shower tray.
23:37Perhaps I've nudged him too far. He clearly has tons of enthusiasm, but I still have some concerns over the condition of the building itself.
23:47Really is quite a bit of remedial work still to be done. When I look around at the walls.
23:52Yeah.
23:53You have the corner over there where the outer wall wants to push out. How are you going to tie that back?
24:00That was discovered when we stripped the plaster off, even the outside plaster. So that crack has been there a long, long time.
24:07I'm happy enough with the structure of the wall. I think it's safe. So I'm just going to tie the wall together with stones and mortar.
24:15I think you should put in a bit of steel in there when you're remortering. I just think you should tie the wall back, particularly when you look at the outside and there's a bow on it.
24:27The work that Ciaran's doing here is just amazing. For somebody so young to be taking on such a huge project is extraordinary.
24:37What Ciaran's trying to prove here is that you can actually do up a home like this based on a grant of 70,000 euros.
24:46However, for me, I think that's too tight a budget for the amount of work that's required in this particular home.
24:56Because it's actually falling to pieces.
25:05While I worry about the crumbling walls, Ciaran's pressing on with pouring his new floor.
25:11A week after my visit, a consignment of lime is lugged by tractor down the pothole lane where once the local lime killin stood.
25:22He opted to use limecrete. It's more sustainable than concrete but more complicated too.
25:28Usually in a build you can just get a truck with concrete ready-mixed and just pour it in.
25:34It should all be over in an hour but you can't get limecrete and a truckload ready-mixed so we're going to have to mix it on site.
25:40So plenty of volunteers here today.
25:42The long list of volunteers includes his father, cousins, friends, his girlfriend Eva and her brothers all giving up their Saturday to help out.
25:54Inspired by Ciaran's passion for the project, Eva's now driving to make his dream happen.
26:00I'm Ciaran's girlfriend. I'm project manager on the site. I provide labourers. I've got my two brothers here today now doing anything they can to help.
26:09Having brought in the workforce, Eva has her day job to return to.
26:13I'm heading away still.
26:15It's down.
26:16Not about it.
26:17I'd hug you but I'm very, very dirty.
26:18No, it's fine. You can stay well away from me right now.
26:20It's down.
26:22Essentially in my mind today we're transitioning from the deconstruction or demolition phase into the construction phase.
26:30Once the floor is laid down now you can build up from there.
26:35It's hard work but there's a shared sense of purpose.
26:39It gives you a sense of community, knowing that when you need someone they'll be there for you.
26:44I've been swumbling all day and I've had the wind against me so it's all blowing back on me.
26:50No, it's good. At least it's dry. That's the main thing. It would be a lot worse if it was raining down on top of us.
26:56As rain adds to the challenge outside, indoors the process is not going as quickly as Ciaran would like.
27:0430 wheelbarrows of limecrete mix has barely made a dent in the bedroom and bathroom area, the smaller of the two spaces he wants to have completed today.
27:17As a novice at this process, Ciaran is beginning to wonder if he's mixed the limecrete correctly.
27:23What are we making now? It's very sticky, it's more sticky than concrete.
27:28Do I make it a bit wetter?
27:29No, I don't make it any wetter. That was a couple of berries there. There were nearly two wet.
27:33I know, yeah, you've been getting used to it, right?
27:36Yeah, we've got.
27:37We've a long way to go yet.
27:38Yeah, we have, but yeah.
27:39Yeah, I think the problem is supply all right, trying to keep up.
27:42Like we have two of us on the mixer. They're big mixers but you know, it just takes time to mix it and, you know, this is just all part of it like.
27:50Hours pass, but eventually Ciaran and his team get the first room finished.
27:55We're going well now. We have one room done. Look, we still have a couple of hours of daylight left but I'm really hoping we can get it done.
28:03We've just got to keep going.
28:05The limecrete floor takes a lot longer to dry than concrete, so I'd say it's going to be a week until we can walk in it or have wheelbarrows or, you know, put weight on it.
28:16While the floor sets, Ciaran's work is weather dependent.
28:21He spends spare moments at the community centre, tending the community garden and working on future for not-negotiable plans.
28:30Today though, he's looking back.
28:33He's found a contact for 95-year-old Sister Theresa Nolan, who grew up in his cottage before his family, her neighbours, bought it.
28:44Hi, Sister Theresa. How are you?
28:46I'm very well, thank you.
28:48That's great, thanks.
28:49I look forward to this conversation.
28:52Brilliant, brilliant. Me too, yeah.
28:54Ciaran wants to hear Sister Theresa's memories of his cottage when she grew up there in the 1930s.
29:01What was the community like?
29:03They were very good for everything, the neighbours.
29:07The neighbours, you didn't have to ask them, no matter who they were.
29:12You didn't have to ask them, they always came and offered.
29:16Yeah.
29:17It was a great thing.
29:18You could never be left alone, or never in a fix.
29:23The neighbour was always there for you, which was great.
29:27We had the cottage on one side, with the leans on the other side.
29:32And we were all very friendly, because in those days there was a lot of what we call rambling.
29:39And the men would come to your door at the evening around seven o'clock and say, God bless all here.
29:48And whoever was there would say, God bless you too.
29:52And where we also had dance nights on.
29:56Brilliant.
29:57We used to have dance nights, where you would invite about ten of your own friends.
30:03And you would invite an accordion player or a fiddle player.
30:11And we would dance Kelly Polkos all night.
30:17That's why I lived in 95.
30:20God bless you.
30:21Wow.
30:22Thanks so much.
30:23That was brilliant.
30:24I'm really, really delighted.
30:26The combination of supportive neighbours, and the culture of rambling, or shared entertainment, sustained generations in and around Ciaran's home.
30:41Back at the cottage, as March begins, Ciaran takes my advice and adds steel ties to pull the crumbling corner together.
30:50And starts work on removing the plaster from the iconic centrepiece, the hearth.
30:56I'm kind of exposing this lovely stonework that's above the fireplace.
31:01I want to repoint with lime mortar all these gaps, which consolidates the wall.
31:07And I'm going to reapply new insulating plaster.
31:11Generally, I'm walking around here with a smile on my face.
31:14Like, today it's sunny.
31:15I can hear the birds singing all around me.
31:17Like, you can't not be happy doing this today.
31:20But yeah, there is some days, obviously, where the motivation will be lacking.
31:24You just kind of have to complete the small tasks, keep the momentum.
31:28You can't look at it as a big, huge task.
31:30It's just all made up of little tasks.
31:32One massive task has proven to require expert help, though.
31:36In Notnogosha village, Ciaran has found an affordable way to restore the cottage's windows.
31:43Girlfriend Eva's dad, Liam Bell, is a carpenter and has taken on the project.
31:49At Christmas time, Ciaran sort of said to me, you know, he would like to go with the traditional window
31:57and if there'd be some way we could repair them.
32:00So I said, I'll go out and have a look.
32:03And of course, as soon as we got there, most of the windows, there was no way we could save them at all.
32:10I said, right, I'll give it a go.
32:12It'd be a project to start the year off.
32:14So this is where we are now.
32:17It's good to be working with your hands again.
32:20Nowadays, carpenter is mainly a fixer.
32:23Everything comes in pre-made.
32:25We're probably losing the traditional journey part of the carpentry.
32:28So it's nice to get back and cut timber like we used to years ago.
32:35By June, Liam has completed all eight windows and Ciaran is setting out to install the new sashes himself.
32:44He's a complete novice, but he's undaunted.
32:48That's it now.
32:50That looks nice now.
32:52The bling.
32:59Clear up now for Hugh.
33:01I'm dropping in on a warm June afternoon to see how Ciaran's unlikely DIY dream is progressing.
33:09How are you getting on?
33:10I'm doing all right.
33:11You know, I'm glad it's summer.
33:13Last few months, the weather was a bit bleak and stuff.
33:15So glad to see the sunshine in the long days.
33:19Yeah.
33:20I need every hour, like.
33:21Will we go in and have a look around?
33:22We will, yeah.
33:24Inside, Ciaran's family and friends came together again to add stud walls and the attic floor.
33:31And Ciaran has spent a great deal of painstaking time on the pointing.
33:36So when you say you're pointing, it's like the wall behind you.
33:41Exactly.
33:42Which is lovely, isn't it?
33:43Yeah, it looks very nice.
33:44It's an awful shame you can't leave it like that.
33:46Yeah, look, do you know, I'd rather be warm.
33:49So that's a job in its own right?
33:51It is, but it's a fairly satisfying job.
33:55It's not too laborious to be honest.
33:57I mean, I like putting on an audio book or a podcast and pointing away at it.
34:02I'd be pulling my hair out.
34:04No, I kind of like.
34:05That's what happened.
34:06That's what happened.
34:07I have no hair because I was here pointing.
34:10My own mind, once the windows are in and the doors, there's an attic room there above us here.
34:16Like, I'll be going in there.
34:18You move in.
34:19No, I can't wait.
34:20Even just to rough it out.
34:21She's just roughing us out and roughing us out.
34:24It's like a bird's nest.
34:26It's like a bird's nest in a few too many ways.
34:29There's no plumbing and no heating.
34:31Where's the bathroom?
34:33It sure didn't sit all around you, I'd say.
34:36It's just like all times.
34:38Lovely.
34:39That's beautiful.
34:40My parents' house, I'm lucky, it's only a couple of minutes walk away.
34:43Fine.
34:44So, and look, I have electricity, running water.
34:48Didn't do primitive life.
34:50Yeah, well, let's have a look now at the rest.
34:51We'll go to the good room.
34:52The good room.
34:53The good room.
34:59How are you doing on your money?
35:01I think I'm doing alright.
35:03I've spent $23,000.
35:05You're rash, man.
35:07Yeah, I know, it's crazy.
35:08You're rash.
35:09I've never spent that money in my life.
35:11But now you have to start spending money with other people.
35:14I do, yeah.
35:15You know, I'll have to be careful from now on.
35:17Like, with the materials, fair enough.
35:19Because you need the materials.
35:20You can't really skimp on that, like.
35:22Before he brings in the experts, there's a major job Ciaran must complete himself.
35:27He needs to build up the uneven walls which met the original thatched roof to reach the neat line of the modern corrugated sheeting.
35:37It's just him and a heap of rocks.
35:40Yeah, we just got these stones from the field when we plowed it up and reseeded the grassland.
35:44So, like, it just made sense to me to use them again.
35:47Instead of buying truckloads of stone that'll cost me money, just use what I have on the land.
35:53And, you know, the stones that went to build this house kind of came in the same way.
36:00So, I like that aspect of it as well.
36:02The clock is ticking now.
36:04I think, you know, I've come this far by myself.
36:08I still have a lot to do on the inside with the stone walls.
36:11So, I'm going to take the plunge and get a stone mason in here.
36:16Months passed with Ciaran continuing to labour on site.
36:21Learning to plaster and clipping back the roof.
36:24He shelled out for a stone mason to move things forward.
36:29But, by October, money runs out.
36:33The plastering has been a big challenge.
36:36Yeah, the summer kind of came and went fairly quickly.
36:40And it's slow work, you know.
36:42And I was on my own a lot as well.
36:44So, yeah, it was a bit stressful.
36:47So, yeah, the last push on now with the inside plastering is the last of the big, big jobs in my eyes.
36:55He's just finished silage on the farm.
36:57But Ciaran's dad, Richard, steps in to help.
37:01We have our battles on then.
37:04But my dad has been helping me big time lately.
37:07So, he's been here every day doing bits and pieces.
37:10Like, he's been a massive help.
37:12He's been man of the match lately.
37:14And, yeah, like, as you get older, you spend less time with your parents.
37:20But, you know, sometimes you might only see your parents once a week or once a year.
37:26But I'm seeing him every day.
37:28And we're working together and it's strengthening the relationship.
37:32I am the apprentice and he'd be the boss.
37:36By November, 11 months of arduous work and learning since my first visit.
37:43And two months later, then he'd hoped to move in.
37:46Ciaran's usual positivity has worn away.
37:50So, I'm finding it quite tough lately.
37:53I've been sick for a couple of weeks on and off.
37:57More than likely caused by burnout.
38:00And as a result of that, I'm two or three weeks behind where I'd like to be in the project.
38:08And, you know, there's a reason why people don't build their own houses.
38:13Even though it's such a fundamental need.
38:17It's proven to be so difficult in the modern age.
38:21And especially as a young person on your own.
38:25Everywhere you look, there's hurdles.
38:28Between financing, material costs, shortages of tradespeople.
38:36And it's just a sign of the times, unfortunately.
38:40But right now, I'm struggling to stay motivated.
38:44It's January 2025.
38:55And the family cottage, which 27-year-old Ciaran Cotter has been struggling all year to restore, is cut off by snowdrifts.
39:05The weight of the snow has collapsed the roof on the adjoining barn.
39:11But undeterred, Ciaran and his girlfriend, Eva, continue to work, finishing floors and doors.
39:18As the snow melts away, I'm back in the valley to discover whether Ciaran has carried off his mission to make himself a home
39:30for the cost of the derelict property grant and his meagre savings.
39:36G'day! How are you?
39:39How are things?
39:40Lovely to see you.
39:41Thanks.
39:42Isn't it great?
39:43Come on in.
39:44Isn't it fabulous?
39:45Yeah, come on in.
39:46My goodness.
39:47Snowdrifts couldn't stop him.
39:49The kitchen, centring on the gloriously renewed hearth, is as bright and fresh as a spring flower.
39:56Wow.
39:57You've been busy, haven't you?
39:59I'm telling you.
40:00What?
40:01We did it.
40:02And I have a special present for you.
40:04Ah, great.
40:05There you go.
40:06Brilliant.
40:07The wagon wheel is the biscuit of choice.
40:08I have a place just for them now.
40:10Ciaran's nana Mary's bread bin is proudly back in place, offsetting the buttercup yellow,
40:16kitchen beautifully.
40:17I think it's the fabulous you're in, Ciaran.
40:21It's magnificent.
40:22It's beautiful.
40:23It's full of texture and form and softness.
40:28The height of the ceiling, the amount of light coming in.
40:31Mm-hmm.
40:32I'm really glad I did the Velux windows now.
40:34Yeah.
40:35I can see that the cottage we visited influenced the raw ceiling and exposed hearth.
40:41But in its confident simplicity, this place speaks most about Ciaran and his family.
40:48When you look back and you see this room now and you think about your granny, she'd be so proud of you.
40:55It's a different house to then, all right, but I think she'd be happy with the changes we've made, the work we've done.
41:03Yeah, but I think she'd be so happy that you're living here.
41:06Yeah, yeah, and bringing life back into the house.
41:08Yeah.
41:09Yeah.
41:10When you're standing here and you're looking at the simplicity of the house, but yet the complication.
41:18Like, look at that chimney and the scale and the size of it.
41:23I know, it's gigantic.
41:24The beautiful stone in the arch.
41:26Mm-hmm.
41:27That will be there long after I'm gone.
41:28Mm-hmm.
41:29You know, that's very humbling.
41:33I'll show you the rest of the house.
41:34Come on.
41:35Good.
41:37We step down a short corridor to a surprisingly bright bedroom.
41:44That's super, isn't it?
41:45Mm-hmm.
41:46It's a good size.
41:47So when my Nana lived here, the toilet was in the corner and the end of this room and the corridor was there.
41:52That's right.
41:53Yeah, and, you know, I'm really grateful that you had the good idea of swapping that around.
41:59And now, like, the bedroom is the full width of the house and it's a lovely bedroom.
42:05I love the limewash because it's soft.
42:08Yeah.
42:09You know, it's a soft colour.
42:10Yeah, it's not.
42:11Very natural.
42:12And you've got that texture still.
42:13Even on this one, that's a new partition.
42:15Yeah, that's just plasterboard.
42:16But you see the way you've rounded the corner.
42:18It's just fabulous.
42:20It's not long since I was worrying that these beautifully finished walls would crumble.
42:26My recollection in the house on my first visit was there was structural cracks in the corner.
42:34So we reinforced it with five different L-shaped pieces of iron into the wall.
42:41Stones, lime mortar.
42:43More lime mortar.
42:44Oh, it's stones and mortar.
42:46That's all the house is.
42:47Like, you've put in graft.
42:50With help from friends and family, Ciaran constructed the ceiling's doors and floors.
42:56I'm sure there were days you've gone.
42:58Oh, of course, yeah.
42:59It's a pure roller coaster.
43:00Like, to be here today now and look at the result, I'm thrilled.
43:03OK, Mum.
43:04Ciaran's graft and ingenuity is also evident in the upcycled flooring of the bathroom alongside.
43:13The bathroom is terrific.
43:15So you've actually put down slate from roofs.
43:19That's right, yeah.
43:20I got this off my neighbour down the road.
43:22He gave them to me for free.
43:24They're natural, breathable, which is the main thing.
43:28And you can see with the nails that have been fixed?
43:30Yeah, yeah, it's brilliant, isn't it?
43:31I just love it.
43:32Mm.
43:33With the blue on the wall and the dark floor, this natural slate, as you say, just really
43:39comes together.
43:40Yeah, you couldn't use those slates in a modern house.
43:42No.
43:43And you've the wall left.
43:44I know exposed stone wasn't a thing they did traditionally, but I think it's fabulous.
43:51Thrilled with that.
43:53There's a second sleeping space in the eaves overhead, so far only reachable by a ladder.
44:00At the other end of the house, the sitting room is also unfinished.
44:04But Ciaran's pleased with its temporary identity.
44:09Wow.
44:10No.
44:11Workshop.
44:12My plan isn't here, is to help people that are self-building themselves to work with stone
44:18and re-plaster.
44:19Wouldn't that be great?
44:20Yeah.
44:21That'd be a brilliant idea.
44:22Fabulous.
44:23How much have you spent since the day I initially met you?
44:36Since we first met, I've spent $80,000.
44:39Right.
44:40And you would have spent how much up to that point putting on the roof?
44:43About $20,000.
44:44It's $100,000 less the $70,000 which you'll get back.
44:49Yeah.
44:50So today this house has cost you $30,000, $35,000.
44:54Yeah.
44:55Amazing, isn't it?
44:56You haven't compromised on the livability, the quality, the heating.
45:02Nothing.
45:03No dam.
45:04Yeah.
45:05I took it seriously.
45:06I didn't skimp on the insulation, the right mortar, you know.
45:11The fabric first approach really stood to me.
45:15By the time I came to decorating, I was just fairly pinched all right.
45:19But that's when you had to get creative, upcycling, buying things second hand or gotten
45:25so many gifts from a toilet right down to the microwave, you know, so.
45:32Ciarán upcycled a used kitchen and Eva painted old chairs and their bed frame.
45:39What I love about the home you've created is the imperfections are what make it special.
45:49Yeah, and you shouldn't be afraid, you know, when you're building something yourself,
45:54you shouldn't be afraid that it's not going to be perfect.
45:57You know, you should first, you know, have the self-belief, be willing to learn and fail,
46:03and eventually you will succeed at it.
46:06And you own a house?
46:08Yeah.
46:09And you're 27.
46:10That's crazy, like, isn't it?
46:11You're 27.
46:12You know, and it shouldn't be, it shouldn't be that crazy.
46:14No, but I'm...
46:15Just with the times we live in it.
46:16It is, yeah.
46:17Do you know, that quote and the lintel there, Arise, Knocknagosh, that always kept me going,
46:23you know, during tough times of the build.
46:26You know, I'd look at that for inspiration.
46:28Like, I think we could reimagine rural Ireland, revive these old towns and villages,
46:36bring vibrancy back, back into the countryside.
46:40Thank you so much.
46:42I've really...
46:43I've just...
46:44I've just blown away by the house and by you.
46:47You've done a fabulous job on it.
46:49Thanks, but I wasn't on my own.
46:50Don't forget that.
46:51I know that.
46:52Don't forget that.
46:53I know that, Kiran.
46:54But you've done an amazing job.
46:55Well done.
46:56Love it.
46:57When I met Kiran first, I was just going,
47:00oh my goodness, this man doesn't understand what he's undertaking.
47:05And he's proved me wrong.
47:07He's diligent.
47:09He's methodical.
47:11He's organised.
47:16I just think Kiran has shown a very different way to do up these buildings.
47:23Like, to walk into that home and see the kitchen and the fire and the warmth and the heat
47:30and the passion and the personality, to me, that is just mind-blowing.
47:36Now, what better way for Kiran's friends and family to celebrate his great achievement in this much-loved cottage
47:45than by renewing its rambling house identity?
47:49It still feels like home.
47:50It does.
47:51It's lovely, warm, welcoming atmosphere.
47:55And it's, oh, it's lovely.
47:57I'm delighted, really.
47:58It is amazing to see, like, what can be done.
48:02Such a testament to Kiran and all his friends.
48:04Like, everyone.
48:05So many people chipped in.
48:06Like, it's not just, you couldn't do this alone.
48:08So it's just pretty amazing.
48:10Immensely proud of him.
48:12Like, this was his dream for so long.
48:15Like, he used to speak about it years ago when we were young.
48:18There's an element of preserving our heritage here, but also, like, for us as young people,
48:23it's houses like this and projects like this that keep us here and hopefully bring people back.
48:29Yeah, I think it's really really important.
48:59Somearii реalism song is really great.
49:04Yeah, I hope that the lead changed the way as we continue…
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