Jess Shannon

I understand! We've gone through so many different designs, trying to preserve as much of the lovely stone work as we can, make the most of the views and light at the rear (facing south) and still get the space we want. It's an awkward site with some tight angles that have limited our options. We're all looking closely at how it appears from the road as approaching. I'm not sure which episode you mean, is it the one in Ballymena with the yellow doors and windows? It's lovely. I wish we could somehow just keep the cottage as is, but it's tiny. Barely 35sqm. We're not set on the external finishes yet, so I think choosing those carefully will help.

It will hopefully be next spring, once we've got all the planning etc sorted Yes, around 500-600mm I think, they're very wobbly in places. I think it's all limestone. Well we've started a YouTube channel! Minty and Mortar. So far it's mostly been sorting and clearing out the previous inhabitants things, and uncovering some interesting Irish rural history.

Hello! My partner and I are just starting out on our project after buying a derelict cottage in Ireland. I hope it's ok to post questions about it here, I know the laws/codes can be quite different in Ireland, but there's not many resources like this forum. We're total novices at building, but want to do as much as we can ourselves and to learn while doing it. We've had a little input from architects and a builder who will hopefully be working with us. Obviously we'll be getting an engineer involved eventually. Our starting point is a mostly untouched vernacular 3 room Irish Cottage. With countless layers of lime plaster on the walls and no plumbing of any kind. Sometime in the 70s the outside was concrete rendered, a limited electrical install was added, and the remains of the old thatched roof was covered over with asbestos cement boards. Close to the house is a small traditional stone shed. The whole area is criss crossed with beautiful dry stone walls. Our current plan is to restore the cottage in an authentic traditional way, with breathable lime plaster. But have a new well insulated roof, door, and windows. Then link it to the barn with a flat roof extension. The stone barn will be fully enveloped in a new building which extends out the other side to create a spare bedroom and ensuite bathrooms. Here's a few photos. I'm sure I'll have lots of specific questions as we go!