Once burnt-down house in Connemara has risen from ashes with double-height ceilings, A2 BER and mountain views

Irish Independent

2 days ago

Asking price: €475,000
Agent: DNG Martin O'Connor [phone]
You can pretty much build what you like, subject to planning permission. But the one thing you can't build is a view.
That's the reality Kenneth and Rosaleen Kelly will have to contend with when they bid a final slán abhaile to their home in Rosmuck, Co Galway, in the heart of the Connemara Gaelteacht.
Since the move here from Newport, Co Mayo, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Kenneth has continued to commute to the neighbouring county for work.
'I'm a butcher by trade,' (part of the renowned Kellys of Newport), he says. 'We always wanted an opportunity to move away from Newport, but still be close enough that I could drive there. So this house came up and the views were just class.
'We look straight over at [the village of] Recess, and then the mountains behind it, and then over to our left we have the 12 Pins. We've got two lakes, and loads and loads of rocks!
"We were watching Yellowstone on TV at the time and it reminded us a lot of it, with the panoramic view of the mountains being the first thing you see every day.'
Rosaleen adds: 'Also, it was the double-height ceilings that did it for me. It was like, I came to view the house by myself, and as soon as I walked into it, I knew I wanted to live here, even though it was a shell.'
When the Kellys first arrived, living in Teach Chnoc Mordán was like a trip back in time. There was no water, Kenneth says, no electricity, no septic tank and there wasn't even a road up to the house.
'There had been an old house there for years and years, and then it burnt down,' he says. 'And then Lisa Kennealy, the lady we bought the house from, fixed it up, to a point.'
The Kellys stepped in to employ a skilled army of local tradesmen, led by Peter McDonagh, whose local network supplied all of the other labour and artisanship required.
'Peter was a machine man, so he could get us a road up to the house. And he has been our shoulder to cry on, full of valuable information,' Kenneth says. 'He's a local man over the road, so he helped with sewerage pipes, septic tanks, all that sort of stuff. There's an old cottage up the back of the house where the original family that lived here would have started off, so we put a road up to that.'
Kenneth put the floors down himself and did all of the painting, and after about five months of commuting and sometimes staying in digs locally, the Kellys moved into their new A2-rated home – a rating achieved courtesy of high-spec insulation and an air-to-water heat pump system, which Kenneth says reduces their electricity bill to roughly €50 per month over summer.
Once in, the couple set about personalising the interior, focusing first on the kitchen. 'It's double-height, so we put a big island in the middle with really functional drawers,' says Rosaleen. 'I like storage and everything has a place.'
There are three roof lights directly over the working area and a built-in pantry press, a gas hob, and a feature extractor fan with timber panelling.
'I wanted to put in a hidden door,' Rosaleen says. 'I had the material picked and everything, but then I decided it wasn't going to look right so I went to the kitchen woman, and I said, 'I'd like to use this material in the kitchen if possible'. And she said, 'Yeah, I think I'll use it on the extractor fan'. So we have this massive extractor fan that looks like a church organ. And I was like, 'Oh, great' because we got to use the material that would have otherwise gone to waste.'
The house now has a total of 2,170 sq ft of living accommodation including four bedrooms – one of which is currently in use as a lounge – and is set on over two acres of garden. There is a hallway, a living/dining area, the kitchen, a utility and a shower room, and a large landing area on the first floor.
Rosaleen says her favourite room is currently the lounge/ TV room. 'It's a totally different style to the rest of the house, and it's very calm. We painted the ceiling and the wall the same colour – Christmas Wreath, I think it's called – but it's a very calm, dark, cool space. Even in warm weather, it's a really calm space to watch TV, relax and eat.'
Kenneth will miss the outdoor spaces most, in particular the elevated patio area, which takes in the mountain views. It is a part of the property that saw a lot of use during the unseasonably fine weather in recent months.
And there's another big benefit that Kenneth really appreciates. The local pub (7km away), where a pint is very affordable indeed. In fact, it might officially be tied for the title of the cheapest pint of Guinness in the country at €4.50.
Last month, the Sunday World newspaper claimed that accolade for a pub in Donegal at the very same price.
The couple have always done their best to learn the Irish language and integrate into the tight-knit community, where everything can still be sourced through a grapevine established down the generations.
'We did learn Irish in school,' Rosaleen says. 'But your memory comes back a bit and we found ourselves talking Irish to each other a little bit in the car yesterday. There's a lady over the road, Mary Loftus, and she comes and she gives us an hour-and-a-half lesson every week.'
Now Kenneth has changed jobs, taking up a new role based in Galway city, the commute has become too much and so they are hoping to move closer.
'It's an hour and 20 minutes before you even get to the edge of the city, and the traffic is terrible,' he says. 'If we were maybe 10 or 15 years older, we would stay and retire here.'
DNG Martin O'Connor is seeking offers in the region of €475,000.