Hello, hope you’re well. I’m sorry there haven’t been any entries here for a while.
On Friday, we returned home from a visit to Ireland. Had a brilliant time getting to know the area around the derelict cottage I’d like to restore, and discovering more of Ireland.
Two thirds of the thatched roof of the cottage (photo to be uploaded soon) has collapsed, along with two thirds of the back wall. Anyone else might take that as hint to give up, but I’m not anyone else – this is just an indication of how urgently the cottage needs the TLC it deserves. I have spent a year lobbying the county council to protect the cottage because it is such a good (and unaltered) example of its kind, and is probably unique in South Tipperary. A partially (well, nearly almost totally, to be truthful) collapsed roof is not going to put off the kind of woman who decides she’s going to buy a house that is not for sale!
The county council says it will wait for the outcome of the survey of thatched structures before considering whether the cottage should be protected. However, I know (and An Taisce agree with me) that this cottage must be protected without further delay, to prevent any further deterioration – in fact it should have been protected at least a year ago, when I first told the council that the cottage existed.
We went to the post office and bar in the village near the cottage and asked about Paddy Morrissey, the last person to live there. It was really interesting to hear from so many people who knew him and we had a great Saturday night in the bar listening to live traditional Irish music.
We explored a bit further afield as well – a beautiful cove on the Waterford coast, and some more ancient monuments (near Carrick-on-Suir this time).
Went to Dublin, partly to go to GIS Ireland 2005 (geographic information systems conference). Sounds like a strange thing to do while on holiday, but GIS is one of the things I can do, so would be good to be able to get a job in Ireland using those skills while setting up the housing association.
Also arranged to meet someone from the Irish Council for Social Housing, but when I got there he wasn’t! I just came away with some leaflets and not much more idea about how feasible my proposal is.
As I said, we had a great time, but it was very frustrating to have to come home because the whole thing seems remote and unachievable as long as I’m still living here in England. Given the resources, I would move to Ireland tomorrow to ensure that the cottage is protected and set-up a housing association to restore similar dwellings – it’s an uphill struggle trying to get anywhere while I’m working full-time here in Cambridge.
On a lighter note, tonight (Sunday) we went to see Robert Newman (again), who was doing a gig with Mark Thomas at Cambridge Arts Theatre. Both of them were brilliant – very funny and inspirational (inspiring us to continue rejecting capitalism, that is).
© Pure Eire 2005
