Easter 2005. This is what the cottage looked like in Easter 2005. Sometime in the 60s or 70s thatched cottage owners in Ireland were given a grant to make the house water tight, of course the obvious thing to do would be to cover the thatch with galvanize sheets. Hard to believe. There was no […]
Renovation part 1
Rosehip is a great source of vitamin C this time of year. The flesh tastes like jam . Wait for them to turn from red to orange and squeeze out the insides
Originally dug these 3 ponds last winter. I was interested to find out how they would work in terms of water and biodiversity. Mixed bag, lots of life, dried up over the summer.
I’ve tidied them up and will plant some trees later. This will not be the end of the changes to the ponds, a work in progress.
These were completely dry 4 weeks ago.
Very welcome visitor to Ballyglass today , Michael Hickey, great mind and over 40 years farming experience with nature. Thanks for coming all the way from Tipperary Michael, great encouragement.
Michael Hickey
The cottage building works were completed end of 2007, 2 1/2 years after starting.
The completion of furnishings etc may have taken a year or so more.
Hard to believe how much work it took and how well it turned out.
Today the cottage is available as a short term holiday letting. It is loved by many.
I’m guessing spring 2007 by the trees. The boundary was was originally a dry stine wall and a block wall. A new stone was was built, only the best. This is my father Ray at it, he had some help.
Early summer 2006. Some garden work. We levelled the garden and sowed wildflowers instead of lawn. This area was completely overgrown with briars, an old orchard can be seen on the right, these trees were planted by our ancestors over 100 years ago. They’re still producing.
2 small sheds in the yard, as old as the cottage, could be more. Cows were milked here. Full restoration no half measures
Very different characters but they never fell out
Thatch is in and the house is sealed, some yard work now, spring 2006
Ballyglass Thatched Cottage Blog 