This article is from page 35 of the 2007-10-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 35 JPG
A DUBLIN man is renovating his maternal home in the hope of mak- ing his Clare mother’s dream come true.
Thomas Murray from Cabra on Dublin’s north side is hopping to make his mother Kathleen Murray nee Devitt dream of dancing the Clare set in her childhood parlour a reality when he redevelops and reno- vates the house in Ennistymon.
The family cottage dates back to the 1780’s and 10 to 11 generations of the Devitt family have been born AW OLO MEAD orem NS KCR
Thomas intends building additional
accommodation which he will rent to people who come to fish on nearby Licheen Lake, as well as carefully renovating the family homestead to its former state, using as much sal- vage material as possible.
He is as passionate about the project as he is about the subject of architec- tural salvage.
Thomas travelled between Dublin and Clare each week marking the progress builder John Byrne made.
It is a massive job as the house needed complete renovation from top to bottom. With a new roof and old sheds to renovate, the project looked set to take longer than the six months projected by the builder.
Thomas always intended to keep certain aspects of the house to main- tain its authenticity although some pieces had to be replaced. The old sheds he earmarked for rental accom- modation were originally cowsheds. Getting the balance between the old and new and finishing on time was a huge task. The budget required was huge, time was short and there were many hurdles to cross in the remote location.
Thomas’s venture will make up part of the RTE series Home Salvage.
The television programme docu- menting the highs and lows of the project, will show whether Kathleen, who is 85 and who now lives with
Thomas in Dublin, may just be able to recreate her memories of dancing in the house where she was born.
It will be transited on RTE 1 on Fri- day at 8.30pm.
Presented by Mark Daly – auction- eer, property expert, senator and one time winner of reality TV show Treasure Island the eight part series combs the salvage yards of Ireland in search of a unique interior.
The series brings together Ire- land’s twin obsessions – property and makeover. But discerning homeown- ers with a bit of time and money now want far more than your run of the mill flat pack kitchen. Salvage yards can offer some great alternatives.