- 14 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:01From coast to coast, Ireland,
00:04our old buildings are calling out to be loved and lived in.
00:10But restoration is no easy task.
00:15Who dares take on the challenge of reclaiming our ruins
00:20as homes fit for the future?
00:30It's May 2025, and Hugh is visiting the dreamily idyllic
00:35120-year-old model village of Talbots Inch in County Kilkenny.
00:41Summer is in full bloom, but beyond the fanciful brickwork
00:46and neat village green, one cottage is looking a little sorry for itself.
00:51Hugh is meeting its new owner, Archivist Trish Duff,
00:55who hopes to sow the seeds of change by restoring it as her home.
01:02Hello!
01:03Hello!
01:04How are you?
01:04Nice to meet you.
01:06Lovely to meet you, Trish.
01:07Are you well?
01:08Love the garden.
01:09Isn't it beautiful?
01:09Isn't it fabulous?
01:10Fabulous colours.
01:11Great start, isn't it?
01:12Come on in.
01:13Trish bought the house 14 long months ago,
01:17but was forced to divert her restoration enthusiasm into the garden
01:21when she discovered asbestos straight away.
01:25Several thousand euro later, it's removed,
01:28and she can start on the house at last.
01:34Oh!
01:35Work's begun, I see.
01:37Work's begun.
01:39After months of waiting, work has just begun
01:42on stripping back the 1960s extension.
01:45Trish is a cancer survivor and is waiting for surgery on her leg,
01:50so she can't physically help out,
01:52but is overseeing grant applications
01:55and caring for the heritage of this house,
01:58which is a protected structure.
02:00The architecture here is very special, isn't it?
02:02Very special, yeah.
02:03Designed by William Scott for Lady Desert,
02:05and she had a number of businesses here.
02:08Victorian philanthropist Lady Desert paid for the construction
02:12of the village to house her workers.
02:15It was built to look as if it belonged
02:17in an imagined medieval past,
02:20but was cutting edge in its construction.
02:23This house was built when?
02:251906.
02:26So 1906 in mass concrete.
02:29Mm-hmm.
02:30Wow.
02:30Yeah.
02:31Was that innovative or what?
02:33And the outside of the house looks like stone.
02:36Yes.
02:36But in fact it's concrete.
02:37Because of the house's special status,
02:40any changes here have to be approached with extreme care
02:44and with approval from local authorities.
02:47I know of no other village like this in Ireland.
02:50For me this village just encapsulates a sort of a time bubble.
02:55It really does.
02:56Of arts and craft, of amazing quirky architecture.
03:03It's such an honour to have this house here to me.
03:06But it also puts pressure on you.
03:07Because of the house's architectural significance,
03:11the biggest changes will happen out the back.
03:14Trish's front door opens directly onto the house's original wooden staircase,
03:19with the sitting room to the left.
03:22At the back of the building is the old kitchen,
03:25with a 1960s extension beyond.
03:30Trish will adapt the extension, using the original walls to save money,
03:35to house a dining room, opening onto a courtyard,
03:38with a sitting room, utility and bathroom beyond.
03:43Upstairs, the smaller of the three bedrooms will become a bathroom,
03:47and the signature windows in the eaves to the front and on the ground floor
03:52will be carefully restored.
03:54Who's going to be living in this beautiful house when you've it all finished?
03:59So, me of course, our two little cats, and my daughter Sinead,
04:03she lives down in Waterford.
04:04Trish sold the family house in Carlow after a divorce,
04:08and has been staying with her parents since then,
04:10making it tricky for Sinead to stay over.
04:14Yeah, she's looking forward to us being able to just spend time together as a family.
04:18After 14 months of waiting, and with only her cats able to move in,
04:23they hope they can move fast now towards completion.
04:27But, fast work requires ready cash.
04:32You bought the house for how much?
04:35290,000.
04:36Not cheap?
04:37Not cheap, but not dear also.
04:39I mean, it's Kilkenny City, you know.
04:40Well, you see the amount of work you have to do.
04:44Yeah, it's absolutely astronomical, yeah.
04:45And did you think you had this amount of work to do?
04:47I had a fair idea.
04:48There was rain coming in everywhere.
04:50The windows were decayed.
04:51There's questions still about some things that are emerging in the structures,
04:54about things we need to do in terms of roof repairs upstairs.
04:57Can I ask you, how much money are you spending on the project?
05:01250,000, including the grants, yeah.
05:04So, you're getting how much in grants altogether?
05:0580.
05:0680,000, yeah.
05:0780,000.
05:07Yeah.
05:08Which is fantastic, you know.
05:09You couldn't do it without it, really.
05:11Let's go to the room at the back and have a look at that.
05:13Okay.
05:13Come with me.
05:16If you stand here, come over and stand here.
05:19So, this is the standard height of a window.
05:212.1 metres.
05:23Yeah.
05:23But, it should go up to 2.4.
05:26You see the way you can't see the top of the tree?
05:28Yes.
05:29Now, walk forward.
05:31Look.
05:31So, now you can see the crown of the tree.
05:34Yeah, so that's what I want to be able to see, is to enjoy what's outside.
05:36So, when you put the door in here, let the door go up to 2.4.
05:42I like that, Hugh.
05:43Yeah.
05:44I'll have to get you to write it down.
05:46While Hugh's winning, he has another suggestion up his sleeve.
05:50And what I'd recommend is you set the house up for solar panels.
05:55Yes, that's another plan.
05:56And put the solar panels in the back garden.
05:58You don't need to put them on the roof.
06:00Okay.
06:00You could get this house really off-grid for maybe six, eight months of the year.
06:07I'd love to do that.
06:07She seems enthusiastic, but Hugh may have underestimated Trish's devotion to her garden.
06:14He suggested putting solar panels in the back garden.
06:17I think that's the worst idea I ever heard.
06:19This isn't a solar farm.
06:21This is a garden.
06:24Fair enough.
06:25They make their way up the narrow stairs to look at the bedrooms and bathroom.
06:31Indoors, every piece of usable timber has to be saved under heritage regulations.
06:37The hollow walls have been stripped out, though, to be replaced.
06:41But where are the old latticed windows?
06:44Windows, Trish.
06:47Give it to me, babe.
06:48Windows are gone.
06:49Gone away to be restored.
06:51And they're going to be restored according to how they would have looked at the start.
06:55With the leaded windows.
06:57With the leaded windows.
06:58And with the little handles.
06:59Love it.
07:00And all the hardware that doesn't exist anymore has to be either made or found and salvaged.
07:06So what happens now up here?
07:08We're hoping to retain the ceilings.
07:10There's a question as to whether the wood is in good enough condition to reinstate or not.
07:14So we still have to decide about that.
07:17There's been a huge leak over in that corner over there.
07:19Yeah, you probably have a bit of rot going on in the corner with the timber.
07:23In a couple of places there behind you as well, where you're standing, there's a few rotten sections there.
07:26So we're going to splice those out and put back in new pieces of wood there.
07:30Okay.
07:31So for me, the real issue is your yummy woodworm.
07:36Yeah, there's woodworm, yeah, but not in too many places.
07:39Well, it's loving it here.
07:40It is.
07:41I believe you haven't discovered all your little gremlins yet.
07:44Oh, absolutely not.
07:45No.
07:46I think we've discovered a good few, but we're kind of prepared for surprises.
07:49This whole village is a protective structure.
07:51Yes.
07:52And because probably your house is the first one to be renovated under the new planning guidelines,
07:59it's very important that your house is done, you know, dead on.
08:03Trish has employed a contractor who has worked on other houses in the village.
08:09Everyone come along and go, that's what you do.
08:12And everyone goes, I understand that.
08:13Yeah.
08:14I'm really looking forward to your journey.
08:16Oh, thanks, Hugh.
08:17Yeah, it's great to be here.
08:17Thanks for having me.
08:18So they said about 10 weeks.
08:20They're going to be finished in 10 weeks by the end of the summer.
08:22So we'll wait and see.
08:23The builders?
08:24Yeah.
08:25Oh, I hope you got your Alka-Seltzer.
08:28I'm going to need your Alka-Seltzer, darling.
08:33The following day, the unbelievably brief 10-week timeline begins with the demolition team on
08:41site stripping back the 1960s extension.
08:45Builder John Taylor and his team make short work of the plasterboard and modern frames.
08:50A very different approach to the careful conservation work which the old house will require.
08:57However, as the modern structure comes away, a problem emerges.
09:02I had a phone call from John yesterday late in the afternoon saying, Trish, can you come
09:06over?
09:06We need to go through something with you.
09:08And we went around the back of the house and he explained that the foundations that are
09:12there are a screed basically on an old yard that was there and they didn't put in any
09:16foundations.
09:17We talked a lot about it, but the only solution really is that that has to come down.
09:21They had planned to keep the extensions walled.
09:24But with no foundations, that's no longer possible.
09:28Builder John is pragmatic about the setback.
09:32Yeah, look, the people just built within their means.
09:34So they're not up to standards now and we can't really put a new structure onto those.
09:39So we need to remove them and start afresh and put it in properly.
09:43For Trish though, it means she will need to find more money.
09:47The figure that's been thrown around is 40,000, which is scary really, you know, because we
09:52don't have 40,000 in our purse, you know.
09:54But the work has to keep going and the job has to get done.
09:56As the entire extension is knocked away, Trish has to rethink her layout plans.
10:03Modern building regulations mean that the new extensions wall needs to be further from the
10:09neighbour's wall than the original one.
10:11She's going to lose probably the width of the cavity wall that we'll be forming because
10:16we can't build right on the edge of the foundation.
10:18So it's really just a bit of a disaster.
10:21With the footprint of the building suddenly changed, the old plans no longer work.
10:27Trish needs to scramble to create new ones, while John fires ahead to get the job finished
10:33within the planned timeline.
10:35It is unusual to start before a set of finished plans are done.
10:39But I have a timeline I need to try and keep, so I need to keep progressing.
10:44It's a big challenge to get new plans in place fast enough for John to work from.
10:49So Hugh has come up with a new solution, which will make all the difference and deliver decisions fast.
10:57Now, Trish, lights, camera, action.
11:02You're home. Amazing.
11:04Look at that. Wow.
11:05Hugh has brought Trish to life-size plans in Dublin's Ballyfermot.
11:10What a brilliant idea. Isn't it? Yeah.
11:14Trish's house plans are projected full scale, allowing us to visualise potential layouts in three dimensions,
11:21and move walls and furniture.
11:23So now we're walking in the whole door. We have the staircase.
11:28Trish's staircase is closed in behind a wooden wall.
11:32The first thing we're going to do, Trish, is we're going to get rid of this wall.
11:36That's right. Yep.
11:40I'm a master builder.
11:42Oh, I see. I'm good at demolition.
11:44Yeah, very good. Fantastic.
11:48Now, what that does, Trish, is all of a sudden it makes the room feel much wider, but it also
11:55makes your staircase feel wider.
11:57I thought today was really impressive because when you see your house plans and you're trying to imagine it with
12:05the measuring tape going,
12:07what's that going to look like here? What's that going to look like there?
12:10And really it was very hard to get a sense of how things are going to look.
12:12And from here was the original extension.
12:17Yes.
12:18Which has now been blitzed.
12:20So I think what we should do is have a transition room.
12:23Yep.
12:24Do you like that?
12:25I love it.
12:25Love a transition.
12:26Yeah.
12:27Okay.
12:27So I'm walking through this space and I'm into what's going to be your new sunroom.
12:34Yeah, fantastic.
12:34Which is now the full width.
12:36Yes.
12:36The main living room should be the width of the building, making the most of the sunlight.
12:42This change also makes up for the space lost because of the problem with the lack of foundations.
12:49Because we have to take down the side wall that's beside my neighbour, I was worried how it was going
12:55to affect the drawings for the interior and what that was going to look like.
12:59So Hugh really helped today to show me how it's going to actually work.
13:04The life size team helps out, moving walls at their every whim.
13:09I love the miracle.
13:11I love coming here.
13:13Yeah.
13:14Because it's very difficult to move walls around on site and the builder seems to get emotional.
13:22The plans we had before chucked out the window and I think we have some more new plans today.
13:27With new plans in place, builder John and his team are able to keep up their incredible pace.
13:33And Trish can hold onto her dream of moving in at the end of summer, providing a home base for
13:40herself and her daughter Sinead.
13:42Being back in Kilkenny means a lot to me and my mum because it's where we had our house originally.
13:47It's where we got a massive growl for arts, culture, heritage and it's just a place that just means a
13:54lot in our heart and our soul.
13:56County Kilkenny is known for its vibrant art scene, which comes to full bloom in the summer months.
14:03When I lived outside Kilkenny in the countryside, those arts and culture things that I love to go to and
14:08work with weren't so accessible to me.
14:10So, coming back to Kilkenny City to be in the heart of all of that arts and culture is just
14:16a really exciting time.
14:17Trish's busy life includes volunteering at local festivals and part-time work at the Design and Crafts Council Gallery in
14:26Kilkenny's Castle Yard.
14:28She has to juggle this with planning for the house.
14:32It feels busy and I guess I am busy. The house is taking up a lot of time.
14:36While Trish sources and orders fittings so as to keep action flowing, on-site John is keen to stick to
14:44the schedule.
14:45Damon is doing block work and after that then we are straight on the roof then hopefully within the next
14:50ten days.
14:52John has a clear idea what's held his fastidious timeline up and Hugh is in the frame.
14:58We're about a week behind really. When we have two architects involved it was always going to be a bit
15:02of a tune and fraud exercise.
15:03The change to the plans caused by the lack of foundations meant delays in key orders.
15:09With the delay we didn't get to order the windows so we only ordered those about a week and a
15:13half ago.
15:13So there's a six to eight week period for windows so it's going to interrupt the timeline.
15:19Nevertheless, the new block work flies up fast.
15:23The project's architect Barry Lynch is pleased with progress but his primary focus is on the historic fabric of the
15:30old building.
15:32What are the things that are of real interest that accumulate to give the building its importance?
15:38The idea of best conservation practice sometimes can be a difficult principle to live by but Trish has been leading
15:45the way with regard to repair rather than replace and all the good principles of best conservation practice.
15:51But the biggest progress for the old house is happening off site. Trish is calling into Sheridan's stained glass in
15:59Kells.
16:00So Sean what you can do is put the pad on pretending that you're working, you're good at that.
16:05The big dream was to bring the house back to its original state and that meant keeping as much of
16:11the original fabric of those windows as possible.
16:14Trish's leaded windows were some of the last originals to remain in the village and were perfect examples of the
16:21arts and crafts style.
16:23However, damp in the house and broken panes had left them in a state which many might have considered unsaveable.
16:32The window is in very bad nick and the lead has all the joints that are broken on it and
16:36it's obviously very, very weak.
16:38It's practically, they're falling asunder.
16:41Craftsperson Joe Sheridan has taken on the significant challenge of restoring her rotted and damaged windows.
16:49On this one here we've taken the glass out of the lead so we tried to bring it back to
16:54the old original glass and I've salvaged a lot of them from old windows.
16:58I was really impressed that Mary and Seamus who owned my house had improvised so instead of destroying what was
17:05left of windows they patched them up with bits of things like I found a bit of glass I could
17:11have at the top of a fridge between the, you know the drawer at the bottom of a fridge.
17:13While the previous owners of Trish's home did their best to keep the original windows in place, Trish has invested
17:21a significant chunk of her budget on saving them.
17:23As well as spending time applying for the built heritage investment grant which made the project possible.
17:31There was a lot of work behind making the application and you know we got 20,000 euro for funding
17:36which is pretty fantastic.
17:38Obviously I have to come up with quite a lot of money to meet the cost of it but it's
17:42so well worth it.
17:43Joe and his team have embarked on a multi-stage process to make the windows function again, starting with the
17:51rotten frames.
17:52So here Trish, these are the restored windows, old windows yes and as you can see this is a new
17:59timber sill that's on it and this is the original.
18:04It was soaking in water all of the time.
18:06There isn't even a woodworm in it though.
18:08Trish to be honest with you this is so bad even a woodworm wouldn't live in it.
18:12So this is spliced into, this is the old.
18:15This is spliced into this, yeah this is the old and this is the new and you can see there
18:18where the joints are on it here, you see where it's fixed in here.
18:21What an amazing job.
18:22Joe's team has spliced old wood with new.
18:25Are there many people around the country like you that do this kind of work?
18:28There's not that many no, there's not that many.
18:31We are losing a lot of our traditional skills and I'd love to see more an emphasis on educating more
18:38craftspeople to continue our trades.
18:40And it's not just in stained glass windows, it's in lead workers, it's touching.
18:44There's fantastic traditional skills being lost.
18:49I'm overwhelmed today looking at the windows because we knew they were in a terrible state but we didn't realise
18:55how terrible they actually were.
18:56I can't wait to see them back in the house.
18:58Glimmering.
19:01Back at the house in July, there's no glimmering, just hard labour to keep the project steaming forward.
19:08Today we're getting the roof structure on and then we are going to start getting the insulation down and the
19:13vapour barrier and we're going to try and get it waterproof by Wednesday if we can all go on to
19:17plan.
19:18Magic John, I think everybody knows now we call him Magic John. John is just absolutely phenomenal. I feel really
19:23lucky to have him.
19:24John's team work at speed, closing in the roof before the morning's out.
19:30In the afternoon, Hugh is popping in for a catch up with Trish.
19:34John's agreed to take a rare half an hour off to join them.
19:38Upstairs in the old house, John has stripped the roof back to the rafters to assess the level of damage
19:44from damp.
19:45Up here, what I think is just such a joy is being able to see the original craftsmanship of creating
19:56this roof.
19:57The roof is very interesting, you see the king post structure up there?
20:01Yeah, I do.
20:01Beautiful.
20:02Really, really, really nice.
20:03Every part of this house is a gem of architectural history.
20:08Unfortunately, that does not make it easily liveable.
20:11The house at the moment is probably a G-rated energy house, would that be fair?
20:16I say F for freezing.
20:17There we go.
20:19And where are you hoping to get to?
20:21It has to be past B2.
20:23OK, and that allows you to go to an air to water?
20:25It does, yeah.
20:28In a heritage house like this, every element is significant.
20:33It's an honour to own, but limits choices.
20:37In the new extension, John's team are already fitting the air tightness membrane.
20:43But back indoors, it's a challenge to find workarounds in order to respect the building's heritage fabric, while also aiming
20:51for sustainability.
20:53We needed to get insulation into the slope sections.
20:55But to do that, them roofs would have been originally attached, so the structure wouldn't be there to hold the
20:59weight.
21:00So we've had to bring in a structural engineer to specify how to take the load onto the roof.
21:05It might not sound like much, but the insulation and the slabs all going into that space does put a
21:09burden on it.
21:10So we're in the process now of restructuring the roof, so we had to do a bit of temporary propping.
21:14As well as supporting the roof with props, John has to replace a great deal of rotten, century-old timber.
21:22Heritage guidelines mean that, as Joe Sheridan did with the windows, he must splice old with new instead of replacing.
21:30Today, he and his team are dealing with the most rotten corner, which Hugh noticed on day one.
21:37I think it's given up all its secrets now at this stage, I hope.
21:40While John is forced to slow his speed to painstakingly patch up the old roof timbers, Trish is facing her
21:48own challenges,
21:49trying to raise loans on a single income in order to make her home happen.
21:56We weren't sure would we have enough money, really. The issue really was that you had to furlough those yourself,
22:02you know, from savings and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.
22:05So it's been a very stressful time to get those over the line.
22:07Anybody that does that will know that it's an awful time. They went to paperwork, it's just phenomenal.
22:12You send in your paperwork and then they come back and there's questions and there's more questions and more questions
22:17and it seems just to be never-ending.
22:19She's working full time, but Trish will need to get funds in place fast if Builder John is to stick
22:26to the timetable
22:27of creating a home for her and her daughter within three months.
22:3750-something archivist Trish Duff has bought an historic arts and crafts cottage in the County Kilkenny model village of
22:45Talbots Inch.
22:48She needs to find funds to complete her new home fast as a base for herself, her cats and her
22:54adult daughter Sinead.
22:56It's August, only two months from her planned move-in date and Hugh is bringing Trish to Dublin to visit
23:03a house from the same era as her own.
23:06As at Talbots Inch, ornamental brickwork makes the ordinary extraordinary.
23:14Oh, impressive.
23:17It's a beautiful hall, isn't it?
23:19Incredible.
23:21Inside, leaded windows, stained glass and elegant joinery celebrate arts and crafts design at its finest.
23:30At the back of the house, the modern extension's vast windows frame the highlights of a garden composed for colour.
23:39I love that Acer.
23:41Isn't it beautiful?
23:41Looking back here, you've got that lovely big window, the courtyard and this window.
23:47Great light.
23:49Fantastic.
23:49High ceiling.
23:50Yeah.
23:50This home combines striking modern functionality in the kitchen and utility while allowing heritage features space to shine.
24:01Look at this beautiful room. This home, funny enough, isn't dissimilar to yours. You have that great view through now.
24:08Mm-hmm.
24:09Your kitchen through the window out to your courtyard.
24:12Mm-hmm.
24:12I love the panel with the glazing and the French door out to the courtyard outside.
24:18Beautiful.
24:19And the detail of the finishing in the room with the beautiful double coving and then the gorgeous brass hardware
24:26that they have for the curtains.
24:28It's absolutely just beautiful. The little latches and all those little details just really add to these spaces, don't they?
24:34Isn't this terrific?
24:36It's glorious.
24:37I love the contrast between the old part of the house and coming in here.
24:42It's fantastic.
24:43The use of materials in the home is fabulous.
24:46All the natural materials we see, like the brick and the limestone, which I presume is from Kilkenny, and the
24:51lovely light timber woods.
24:52And then they've got the very traditional kind of Edwardian style table and chairs.
24:56Fabulous chairs.
24:57But it looks beautiful.
24:57Look at those chairs.
24:58It just all looks magnificent together.
25:00The eye for detail here adds to the liveability.
25:04So you've got green fingers.
25:06And these homeowners have green fingers.
25:09I just love the way they've used trees and planting to give privacy.
25:15It's very impressive the way they've developed the screening of the trees at the sides of the house in the
25:20courtyard. It's glorious.
25:21The tree planting and everything is going to take a few years, but the plan is similar.
25:25So this house is a very good choice for me for inspiration.
25:30Trish has organised for her conservation architect Barry Lynch to give a talk about the house for Heritage Week.
25:37But while he's there, he's noticed an issue with the way the house's cast concrete blocks are joined together.
25:45The pointing on this building is what's called a wigging pointing, which is applied in this case to cast concrete
25:52block work.
25:52That's quite unusual. The pointing has been lost from a couple of exposed locations due to probable frost heave storm
26:00damage.
26:00Wigging is more commonly seen on Georgian brick houses.
26:04These houses were built by local craftspeople and the architect was a Dublin-based architect, William Scott.
26:11And I would suggest that this trade may have come from the experience of the labourers and the architect.
26:18Architect William Alphonsus Scott was described by poet William Butler Yeats as the drunken man of genius.
26:27Certainly, wigging on the concrete blocks here may not have been an entirely wise choice and may be tricky to
26:36fix.
26:36This isn't predominantly found around the village, but is found in just this terrace.
26:42And so from that point of view, it's very important that we retain and repair this feature in the house
26:47as part of the overall construction.
26:48And so the conservation work on this protected structure.
26:51While Barry works out a solution for the damaged wigging, Trish is visiting the National Gallery in Dublin to meet
26:59curator of the centre for the study of Irish art, Mary Lynch.
27:04So Trish Talbot's Inch was constructed from 1905 onwards by Lady Desart in order to house workers in her industries,
27:13the woolen mills, the woodworkers guild.
27:15And at this time, a lot of factory workers would have been living in really awful tenement conditions.
27:22Whereas at Talbot's Inch, we have these beautiful cottages in which every aspect of the design has been very thoughtfully
27:28crafted by the architect and the craftsman who worked there.
27:32I wanted to show you something from our Anthur Glynne archive here.
27:36I don't know if you're familiar with the name Anthur Glynne.
27:39I'm not, but you're going to tell me all about it.
27:41I will.
27:42I'm interested to find out.
27:43So Anthur Glynne or the Tower of Glass was a pioneering stained glass studio.
27:47It was established really at the height of the Celtic Revival in 1903 by portrait artist Sarah Purser.
27:54And on tour Glynne, it really established an international reputation for stained glass closer to home in Ireland.
28:00We've got the Abbey Theatre here, we've got Lady Gore Booth here.
28:05So a lot of the key names from the period and a lot of the important buildings of that time.
28:12Now, I wanted to show you this particular page, Trish.
28:16I don't know if you recognize any names here on this page.
28:20And there he jumps out, William Alphonsus Scott, Esquire.
28:24Yes, indeed.
28:25Aha.
28:26So these are a series of orders from the architect, William Alphonsus Scott.
28:31So he was one of, I suppose, a handful of architects practicing in Ireland at that time,
28:36that really supported Anthur Glynne from the get-go with church design commissions.
28:42But in fact, in order to stay in float, the studio also relied on commissions for domestic windows, for plain
28:49glazing.
28:50It's little known, but this celebrated glass studio also sometimes took on orders for residential homes.
28:59So here we have a series of orders for model cottages at Kilkenny.
29:04Wow.
29:05Talbot's Inch features in the order book.
29:08We know the studio was purchasing Irish glass from the Bottleworks in Ringsend.
29:13So I'll just show you very quickly here.
29:16So this is just an order sheet for Dublin Bottleworks here.
29:23Designed for bottles, glass from the Ringsend factory was cheap, thick and hardy.
29:29So the glass in your house, Trish, I think the panes are probably a bit thicker than modern glass.
29:35Is that correct?
29:36Yeah, it's very distinctive.
29:37So when you look at it and when you walk by, you can see the wave in the glass, which
29:40of course is when it was blown and rolled.
29:41These kind of thicker panes would very much match the profile of what Anthora Glinna was producing and obtaining from
29:48the Ringsend Bottleworks factory.
29:51Trish's distinctive glass reveals that the windows in her little house are likely to have been designed and made by
30:00this internationally acclaimed pioneering stained glass studio.
30:04You've kind of preserved something quite special here with these windows.
30:08These colleges played a part in the story of Anthora Glinna, particularly in its early years.
30:13And so you have essentially preserved something of our national design heritage with the windows here.
30:19Really, really amazing discovery.
30:21Mm-hmm.
30:23You're very welcome.
30:24I'm just enthralled.
30:25I'm just enthralled.
30:26You're very welcome.
30:30Trish's house is revealing its significance more and more by the day.
30:35At the end of August, Hugh is back on site to see how its new extension is taking shape.
30:41Now, the extension is just terrific, isn't it?
30:44So, tell me about your budget.
30:47Well, first of all, the surprise was the asbestos.
30:50Toxic asbestos is one heritage building feature Trish will not be holding on to.
30:56Yes, the asbestos update.
30:57So, the house just keeps giving asbestos to us because areas that weren't accessible couldn't be explored until John revealed
31:06more upstairs.
31:07Last week, we found more asbestos over the window that they had to redo.
31:10So, that was a bit scary.
31:11And the asbestos has kept giving.
31:13So, we found more asbestos in the kitchen and we found it under the stairs.
31:16And a few days ago, we found more upstairs and took out the windows.
31:20So, that has added up to quite a huge cost, nearly $15,000.
31:24So, that's the total additional cost of what?
31:26You could kind of guess $55,000 or $60,000, I suppose, you know.
31:29Wow.
31:29So, I've had to take that alone, which is waiting approval, but I'm hoping it's going to be fine.
31:34But it's worrying because the guys need to get paid.
31:37With the budget stretched beyond capacity, Trish has had to make some hard decisions.
31:42What type of windows are going in now, in here?
31:47Well, we have to go with the old PVC, unfortunately.
31:49I know you're not a lover of the PVC and neither am I, but the budget isn't just there to
31:53put in the timber.
31:54That would leave Trish with national treasure windows at the front and plastic at the back.
32:01You have to do a timber window there, you can't use a PVC.
32:06Honestly, true.
32:08Even for that window, you just can't use a PVC window.
32:12Or even aluminium, maybe.
32:13No, use the PVC.
32:14Get a timber window.
32:15You see, you said PVC.
32:16You nearly fell into the trap.
32:17I did.
32:18No, no.
32:18You are...
32:19The budget isn't there at the moment.
32:21It is what it is, I think.
32:23And everything has been ordered and they'll be here in about five weeks.
32:25The drive to get the project finished at all has forced Trish to be pragmatic.
32:31So, that's been put to bed.
32:32I'll still be thinking about it tonight, though.
32:35Oh, should I have or should I not have?
32:37No, it's too late.
32:39It's done.
32:39We're not going back.
32:41Right.
32:42So, to compromise with the windows is something I just have to...
32:45Do.
32:46So, you need to win the lotto.
32:47Need to win the lotto, yeah.
32:48OK.
32:49While Trish scrambles for finances, work must move on if she's not to lose her builder,
32:55John, who has other jobs to move on to after hers.
33:02By September, the blistering summer heatwave is consigned to memory and so is Trish and
33:09John's planned ten-week turnaround.
33:11She won't be in by September, but John's team are firing on all cylinders to hit the new deadline of
33:18November.
33:19Most of the structure all finished off now. The roof is all insulated on the existing building.
33:23And we have the dry lads coming in, slabbing then out the building then as well.
33:27The lads are on top of each other there now at the moment just to keep the progress going.
33:31Trying to keep up with the builders is keeping me really busy because I'm running behind them because things have
33:36really just spiralled to...
33:39The house is just full of people all the time.
33:41Trish may not be able to move in yet, but her cats Pixie and Bubbles have already taken residence and
33:48made it clear that the village is their territory.
33:51There isn't a mouse or a rat left in the place, I would say.
33:55To hasten Trish joining the cats at Talbot's Inch, she must make decisions about her finishes.
34:02Her mother Catherine and daughter Sinead are helping her through the process.
34:07Trish is taking over her mother's kitchen table with the sample she's collected.
34:12You've got a few things there.
34:14I've got a few things. Do you like these?
34:17Terrace. Terrace tiles. They're cool, aren't they?
34:19Amazing.
34:20Where are they for?
34:21They are for the downstairs bathroom.
34:23They're gorgeous.
34:24They're really nice, aren't they?
34:25Yeah.
34:25Yeah, I think.
34:26I thought they were for the dinner.
34:28And then the paint colours are looking really interesting.
34:33A minefield.
34:35There's 120 colours or something.
34:37That's a lovely colour. It's very fashionable at the moment.
34:39Yeah, I think so.
34:40Yeah, but it's very difficult to choose colours.
34:42You always wonder if it's right.
34:44You always wonder if it's right.
34:46How close are you to painting walls?
34:48I guess about three weeks.
34:51Yeah, he's booked.
34:52Blimey.
34:53Yeah.
34:54So once the timber floors go down and the tiling is done, they can start painting.
34:57Great.
34:57It's going to happen quite quickly, I think.
34:59Yeah, it's going to fly along now.
35:02While Trish hopes to fly through new interiors choices, back at Talbid's Inch, she's facing
35:09a setback in her bid to save what remains of the original finishes.
35:15About a month ago, we were a bit shocked to see the tiles had broken in the house.
35:20They'd been...
35:22Somebody had put just an accident.
35:23Somebody had put that we were trying to mine on top of the fireplace and the tiles got broken.
35:28And we were all very alarmed and wondered what we'd do next.
35:31So I just collected them up and I put them all in a bucket.
35:35That's just some of them there.
35:36And I learned how to repair them.
35:38So I repaired about a half dozen tiles and we needed 20, so we have 20.
35:42Another bit of conservation work done.
35:45Repair skills acquired at the start of October with the abundance of autumn, Trish's investment in heritage is coming into
35:54fruit.
35:55Today, Joe Sheridan and his team are reinstalling the newly restored windows.
36:02Well, John, I'm just over the moon. The workmanship is just incredible.
36:04And I have such respect in regard for these artisan craftspeople we have in our community.
36:09It's a perfect example of really well restored rather than replaced windows.
36:15You know, the level of detail and the authenticity of the work that's been done.
36:19It's just extraordinary, really.
36:21And I get excited by it. You know, that's just how I am.
36:25You happy, Trish?
36:26I can't believe it.
36:27Yeah, it's nice, isn't it?
36:28It's transformed, John.
36:30It's lovely, lovely.
36:31This is brilliant. And everybody's coming down admiring them.
36:34Speaking of which, there's another person driving by to have a gawk.
36:40So, yeah, it's been a fun day.
36:42Joe is the hero of the hour.
36:44Did you bring the scones, Trish, or what's the story?
36:46Because I brought them the last day. I thought I'd have scones and coffee here today.
36:49I'm very disappointed.
36:50Are you, John?
36:51I never got that.
36:52Oh, did you now?
36:53Oh, yes.
36:56You're on the big bucks, though, John, you see. That's the difference.
36:58Yeah, you would talk.
37:01With or without scones, Magic John is still keen to keep things moving forward fast.
37:07She's drip-feeding us information at the moment, so I'm going to have to sit her down now in the
37:10next day or two now and finalise out the actual plan of where we're going to finish this.
37:14But the timeline and the dates are very by the point, so I have to have all the different contractors
37:19in on the dates that they're booked in.
37:21If I lose them or we have any mishaps in between, they're going to be gone to a different job
37:25and it could knock the whole thing back a week or two.
37:28So it's literally very crucial how everyone lands when they land and get in and get out.
37:32It's going to be fairly hectic here for the next four weeks.
37:36We're down to the last weeks just before John and the team finish up.
37:40And I'm really keen just that we don't forget the details of the old house in the rush of getting
37:46the new section finished.
37:49We couldn't do work around on the old ceiling, but I'm hoping that we're going to be able to use
37:53some of it in the house because it's really, really important to me.
37:56And the other thing we're trying to hold on to tightly is the old original clay tiles.
38:02Hoping that we'll have enough to put them back down in the kitchen and that they can be cleaned up.
38:08I'm just hoping that we can make it work because it's all adding on extra costs.
38:13And it's constantly worrying me and the questions, but I'm just hoping that we can get this, that we can
38:19get this over the line, please.
38:25On a November morning at the end of 2025, the model village of Talbot's Inch is glistening under the first
38:34frost of winter.
38:35The arts and crafts cottages are Christmas card idyllic.
38:40And though Trish Duff's new home is yet to receive a new coat of exterior paint, Hugh is visiting to
38:48see whether she got the interior complete before Builder John moves on to his next project.
38:55Hello.
38:56A beautiful day in Kilkenny.
38:58Great to see you.
38:59How are you?
39:00And she's in.
39:02Oh my goodness, Trish, this is fantastic.
39:05Love it.
39:06Love the staircase.
39:07Onward through the pretty front room to the kitchen at the back of the old house, where the UPVC windows
39:14are doing a great job.
39:17Beautiful sunlight.
39:19Isn't it wonderful to stand here and see all the natural light and sunshine coming in.
39:24What I was struck by is your recognition of the importance of the architectural heritage of this home.
39:36It's the tiny little details that make this house really characterful.
39:39These timbers on the ceiling here, for example, you can see the saw marks from the sawmills in the timber
39:43work.
39:43Wow.
39:44The kitchen ceiling was the only section salvageable from the timber ceiling upstairs.
39:50The builders dedicated themselves to cleaning it up and putting it back and make it fit here in the kitchen.
39:56It felt wild.
39:57Trish reinstated another previously unknown original feature in these last few busy weeks.
40:04So when you walk into the home, you've changed the staircase.
40:07Yep.
40:07That makes a huge difference to the room.
40:09The staircase now opens towards the fireplace, instead of directly to the front door.
40:15It was only when I went to one of my new neighbours, into her house.
40:19And I said, what's the story with the stairs?
40:21And she said, that's the way the house was built.
40:23I said, I wonder could we put it back in my house?
40:25So I spoke to John about it and he said they could still see the marks on the timber where
40:29the original stairs had been.
40:31Now that it's back there, you can see that that's actually the way it should have been.
40:33It feels right, you know.
40:34The last minute stair change reinstated the natural flow of the house.
40:41Here in the kitchen, changes to the plans have also added to the sense of space.
40:47Because the room is now the full width of the house, it just looks so much bigger.
40:51Yeah.
40:51The house looks so much bigger.
40:53It's very interesting.
40:54I thought this kitchen would be really tight and small.
40:57Yeah, no.
40:57But it's not.
40:58No, I think the colours as well have worked very well.
41:01To balance Trish's investment in saving heritage features, she searched around for a second-hand kitchen.
41:09I spent €1,700 on the kitchen.
41:11I got the island with the oak top unit and I got this big pantry here behind me as well.
41:14John made time to relay the original floor tiles.
41:18The builders committed to doing their absolute best to save as many as they could.
41:23And we had enough to do this whole room.
41:25And a few of them are a little bit patchy, but I think that's part of the story of the
41:29house.
41:29I think that's very important.
41:30Yeah, it is important.
41:31That you are keeping the history and retaining it and exposing it.
41:36The lovingly reinstated original features in the old house meet the modern extension at the transition room alongside the downstairs
41:46bathroom.
41:46And you have lovely views through from here out to the garden.
41:51For me, I think it's amazing because I was here for the first time six months ago.
41:56Yeah.
41:56And here we are walking into your dream home.
41:59And I think that's an extraordinary journey over such a short period.
42:04I've got to get upset, sorry.
42:05No, but you went to so much trouble, Trish.
42:11It's just been incredible, really.
42:14Trying to keep it all going at times is really, really difficult, you know.
42:18Trish couldn't help out physically on this project, but despite health issues, she worked closely with her architect, her builder,
42:27and with the local council's heritage team to drive it along, combining care for detail with an incredible pace.
42:36You have a real passion, and there's not an awful lot of people who would have taken this house on.
42:41So often, conservation officers are faced with a dilemma of somebody coming in saying, I'm going to rewire the house,
42:51pull everything apart, insulate the home.
42:54And all the conservation officers are hearing is the loss of the architectural fabric.
43:01Mm-hmm.
43:02And because you engaged with them, all the original fabric of this home is still there.
43:07Mm-hmm.
43:07I think, you know, you deserve a big clap on the back.
43:11Well, thank you, yeah.
43:12Honestly, because this is an inspirational house.
43:15So many people are put off by being feared of owning a home that's a protected structure.
43:22But it's the how you engage and how you respect the architectural heritage of the home makes the difference.
43:33And if you can get the conservation officer on your side so that you're being honest in how you're approaching
43:40things, they are there and they will assist and help.
43:44Trish, let's go and have a look upstairs.
43:46OK.
43:47Trish and John had to make changes to the upstairs roof and ceiling in order to insulate.
43:53It was a challenge to maintain the heritage cottage feel.
43:57But at the turn of the stair, it's clear that they've achieved it and more.
44:03Smattering.
44:04Coming up here is just wonderful because there's a real sense of spaciousness.
44:09Mm-hmm.
44:10But also you've got these wonderful forms and shapes.
44:13Yeah.
44:14Of the roof.
44:15Mm-hmm.
44:16Which come into your bedroom.
44:18Mm-hmm.
44:18The whole roof, yeah.
44:19And there's some really interesting angles over the window in the bathroom.
44:22The plaster did an amazing job.
44:24John and his team insulated the unusually shaped roof by shoring up the old timbers, which couldn't support added weight
44:33with new ones.
44:34The great thing is this is now fully insulated.
44:37You've brought the home from F freezing to A amazing.
44:43And the floor came up fantastic.
44:46And you see the woodworm.
44:47Some people try and fill all that in.
44:49No.
44:50I like that, that it looks the way it should be.
44:52The colour of the timber is beautiful.
44:54It's like a honey, isn't it?
44:55Lovely.
44:55Yeah, it's beautiful.
44:56Trish has kept the patina of this house's one and a quarter centuries on show.
45:02From the floorboards to the textures of the walls and the glass of the windows.
45:07In restoring the windows, you've been able to conserve the glass.
45:12We've almost all the original glass.
45:13Oh, wonderful.
45:15So all those little details are just parts of the story, aren't they?
45:18And your bed's great.
45:19Haven't slept in it yet.
45:20Well, should we do that together tonight?
45:23All right.
45:23It's big enough.
45:24It's king size.
45:24Sure, we'll get in there and have a cuddle.
45:27And the cats.
45:27Yeah, the cats can join us.
45:31Cat cuddle plans in place, Hugh wants to get down to the nitty gritty of how Trish
45:36made her cosy home happen against the odds of time and money.
45:42You originally were going to be four months on this project and I said, not a chance.
45:47But you did it in six.
45:49You bought the house for how much?
45:52Two hundred and ninety thousand.
45:53Wow.
45:53I know.
45:54You thought it was a lot of money then.
45:55Wow.
45:56I still think it's a lot of money.
45:57I have to tell you.
45:58Your relationship in understanding the grant system in Ireland has made a huge difference
46:05to you and this project.
46:07Would that be fair?
46:08Absolutely.
46:08Because there's no way I would have been able to have that money myself to do this work.
46:13You got the derelict and vacant property grant.
46:15That's right.
46:16You'd applied for how much?
46:18Fifty thousand.
46:19But in fact you got?
46:20We got the seventy thousand.
46:21Then you were able to get the SEAI grant in terms of upgrading the energy efficiency of the entire house.
46:29That's phenomenal.
46:30I got twenty three thousand in grant funding from SEAI for that work.
46:34And then you're also able to avail of the heritage grants.
46:38The grant funded me fifteen thousand.
46:40But I got a big surprise about a month ago.
46:42I got a lovely email on a Monday morning to say that there was remaining monies that hadn't been picked
46:46up
46:46and they were giving me an extra fifteen thousand.
46:48Which is amazing.
46:49It's amazing.
46:50So I got thirty thousand from the Guinea County Council.
46:52Wow.
46:53So it was about a hundred and thirty thousand in total.
46:55That is a huge amount of money.
46:57And then how much did you have to have spent?
47:00I spent about two hundred.
47:01It's a lot of money.
47:02Yeah.
47:03On a house.
47:04The total spend was just under three hundred and thirty thousand euro.
47:09Have you enjoyed the journey?
47:10Not always, you know.
47:12I haven't.
47:12I have to be honest and say I didn't.
47:13I mean, there were times I thought, why am I doing this?
47:15You know, this is so challenging.
47:17Because the work you have to do around the administration of grant applications
47:22and there's all the different documentations that you need to support all those applications
47:26can be extraordinarily complex.
47:27But I'd say to anybody thinking about taking on a project like this,
47:30just look hard at what money is available.
47:33But you have to have strong will and believe that you can do it.
47:35You know, because it can be done.
47:36You do?
47:37Yeah.
47:37And you've shown it?
47:38Yeah.
47:38Well done.
47:40I'm looking forward to spending many happy years here.
47:44Just think about it.
47:46Nineteen hundred and employees who worked in the mills lived in absolutely appalling conditions.
47:54Along comes Lady Desert and she creates this amazing village for her workers using really cutting edge technology at the
48:04time in terms of construction.
48:06And as soon as the construction roll on to 2025, along comes Trish.
48:11And what Trish has shown us in this project is that you can conserve our architectural heritage and bring it
48:20up to today's environmental standards in terms of heating.
48:24What she has done has no impact on the architectural statement that this village has, which is absolutely unique.
48:35Hats off to Trish.
48:37I just love this home.
48:41Hats off to Trish.
48:42I'm not following.
48:48Tish.
48:55I just love this.
48:55I am not following things with the mills lived in too many years.
48:56But I am not following me.
48:56There is no doubt that she has been accomplished.
48:56It'sбы and it's amazing.
48:56We are now on.
48:56I feel like the mills lived in too many years as well.
48:57I have the mills lived in too many years as well.
48:59I feel like they did nothing and I'll remember.
49:00To be able to hold people in to the mills lived in too many years.
49:01I can't follow them.
49:02And I'm not following them.
49:06That's why I feel like the mills live in too many years.
Comments