Advertisement
Dublin: 12 °C Friday 15 November, 2024

Internet goes wild for renovation of 200-year-old derelict Irish cottage

The images have gone viral.

TWO DAYS AGO Gary Guilfoyle posted images online of an old Irish cottage he and his wife are renovating to turn into a home.

He shared the pictures of the ongoing work on the image sharing site Imgur, not expecting much of a response, and they were then shared on the Reddit DIY subsection.

The cottage, in Aghnananagh, Co Offaly, was left to his wife by an aunt, and is 214 years old.

Imagine the stories these walls could tell…

QeZcOBq Imgur Imgur

RfIjQXY Imgur Imgur

lintels Imgur Imgur

windows Imgur Imgur

NkjmwNh Imgur Imgur

Gary said that despite recommendations from friends and acquaintances – and even strangers who would call onto the site –  to bulldoze the structure and start again: 

This house had stood for over 200 years, longer than anyone around now, we were the latest guardians, who were we to knock it?

He also shared images of work beginning on the cottage’s thatched roof:

cXdo4iz Imgur Imgur

pErwca8 Imgur Imgur

Before long it was one of the most viral set of images on imgur, taking the second position at one point. More than 600,000 people had viewed the pictures, and thousands left comments.

awe

fix

type

Gary has told DailyEdge.ie that he and his wife are flabbergasted at the massive response to their project, which they’re managing themselves.

They have employed the skills of professionals for work like the thatching, but otherwise are doing whatever they can themselves in the evenings and on weekends.

The house is a protected structure. We intend to restore it as best we can using traditional building techniques. We intend to learn traditional skills such as lime plastering and stone wall building in order to complete the project.

hourse Imgur Imgur

The Guilfoyles have called the project a “labour of love”, which they’ve been working on for four years so far “through planning, remedial work etc. Hopefully the next 8 months will finish it”. 

The cottage is a protected structure but Gary says:

Even if it wasn’t we would have maintained it as is.

EUWUjIK The work continues Imgur Imgur

He has promised to share more images and updates as the work progresses.

This Swedish billboard with a twist is going viral for a great reason> 

Close
20 Comments
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.