Moynalty cottage to feature on budget homes show

Trohanny Cottage near Moynalty will feature on tonight's episode of 'Cheap Irish Homes' on RTE when presenter Maggie Molloy showcases the 1830s thatch cottage as an example of what can be achieved with some vision and hard work.

In the series, Maggie Molloy is on a mission to find Ireland's most reasonably priced properties and help people who are on a tight budget to get on the property ladder.

From forgotten farm houses to bargain bungalows, Maggie and her co-presenter, building engineer Kieran McCarthy, travel all over Ireland showing properties with potential to buyers on a budget. As house prices rise, Maggie and Kieran want to show that there is still great value to be had if you look in the right places.

In this week's episode Cork social care worker Helen Conway is hoping to get back to her country roots and leave the suburbs of Carrigtwohill. With a dream of opening a little country store, she is pleasantly surprised with what she can afford, as Maggie and Kieran take her and her friend Jim around North Cork and Waterford.

During the episode, Maggie also talks to Áine McGarry about her restoration of Trohanny Cottage over the past 20 years from a derelict house with a tin roof to a wonderful example of a traditional Irish thatch cottage, showing what can be achieved with some vision and hard graft.

Áine now rents out the cottage on Airbnb to help fund expensive maintenance of the trademark thatch roof. She is also campaigning for more government support to help preserve traditional thatch cottages before they are lost due to the expense of maintenance and both the difficulty in obtaining insurance, and the astronomical cost for those who manage to get a quote.

Cheap Irish Homes airs on RTE 1 on Thursday 8th September at 7pm.