Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | … · 2020-06-23 · Cloughjordan...
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18/09/2018, 09)23 Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times Page 1 of 16 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/cloughjordan-is-a-small-country-town-but-a-big-ecovillage-f9ktxxhvl?t=ie GOING PLACES Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage Green living at Cloughjordan marks it out as a progressive and socially active place to live, writes Arlene Harris Eileen Brannigan, left, with her partner Joanna Parkes and their son Dualtha at the ecovillage Arlene Harris September 16 2018, 12:01am, The Sunday Times
Transcript of Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | … · 2020-06-23 · Cloughjordan...
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
Page 1 of 16https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/cloughjordan-is-a-small-country-town-but-a-big-ecovillage-f9ktxxhvl?t=ie
GOING PLACES
Cloughjordan is asmall country town— but a bigecovillageGreen living at Cloughjordan marks it out as aprogressive and socially active place to live, writesArlene Harris
Eileen Brannigan, left, with her partner Joanna Parkes and their sonDualtha at the ecovillage
Arlene Harris
September 16 2018,12:01am, The Sunday Times
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
Page 2 of 16https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/cloughjordan-is-a-small-country-town-but-a-big-ecovillage-f9ktxxhvl?t=ie
Donald Austinat CentraBARRY CRONIN
BARRY CRONIN
The residents of one Tipperary town heaved a
collective sigh of relief when An Post released
the names of the 159 post o;ces it is to close
around Ireland. Cloughjordan, which is
nestled in the lush countryside of northwest
Tipperary, was not on the list.
Bawney Hayes, a local man who has lived in
the town all his life with the exception of a
few years in Nenagh, says the loss of the post
o;ce would have been the final straw.
“We have been lost since AIB pulled out, as we
now have no bank, and we were very worried
about losing the post o;ce too,” he says,
adding that many townspeople are anxious
about the threat of further closures, including
the train station.
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18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
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As far as rural Irish towns go, Cloughjordan,
with its population of 612 people, is of a
modest size — it has two schools, three
churches, a community cafe, a supermarket, a
post o;ce and a railway station — but what it
lacks in size it more than makes up for in
detail. It is multidenominational,
multicultural and environmentally friendly to
boot.
The home town of Thomas MacDonagh, the
poet, playwright and revolutionary leader who
was executed for his role in the 1916 Easter
Rising, Cloughjordan is a modern settlement
in rural Ireland where history and old-
fashioned values are merged with forward-
thinking, socially active ideals.
Hayes says there is a “fierce feeling of pride”
among the inhabitants. “We’re very proud of
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
Page 4 of 16https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/cloughjordan-is-a-small-country-town-but-a-big-ecovillage-f9ktxxhvl?t=ie
Cloughjordanhas kept its postofficeBARRY CRONIN
our local man Thomas MacDonagh, sure, who
wouldn’t be? But while he is very much part of
our heritage, ours is also a modern town with
loads going on,” he adds.
“We have an amateur dramatic society that I
have been part of for decades. We also have
culture nights, heritage week and five or six
halls with various activities such as yoga,
dancing and Irish language classes. We’re a
very active community.”
The father of two, who is married to Josie and
used to work in house maintenance, also cites
Cloughjordan ecovillage as proof of the town’s
progressiveness.
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
Page 5 of 16https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/cloughjordan-is-a-small-country-town-but-a-big-ecovillage-f9ktxxhvl?t=ie
Ireland’s first ecovillage celebrates its 10th
anniversary next year, having welcomed its
first residents in December 2009. In the past
nine years, about 160 people have moved into
55 houses on the 12-acre site beside
Cloughjordan village — planning permission is
in place for 130 homes. The developers have
built a huge selection of sustainable houses in
a variety of styles, including timber-framed
properties with hemp and lime rendering;
certified passive houses; an all-cedar home
with recycled newspaper as insulation; and a
curved cob house.
The dwellings are energy e;cient and high-
performing “green homes”, which together
form Ireland’s largest renewable energy
district heating system. Some residents
harvest rainwater for drinking and washing,
while many also use solar panels. They tend
their community farm using sustainable
agricultural methods.
Many homeowners have designed their own
homes or worked with ecological architects.
Homes have been built for as little as
€120,000. The residents have planted 20,000
trees, among them alder, ash and hazel, and
they’ve rescued oak trees from a motorway in
Dublin.
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
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Solar panels atthe ecovillageBARRY CRONIN
Writer Eileen Brannigan moved into her
timber-frame house five years ago, along with
her partner Joanna Parkes and their son
Dualtha. She says she can’t imagine living
anywhere else.
“This is a dynamic community of broadly like-
minded people who have a genuine desire to
do less damage to the world we live in within
the urgent context of climate change,” says
Brannigan.
“Whatever our superficial di]erences, we
believe that changes to the way we live and
consume are urgently necessary. We are all
determined to show how relatively small but
profound personal changes can make a big
and quantifiable di]erence.”
She says the ecovillage and Cloughjordan are
the kinds of places where you can put out a
call asking to borrow something, whether it’s a
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
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mobile phone charger or a car, and get a
stream of responses. “Rural communities have
traditionally had a good reputation for helping
each other out and looking out for their more
vulnerable members, and the ecovillage, while
it doesn’t look traditional, embodies those
values. For those of us who have migrated
from cities or urban areas, we find this aspect
of living here a very pleasant surprise.”
Retired councillor Jim Casey agrees. He says,
while the town changed a great deal in the 30
years he worked as a public servant, the sense
of community has remained the same. The
influx of newcomers has enhanced this. “We
are a very di]erent community from a lot of
others,” says Casey, who is married to May
and has three adult sons. “There are so many
people of di]erent religions here for a start,
from Catholic and Protestant to Methodist
and others, and everyone gets on well — in
fact there is a community choir and people
from all faiths sing together. It sets a great
example.
“The area is developing all the time — not as
fast as some people would want but, for a
small rural town, it’s holding its own,” says
Casey.
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
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Local man Bawney Hayeshas lived in the townmost of his lifeBARRY CRONIN
However, he worries that the next generation
won’t put “their shoulder to the wheel” like
the current generation. Many residents are
meeting the challenges facing the town head
on — not least among them the possibility of
the modern world leaving it behind. But it
isn’t all a bed of ecofriendly roses in
Cloughjordan.
“After the Celtic tiger the town definitely got
quieter,” says Donald Austin, who runs the
local Centra supermarket. “On a business
level, things have not improved since the
recession; there has been no upturn in rural
Ireland as far as I can see, unless you are
situated on a busy road. And it can be very
quiet during the day, as there are few jobs
locally, so many people go away to work.”
Despite the downturn and
the current threat to rural
communities, the housing
market in north Tipperary
has recovered well from
the crash. Estate agent Eoin
Dillon says the area
attracts people who want to retire away from
the bustle of the city to a place that still has a
buzz about it. And while prices vary, the cost
of a three-bedroom family home in the area is
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in the region of €140,000.
“We are amazed by the number of middle-
aged and retired people seeking to move to
Cloughjordan,” says the Nenagh agent.
“People want to be near the ecovillage but not
necessarily to live in it, preferring to enjoy
some of its benefits without being fully
immersed in it.”
Dillon says there is a huge variation in the
size, age, condition and location of houses. “If
you were to take your average three-bedroom
semi-detached house in Townsfields, it would
have been worth €160,000 in 2005. It’s now
worth €135,000 and would have hit a low of
about €90,000 in 2014.”
There aren’t too many grand houses around
but Cloughjordan House, an 800-year-old pile
on Step Road now used as a cookery school
and wedding venue, is notable for its size,
history and, more recently, as a place of
employment.
Run by Peter and Sally Baker, the house was
originally Peter’s family home, passed down
through the generations for more than a
century, and a former dairy farm. Eight years
ago, Sarah set up a cookery school in the
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
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kitchen. This led her into the hospitality
industry, and since then it has operated as a
private venue for weddings and corporate
events as well as the original cookery school.
“The house has gone from strength to strength
over the years and my husband and I, and our
three children, love living in a building with so
much history and the fact that we can share it
with so many people,” says Sarah. “We
provide local employment with 10 full-time
positions and about 40 seasonal sta], which
has a massive knock-on e]ect to the local
community. And I think the combination of
activities at Cloughjordan House alongside the
ecovillage has brought vibrancy and
dynamism to our village.”
Actor Patrick Bergin, who co-starred with Julia
Roberts in the 1991 film Sleeping with the
Enemy, must agree, as he resides in the town.
Indeed, with a calendar of events and
festivals, the open-air amphitheatre, blues,
trad and open mic evenings and even a circus
school, this little community seems to have it
all.
Brannigan says it can take time to get used to
living here. “Cloughjordan is a small town and
everyone knows your business,” she says.
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
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MATT BROWNE
“There’s no such thing as anonymity and I do
sometimes miss that aspect of city life — here
your achievements but also your mistakes are
writ large. There was an initial guardedness
from some of the long-established community
[when the ecovillagers arrived], which was
understandable, but we live well together now,
so the relationship between old and new
communities is a positive and deepening one.”
The lowdownThe lowdown
Schools:Schools: There are two primary schools in the
town — No 1 and No 2 national schools — but
no secondary schools, so students have to
travel to nearby towns such as Nenagh and
Borrisokane.
Activities:Activities: Among the
clubs and groups in
Cloughjordan are the
heritage group, the Mellow
Tones female choir, and
the local GAA club. There’s
a street market held once a
month. Knocknacree Wood
is more than 128 acres of
woodland about 1km north of Cloughjordan
and o]ers leafy walks. A bit further afield,
about 7km from the village, is the Schohaboy
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
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Bog, a rare raised bog with boardwalks and
viewing areas.
Properties:Properties: There are 10 residential
properties in Cloughjordan, advertised on
MyHome.ie, ranging in price from €76,000 for
a complete renovation project of stores
buildings on Templemore Road to €495,000
for Mullenkiegh House.
Celebrities:Celebrities: Charlie Swan, pictured, the
former jockey who won three Champion
Hurdles and rode Istabraq, has a stud in
Cloughjordan. The actor Patrick Bergin has a
castle near the village.
Homes for sale in CloughjordanHomes for sale in Cloughjordan
Short stroll from village €142,500Short stroll from village €142,500
No 30 Townsfields is a three-bedroom end-of-
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
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terrace property within walking distance of
the village centre. The 103 sq m house opens
into a tiled entrance hall, with the sitting room
and kitchen just o]. There’s a guest lavatory
and utility room. The bedrooms are upstairs;
the master has an en suite. The attic has been
floored and has a Velux window.
realestatealliance.ie
Comfy billet for canines €269,950Comfy billet for canines €269,950
For every bedroom at Kyleshinaun there is a
kennel: the detached house has four double
bedrooms and four purpose-built kennels for
any four-legged family members. The house
sits on almost two and half acres, surrounded
by countryside. Inside, there are two reception
rooms, a kitchen, a utility room and a guest
lavatory on the ground floor.
realestatealliance.ie
18/09/2018, 09)23Cloughjordan is a small country town — but a big ecovillage | Ireland | The Sunday Times
Page 14 of 16https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/ireland/cloughjordan-is-a-small-country-town-but-a-big-ecovillage-f9ktxxhvl?t=ie
Potential for extra cottage €495,000Potential for extra cottage €495,000
Mullenkiegh House is a pretty Georgian house
on 11 acres. The owners have carried out
sympathetic upgrade works, reroofing the
place, restoring the windows and upgrading
the heating. The 289 sq m house has two
reception rooms, four bathrooms and two
bedrooms. A former piggery in the courtyard
could be turned into a two- or three-bedroom
cottage. savills.ie
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