It is nearly 12 weeks since we arrived at our new home on Drumnaph Farm which is beautifully situated in the middle of a Nature Reserve in the north of Ireland. In some ways it seems completely crazy that we are here after finding out we have been selected for a position we had applied for only a few months before. In most ways though, we feel at home and settled (allowing for the occasional wobble) already which is incredible.
Our home for the past ten years had been Devon in the South of England and having moved there from Bath not knowing a soul, we found work in a great little café called Poppy and Stig’s Place just down from the Castle in Totnes. It was a ‘locals’ place, hidden down a side street serving the best coffee and playing the best music. It was from here that we slowly made friends; tentatively inviting friendly folk to join us for a drink until we had friends for life.
Our two children, Rowan our daughter age 6 and Oisín our son aged 4 were both born in Devon. By then we had gravitated to Dartmoor and rented a beautiful farmhouse in Holne. Rowan was so nearly born in the house but Oisín was born at home, by that time, a tiny converted goat shed with ‘one up,one down’ where we lived for three years.
After leaving the café (serving coffee was never really his thing), Glenn trained as a traditional oak timber framer for Carpenter Oak and was nearing the end of his 4th year with them. He had moved into the realm of the office and worked at many of their shows and events. This was great work but we both felt that Glenn being away from home 7am-6pm every day as well as two weekends a month was not the life we had imagined and it was so important that he had more flexibility to be truly part of Rowan and Oisín’s early years.
As well as a timber framer, Glenn had also trained as a Bushcraft Instructor, Furniture Maker, Woodsman, Craftsman amongst many other things. He is one of those generally annoying people who can remember everything they are told and then have the ability to impart that knowledge to others in a clear understandable way,basically the polar opposite to me! I’m not going to sell myself short here, it’s easy to do that when your other half can spout a fountain of knowledge most days (I don’t listen to him anyway!) but I would say I am the ‘people person’. I like people, mostly, and I like being out there talking and getting to know people, something not as easy for Glenn..hah! So, anyway, we felt that with our combined skills to tap into, now would be the time to make a go of self employment. Yes, with two small children, both very sleep deprived and with no magic beans in the bank to help us on our way.
To cut this very long story short, we stuck at it for four years ricocheting from feast to famine on a monthly (sometimes daily) basis. Self employment is bloody hard for most, but we always, always kept the faith, even through some really shitty times. We questioned over and over again whether to jack it all in and get a ‘proper job’ but several things kept us going. One: we didn’t want to pay someone else to look after our children. Two: we wanted to work together towards something that we could be proud of, long term. Three: we believed in ourselves and what potentially lay ahead. Four: we didn’t want for much and just enough to not be worrying all the time would be grand thanks very much.
Our furniture business, Whitethorn Woodcraft has grown slowly over the years and we are proud of what we have achieved but this was only part of the dream.
In October 2012 I took a trip to Ireland with the children to visit family and this changed our lives. In a little stone, thatched cottage one evening, my Dad asked what it was that we wanted, what was the dream? I explained that we would love a house with some land where we could run courses, make stuff, sell stuff, keep some animals, open a campsite, maybe a bit of B&B and generally do all the things that make us happy.
The next morning I popped up to see Niall, my mum’s cousin and his wife Siobhan. Niall is part of Carntogher Community Association, a charity working really hard to regenerate the Irish language and heritage of the area. Niall told me about a farm the association had just purchased with a view to running courses and craft workshops, selling handmade products, keeping heritage/rare breed livestock, opening a campsite, maybe a bit of B&B…….and they needed someone to live in the farmhouse and manage the farm and Nature Reserve. I went to my Aunts house and called Glenn….
So, here we are on a huge adventure. The children are in a Bunscoil (Irish Medium Primary School) learning in Irish now alongside their cousins. Glenn and myself have lessons every week and we are heading to an Irish Language Family course in Donegal next month. The Irish language is so important here and we had none at all so we have committed to a programme of learning. Eventually all the courses and activities offered at the farm will be bi-lingual and the local area is a recognised and growing Gaeltacht (Irish speaking region) so without Irish we wouldn’t be able to continue.
We love it here, the farm is beautiful and has 360 degree views of mountains. The community allotments are up and running. There are Gypsy Cob ponies in the field (always loved them) and we are here to do what we love in a fantastic community who have already given so much support since we arrived. I only wish that we didn’t have to leave our friends behind, they are like family and I cried so much saying goodbye. Still, now they have somewhere to visit and stay. For the first time we have space and visitors no longer have to sleep on the floor!
I will post all our stories and exploits on here, we hope you will enjoy reading.
