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Gallan Mor Boutique B&B
possible as seen from the outside but with all the mod cons inside.
“Again, we chose a self-coloured rough cast external finish for the cottage
which will not need repainting and proven over many, many years to be one of
the best materials for repelling water,’’ added Mrs Bourke.
“Noel climbed onto the roof and measured the chimneys to get the right
pitch of the roof as modern new builds tend to have a much steeper pitch in
order to gain more height in the house interiors. We salvaged all of the stone
from the old cottage together with the big beam over the fireplace-we also
salvaged the stone lintel from over the front door and it now sits proudly in the
kitchen above our antique Godin French stove.
“The property is south facing and we paid great attention, reading cover to
cover of the ‘West Cork Planning Guide’ and recognised the importance of
maximising the solar gain and building a house that was in keeping with what
would have been built in the past.
“Noel designed the windows (which are long and not wide) to allow the
maximum amount of light and still exploit the views without dominating the
property and remaining true to the original. We chose Velfac windows because
I wanted windows that I could throw open on those beautiful, warm, sunny,
dry days or nights without having the view spoiled by the bar in the middle and
just listen to the waves on the rocks or just smell the sea,’’ explained Lorna.
“The windows are hugely thermo efficient. There are six large Velux
windows in each of the sloping roofs.’’
Taking in paying guests was never part of the Bourke’s plan when they
arrived in West Cork! Mr Bourke who was born in London spent his boyhood
summer holidays in County Tipperary, his parents native home and had
dreamed of living in Ireland. Mrs Bourke’s parents are from the Caribbean
Island of Grenada and had always wanted to live by the sea. They arrived in
Ireland with the hope of finding work as Noel is a Paediatric Occupational
Therapist and Lorna worked in London as a Marketing Officer in Social
Services. With the HSE jobs freeze, it meant that there were no openings for
the pair of them in West Cork so they sought alternatives and found there was
a demand for a high-quality B&B on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula.
“As the house is a purpose built B&B all the bedrooms have ensuites with
luxury power showers. We also installed a commercial fire alarm system,’’
stated Mrs Bourke. “The new build is as close a replica of the old cottage as
was possible, everyone thinks it’s an old house until they get inside.
“Energy efficiency was extremely important to us so we had the house
super insulated with Quinnlite blocks as well as the normal highly insulated
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08/01/2016 4:31 p.m.