History in the Making

From Greenheart reclaimed from Dublin’s docks and Burmese teak salvaged from a First World War shipwreck to French oak from a centuries-old cathedral, Glenn and Trish have filled their Dalkey home with materials that already had extraordinary stories to tell.

Glenn and Trish describe their Dalkey property as a ‘legacy home’. While its transformation has delivered a comfortable, energy-efficient house, look a little closer and many of its most distinctive elements have already lived several lives. Reclaimed timber is one of the threads running through the interiors. Greenheart salvaged from Dublin’s historic docks forms the living room mantel, while elsewhere timber with connections to Irish railways, the century-old RDS stands and a 400-year-old French cathedral has been repurposed. Even more extraordinarily, Burmese teak used within the project was recovered from the wreck of the SS Pegu, which sank off the Irish coast during the First World War. For homeowners Glenn and Trish, however, the story began when they fell for Dalkey. ‘We fell in love with the area while living here as expats working for an Irish company, and quickly realized we wanted to retire here,’ Glenn explains. ‘When we found the listing for the property, and saw the massive garden behind the relatively small semi attached cottage, the wheels started turning.’

Read more in the November issue…