Hunter-Gatherer ‘Escape’ Under Construction - The Batchelor Pad on the Upper East Side of the village – Belderrig, Co. Mayo.

Our guests are hard working nomads, and in most cases, based in the city for a period of weeks or months. To offer our guests the ultimate in rural escape, we are restoring an original West of Ireland three room stone cottage.

The cottage is set on four acres of an original farm land ‘strip’ on an elevated site with stunning views over the ocean. The Cottage front elevation directly faces the setting sun, with morning sun to the rear. There are a limited number of excellent restaurants and coffee shops 30 minutes either side of the village. There are some stunning isolated sandy beaches within easy driving commute.

The cottage will be restored sensitively making the most of the natural materials from which it was conceived. Local natural stone walls, lime plaster, bangor slate roof. The cottage when it is complete will be the closest it can be to its original design but with a few nods to modern technology and luxurious comfort. The original floors are made from stunning local Belderrig stone slab and under these we will be installing under floor geothermal heating. The three room cottage will be transformed into a luxurious ‘suite’ for its guests. There will be a main bedroom with bathroom off to the rear, living room with open fire stove and a kitchen in the old second bedroom. The original animal shed three metres to the rear of the cottage will be transformed into a stone and wood luxurious bathroom with oversize wooden bath, shower, stove, under floor heating and day bed. The perfect place to indulge yourself while taking in the magnificent sea views and rural setting.

This project is in part, a labour of love, but at the same time a gentle restoration of a truly local Irish architectural gem and something that over time will be more widely appreciated for it simple rural beauty.

The last local inhabitants of the cottage were Bachelor brothers, Peter & John McHale, who lived and worked the land until Peter finally passed away in 1985. The restoration will be done sensitively to capture the essence of Irish rural living in the last century while making an extremely restful and super comfortable retreat for our 21st century guests.

Belderrig is a small rural village on the North Coast of Mayo. The village has fifty households, one pub, a church, and a former national school. The environs of the village have a unique continuity of settlement having evidence of Ireland’s first Hunter-Gatherer inhabitants, through to the first Neolithic farmers five and a half thousand years ago; to the modern community of farmers and fishermen.

Belderrig is a magical place made so by the people who live there, the wild natural coastal environment, and the depth of archaeology and history at every turn. The valley has been continuously inhabited for at least 7000 years. From Maude Gonne to Seamas Heaney and all other waifs and strays in between, Belderrig has captured the imagination of its inhabitants and visitors alike for Millenia.

Watch this space.