Meet the former dairy farmers who converted a milking parlour into a sanctuary for those needing therapy
Laurel Farm, near the village of Bulgaden in Co Limerick, has been transformed by Úna and John O’Rourke, since they purchased the property three years ago.
No cows supply milk in the milking parlour anymore. Instead, a healing sanctuary, which opened in September 2017, provides therapies and workshops at this rural hideaway between Kilmallock and Bruff.
“The milking parlour was a total ruin,” says Úna. “It was lying idle for a number of years. When Peter Ryan built it in the 1920s, he used the dowry from his marriage.
“It was state of the art in its day, and people came from all around to see it.”
Originally the building was divided into two sheds and a milking parlour.
Now therapy and ancillary rooms occupy one half; and a stunning wood-floored room, with a five metre high ceiling, is in the other half.
The shape and height are the same, but everything else is new. “Sadly, the old sash windows were rotten. We only managed to keep one on the gable. The big pit and cement cubicles had to be jack hammered and chiselled out. There was a lot of manual labour involved.”
It was a family project with daughter Niamh (13) and son Tommy (12) involved in the design and physical work. “When we started thinking about it, we had sticks and blocks to place the rooms and measurements,” says Úna. “Niamh and Tommy asked if they could design it on Minecraft, which is what they did. We were all digging out bricks and rubble. We helped to pour the concrete, and painted the walls ourselves.”
The biggest challenge was the roof. “I wanted to keep the original slates, and travelled the country looking for replacements. They couldn’t be got, because of asbestos concerns. The workmen then found that the roof was irreparable.
It was the lowest point. I thought we’d have to abandon the project.
Her husband, John, came up with the solution. They kept the slate roof, patched and insulated it, and put a corrugated roof over it.
The inside was also insulated and lined with timber.
“It’s the most insulated roof in Ireland!”, Úna laughs.
The renovated parlour has views of the Galtee and Ballyhoura Mountains, through large, arched picture windows. A lawn and wall separate the sanctuary from the farm buildings. “What we’re looking out at now was a circular yard with cement, she says. “We blasted it out, and set grass there.”
Úna credits John, who she says does the practical side and the finances, so she can have the vision.
“Years ago, he wanted to build a house. I said, ‘Build it, and call me when you are turning the key’. Here, I became project manager, and organised all the workers.
I even drove to Munster Joinery in Kerry, and brought back the windows and doors in the trailer. It was an incredible learning for me.
The O’Rourkes didn’t buy with a view to setting up the sanctuary, but the idea grew as they started clearing out the old milking parlour.
For years, Úna had been working in a spare bedroom of her house. “I always dreamed of a healing sanctuary. I’ve 25 years of experience in different therapies, mainly energy balancing like Reiki and massage.”
She also offers yoga, meditation and mindfulness classes, among others.
“I see the benefits of medicine and research, so it’s not an alternative. I like the idea that the two complement each other.”
Úna’s background is in primary teaching, she also taught Irish in Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick.
She’s passionate about teaching healing to other people. “I want to help people to feel better by empowering them, and teach them techniques to take care of themselves.
“The workshop, course or modality doesn’t matter, as long as you are helping people.”
John, who works as an automation engineer, has 13 Angus cattle on the 16-acre farm. “From the day I met John, he wanted to have his own farm. His mother comes from a couple of miles down the road, so he went back to his farming roots.”
Úna herself didn’t come from a rural background.
She grew up in Bruff.
“We went to Inagh, Co Clare as kids, and I helped with the hay and turf on my cousins’ farm for a few weeks in the summer. But if you saw me last spring, I was out there in my wellies feeding calves by hand. It was like having babies all over again!”
Úna is concerned that people have become removed from the land. “John says when he goes on the tractor, doing anything with the cattle, he can be very mindful. The activity of farming, or doing something with the land, is mindful.
It’s about being present to whatever you are doing. That’s what I’m teaching also, and it’s what people are trying to get back to, or learn again.
John is building a bridge over a dyke at the back of the property, to create a mindful walk around the perimeter of the farm. The sanctuary is a switch-off from the outside world, with calming energy.
Phones and wifi don’t work there, even though that wasn’t planned.
“At night, I have candles and salt lamps on. People lying down doing relaxation at the end of yoga class all ask for a sleepover.”
Plans include painting the exterior of the former parlour.
The sanctuary space is available for rental, and more classes and workshops are planned.
Úna would like to have residential overnight stays. “There are seven stables in the stable block. When I win the lotto, they will be my chalets !” she jokes.
She says it’s only now she’s beginning to own it. “I’m talking about myself, but it’s as if I’m talking about someone else. It has been some journey. I’m living my dream.”
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