Summer time and the riverside living is easy

AN unemployed construction worker has never looked back since he decided to take up residency in a 70-year-old fisherman’s hut on the banks of the Shannon river.

Dan O’Neill’s unconventional way of living is stress free and practically “costs nothing”, the 45-year-old Limerick man insists.

He is the only full-time resident in one of six fisherman’s huts located on the Plassey bank near the University of Limerick campus and has been living there for the past 12 years.

The 45-year-old was born in Kennedy Park in Limerick city but “grew up on the river” in the hut built by his granduncle Christy Considine.

After returning from Britain, where he worked in the construction industry, Dan found out his uncle had left him the hut.

“There was nobody else in the family who would have lived in the conditions I lived in but I just love it here and the place is really cosy and well insulated,” he insists.

“My way of life will cost you nothing and you’ll never be happier or healthier. There is plenty of wild Atlantic salmon that swim by my doorstep every day. I cook my fish with the wild garlic that grows locally. We have no idea just how much grows around us and I also have chickens so I have fresh eggs every morning.”

Dan’s two-bedroom cottage has no electricity but he enjoys reading by candlelight and listening to his battery operated radio.

He collects driftwood from the river to burn in his stove and can’t remember the last time he bought a bag of coal.

“I hate television and I think all televisions should be thrown into a skip. I love listening to the radio and it allows me to read and paint or sketch which I also enjoy doing.”

When it comes to washing, Dan says he either swims in the river or has a shower in the nearby sports facilities at the university.

“It costs me €6 to go for a shower in UL so sometimes I bathe there, or else, if I have no money, I just jump into the river,” he said.

The 45-year-old is looking forward to spending the summer with his 14-year-old son Sean, who will come to stay with his father during the school holidays.

“He will leave his X-box at home and we will go for walks and fish in my boat and enjoy nature. He’s exactly like me and he loves the way I live,” he says.

And the proud riverside resident vows he has no intention of every moving despite nearly losing his home to floods.

“This is my home and I will never leave. I absolutely love it here. It’s in my blood and my ashes will be spread here.”