Man finishes off own house he ‘broke into’ on ghost estate

A retired businessman who “broke into” in his house in a well-known Killaloe ghost estate last July, is almost ready to move in permanently.

Fed up of waiting for the completion of the sale of Ard na Deirge, Killaloe, Co Clare, and the completion of necessary connections such as water, sewerage and public lighting, John Ryan Sr decided to try and progress matters himself.

He has been busy tiling the hallway, kitchen and bathrooms and fitting out the dwelling, which he first purchased in 2006 and was subsequently “locked out” of for over seven years.

Thanks to the provision of the water mains past his house, the South Tipperary native hopes to have running water within the next two weeks once a plumber completes some relatively minor connection works.

This will pave the way for an electrician to connect his electricity supply from the meter to his house, which will make it habitable on a permanent basis in late February or March.

Mr Ryan Sr has also been working on the neighbouring house, which was purchased by his son, John Ryan Jr, at the same time as the retired businessman who intended to fulfil his dream of retiring in Killaloe after running a hairdressing franchise business in Limerick and his native Clonmel.

This dream turned into the proverbial nightmare when AIB and its receiver, KPMG, took over the management of the ghost estate after the initial builder couldn’t get the finance to complete the estate after experiencing serious financial difficulties.

“It would be a major achievement to make my house liveable after such a long time.

“Once the plumbing and the electricity are connected, I will be able to move in full time with my wife Breda and son, John once two bedrooms and two bathrooms are operational.

“It will be much easier to finish off the work needed in John’s house once I can move into my house. John has the timber floors picked out for his kitchen already.

“I am back and forth to the house carrying out works on a regular basis and at this stage the security seems to ignore me I am there so often. Breda and John get security warnings when they visit the site but I think they have given up on me,” he joked.

John Ryan Sr made local and national headlines last year when he broke into his house, ignoring security warnings he was trespassing on private property and risking the wrath of AIB and its receiver, KPMG.