Home found for Cork father and disabled son living in rat-infested bus

Adrian lying on the bed where he sleeps, toe-to-toe, with dad Patrick Walsh. Picture: Larry Cummins

A father and his disabled son who were living in a rat-infested bus outside Blarney have been found a safe place to call home.

The local community rallied to help Adrian and Patrick Walsh get out of the bus before winter, and thanks to the public’s generosity, they are to move into a high-quality mobile home with plumbing and electricity this week.

Patrick said that he and Adrian are “delighted” with their new home and no longer live in dread of the freezing winter.

Kate Durant, who has been working voluntarily to help the Walshs along with Declan O’Connell from St Vincent de Paul and social worker Marianne Walsh, said that securing them a home has been a community effort.

“We set up a Go Fund Me page which raised about €2,000 and Saint Vincent de Paul donated another €2,000 but we were still short money to secure them immediate accommodation. 

But Blarney Castle stepped in to help, providing a brilliant mobile home for many thousands of euro below the market value.

“Once the Walshs are in that mobile home we know that they won’t die out in that bus this winter.” 

Adrian Walsh and his father Patrick have been living in a disused bus by the river just 15 minutes from Cork city centre for the last four years. Picture: Larry Cummins

A kind donor paid off the debt that Adrian owed to Cork City Council after reading about their story in the Irish Examiner so the two men could be reinstated on the public housing list as they could not be considered for a home while Adrian was in arrears.

Sole carer

Other people generously offered houses for Patrick and Adrian to move into, but they were too remote for the family, who need to be near their support network and be able to travel for frequent hospital appointments.

Adrian suffered a major brain injury when he fell from a bridge in Wales approximately three years ago.

His brain injury causes him to suddenly blackout and has badly damaged his memory so he needs near-constant care.

Patrick became his sole carer when Adrian’s mother died this year.

They have been living in the old bus, listening to rats scurry under their bed at night, washing in the freezing river and using a bucket in a shed as a toilet.

But this week, their nightmare will hopefully end as they move into somewhere warm and safe for now while they wait in hope of eventually securing a council house.

Local Cllrs John Sheehan and Damian Boylan, who worked with the campaign, have arranged for the mobile home to be moved to the Blarney site where the Walshs are currently living, through Willie O’Brien who has agreed to waive the €800 transportation charge for the family.

Ms Durant said that they must still pay to have the mobile home plumbed and must buy a generator to secure an electricity supply. To donate to help fund these final essentials for the family, go to their fundraiser here.