Relocation, relocation, relocation: Five families leave behind their pre-Covid lifestyles

Joyce Fegan speaks to five families who have opted to make profound changes to their lives as a result of the coronavirus pandemic

On a visit to West Cork, in a break in the Covid restrictions last summer, events producer Fran Hogan had the brainwave to up sticks and move to Schull from Dublin.

As we begin to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, profound changes in how we make decisions about our lives are taking place.
Joyce Fegan speaks to five families whose lives have changed for the better as a result of this tumultuous time

Fran Hogan: From Dublin to sea swimming daily in Schull

Fran Hogan says that her new life wouldn’t exist were it not for the pandemic. At the start of 2020, she had been living in Dublin city centre and working as a busy events producer for major international clients. She had also just got mortgage approval on her own and was looking at houses in Crumlin.

Then, like everyone else, her life and livelihood was greatly affected by the pandemic, and her earnings were down by several thousand euro.

So last summer, when the country opened up briefly, she found herself down in west Cork and “just fell in love with the place”.

“I went down to west Cork twice during the summer and just fell in love with the place really, I just felt drawn to the place. A friend was down in Schull looking for places to live — her granny had a place there and she had spent her summers there. I just met her for lunch, and as we were chatting it just dawned on me, that I could do this too."

“I very quickly just decided, I was telling people within three days,” she adds.

When it came to work, her office is in Dublin but her work is now remote.

“I said to work: ‘This is what I am thinking about doing’. I was in a place of: ‘I don’t really want to ask permission’, then I just said I am moving, I’m single, I don’t have kids and I’m up in Dublin once a month for work as an events producer, so I just have to be in Dublin when the events are live and I get to see my mum,” explains Fran of her decision-making process.

Moving around, internationally, was the norm to her too. She had lived in London, Saudi Arabia and Australia as a child for six years, so Dublin to West Cork wasn’t a huge shift in those terms.

And it was finding accommodation in Dublin that was hardest.

“We were in a house just off Cork Street, it took me and my pal a good while to find a house that we were happy enough with. 

In January 2018, we were literally going queuing outside houses to see places and it was mad money for places that weren’t great, that we were not happy in. 

"We eventually found Cork Street through a friend of a friend, and it was a lovely house and lovely space and we sacrificed an extra bit of money to be in it,” says Fran of her Dublin rental.

“It was mad busy but it was great, I had a lot of fun,” she adds.

She made the move to Schull in September 2020, having found a long-term rental. There was nothing on Daft, so she contacted hosts on Airbnb instead.

“I got a three-bed house, that’s a five-minute walk to the sea for €150 less than renting just a room in Dublin. My mum came down for Christmas, and my friend Babs came over from London and she just arrived down and drove through Main Street Schull and was like: ‘This is a fairy tale’,” says Fran.

The quiet and solitude was a stark contrast to life in the capital, but it also gave her headspace.

“This space that moving has given me mentally and emotionally has been great, it was just go go go before. When I moved to Schull it was September, and I leaned into the winter darkness and into that winter of doing nothing just to see what would come up for me,” says Fran.

From living alone, sea swimming every day and following the old Celtic calendar and the cycles of nature, a love of astrology is what emerged for Fran.

“I’m starting to do a series of astrology workshops. I wouldn’t have got to that if I was in Dublin, because I was down the country away from people,” she says.

Now I swim before work, I work on astrology, and I’m out for walks at the weekend.

Fran now describes the sale of the house in Crumlin following through, because of the pandemic, as a “blessing in disguise”.

“I was doing festival work, producing events and freelance work and there were bonuses and then because everything stopped I found myself down €70,000 on what I could borrow, so I can’t afford to buy in Dublin now anyway and it’s a blessing in disguise because I would have bought that house if it was three months earlier. And this life wouldn’t exist.

“I remember friends moving to Skerries thinking that was like going to Mars now I’ve moved four times the distance,” says Fran.

Right now she is currently in Strandhill in Sligo, with all of her belongings in the attic in the cottage in Schull and she plans to return there in September.

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“I’m really looking forward to going back, but will I feel differently about Schull? Is it just being out of Dublin that I’m liking or is it Schull specifically? West Cork is a special place,” says Fran.

She said that she had never seen herself leaving Dublin, but that the pandemic has been life changing.

“It’s such a massive change, I feel a bit stiller from spending a lot more time in nature and in the sea - all of that has definitely had a positive effect on me. I’ve been swimming through the winter for three years but I did it every day this year. I’ve heard about people talking about sea swimming as a form of meditation, I get that now,” says Fran.

You can follow Fran on Instagram @cosmic.heart.sovereign.soul

Sarah Byrne: From DJ-ing in Dublin to living in Westport

Sarah Byrne and her partner Ed were about to buy a 56 sq m house on Dublin’s Meath St for €267,000 when the pandemic hit. It was a “real fixer-upper”.

Sarah works for a busy events company with international clients and Ed works in hospitality — so both of their jobs were affected when the world went into lockdown in March 2020.

“The banks said we couldn’t close, it was a fixer upper,” says Sarah. “We kind of thought things would change, but then I had a pay cut and my partner’s work stopped because he’s in hospitality, so we decided to let the house go. We thought we could reapply once corona got sorted but then it became clear that it was going to take a while.

“Then there was the call from the broker who said ‘you aren’t going to get a mortgage for a while’, that was July. I was devastated for that day, but then I immediately asked myself: ‘What can we do, because we can’t buy in Dublin?’ ”

It was this question, coupled with the death of her father and being able to work remotely, that led Ed and Sarah to Westport.

“I work as a creative producer for Catapult,” says Sarah. “I can work remotely — our whole business model has changed and our events are remote. We do events for the UN, Wall Street Journal, Mastercard — our business model is that we are working with clients that aren’t in the country. We are doing full events that are out of the country, so they’re more open to us working remotely.

“And then my dad, who had dementia, passed away in May 2020, and we would never have considered looking outside of Dublin while he was alive. My job was in Dublin and my dad was in Dublin, but both of those things changed.”

Sarah Byrne. A call from a broker and the death of her father made her rethink her life. She said: "From the pandemic I’ve learned that I can enjoy having more free time to just enjoy life."

So with many major life changes, the possibility of buying anywhere in Ireland opened up to the couple. They considered everything from a barge to a house for €60,000 that trained wood worker Ed could renovate.

“We were looking at cheap Irish houses on Instagram, and thought that we could do it up — that’s how it started percolating,” says Sarah.

But how did Westport come about specifically?

“Westport came about because I had a friend here who was similar to me in jobs and worked events and festivals,” she explains. “He was here for four years and I rang him the day after that broker call in July and I just said: ‘Tell me about your move, how are you getting on?’ I took some holidays, we made a point of visiting a few places — Galway, Sligo, Mayo, Cork, and West Cork.”

The weather happened to be terrible, so there was no bias of rose-tinted glasses. But despite the torrential rain, it was Westport that did it for them.

“I had been to Westport once and Ed had never been, but even driving in, as soon as we drove over the hill and saw Croagh Patrick, Ed just said: ‘Look at our new home,’ ” says Sarah.

The couple rented there for a week and Sarah worked remotely so as to live in the place and not just holiday there. They then looked at longer-term rentals and found a four-bed cottage.

“We arranged a deal of €850 a month that includes all bills and is a short walk to town. Right now, I’m looking at Croagh Patrick from the room I’m in,” Sarah says.

The long-term rental allowed the couple to get a real flavour of living in Westport and working remotely and now they are sale agreed on a home there that is double the size of the fixer-upper on Meath St.

Just to give you an idea of the comparison — the house on Meath St for €267,000 was tiny at 56 sq m, and this house is 102 sq m. But that’s just the house because it has a barn, three outbuildings, a studio and it’s on three acres for €227,000. 

"There’s a workshop there, the barn is fully enclosed, it could make an events space, there’s a section that could be glamping, there are allotments and an orchard.”

But aside from the extra space and the financial savings, what is the quality of their life like now?

“As someone who was DJing and going to clubs, you might miss out on a party, but your day-to-day life is so much better. We can take the dog to the beach or forest and there’s the feeling of being more connected to a small town. I’m working with Mayo Pride now too and working on an event with them for July and Ed got a new job in a busy restaurant.

“My dad was someone who passed up on promotions to keep his lifestyle, and that made a mark on me — I believe you can have a successful life without working all the time. From the pandemic I’ve learned that I can enjoy having more free time to just enjoy life,” she adds.

You can follow Sarah’s Mayo adventure @goldbloodedwomanmusic on Instagram

Sheena Fortune: Moving to Tralee and parking the daily commute was seismic

Sheena and David Fortune had always dreamed of moving to Kerry. Sheena, originally from Kerry, and David from Wicklow, had both studied art in Limerick, before moving to London for work.

The couple returned to Ireland in late 2011, early 2012, as David’s parents were unwell. David and Sheena were working in Dublin. The commute, even back then, already had their eyes pointing to Kerry.

“We started thinking about living down here, we were working in Dublin, and we had this idea of restoring an old building, with outhouses and converting it into studios,” recalls Sheena.

The couple were living in Wicklow and commuting back and forth to Dublin for work, something that took three to fours a day on bad days.

“Caroline was little, and I was pregnant with Jim, and I was like: ‘We have to find a way to move,’ ” says Sheena.

The first thing that happened was the couple started their own business, Me and the Moon, process-led art workshops and camps for children that are hosted in some of Ireland’s great houses.

Sheena and David Fortune with their family. Their lifestyle change from commuting to Dublin from Wicklow has been seismic.

With Sheena working as a graphic designer and David working as an art teacher, their skillset meant their camps and workshops would fill up and sell out, but they were all based in-person and on-site.

There wasn’t much work for graphic designers in Kerry and David wanted more than a nine-to-five job, so the business and its success was an integral part to their family being able to make the move south.

It built up to the point where we could take the model elsewhere,” explains Sheena.

They finally were able to move to Tralee in 2019, where they were renting before the pandemic, with David commuting to Kilruddery House in Bray and Dublin four to five days a week. Then the pandemic hit and they worried that their business wouldn’t survive.

“When it all hit we were completely terrified, that night of Paddy’s Day, we were literally like: ‘How are we going to make rent if we can’t work?’

“We were terrified, we had invested everything into it as a self-employed family. That was scary but the way things have worked out has been really amazing, we couldn’t run actual workshops but we could run virtual ones.

“And we started working with the Kerry Education and Training Board and last year we worked with children in direct provision [DP]. We are now moving into more DP centres,” says Sheena.

And with the advent of remote working both nationally and globally, Sheena now found herself extremely busy with branding and graphic design work, all from her home in Kerry.

“Now we share a studio space, and David’s at home seven days a week and everything is online. David will be based here now instead of all that commuting,” says Sheena.

We are conscious of not falling back into that trap and saying yes to everything and being on the road now that we’ve seen it can work. 

"Hopefully it continues. The pandemic forced us to stay on our toes and diversify a lot and deliver things remotely.”

Work aside, the lifestyle change from commuting to Dublin from Wicklow has been seismic.

“We’re close to three or four beaches, and now the 5km rule is lifted, we are out to the beach every other day,” says Sheena. “The kids are running into the sea in the winter. And we’ve just bought a place where there are lots of kids too.

“My kids have a healthier lifestyle than ever before, they’re outside playing with other kids, it’s like the way things used to be and it was that stuff you took for granted.”

meandthemoon.ie

Linda Coogan Byrne: From London grind to Portugal’s silence

Over the last 14 months, Linda Coogan Byrne has been creating change both nationally and internationally with her WhyNotHer reports, examining the lack of diversity in the music industry.

But she has also been going through her own changes and moved from London, home to Dublin in February 2021, only to find herself living in Portugal come May.

“I am a music and entertainment consultant in the music industry and a gender and diversity campaigner, and I also have a marketing and PR company, Good Seed PR. And I run a podcast too, WhyNotHer, so I’ve always worked remotely and travelled for work,” explains Linda from her new apartment in Albufeira.

She had no intention of moving to Portugal, it came about when her move home to Ireland was met with extortionate rents, compared to what she had been paying in London.

“I was living in London for the last number of years and I went back to Ireland in February 2021 and I was planning on staying there and then reality hit home that I was going to be paying €3,000 with an office space. I always worked from home so I needed an office space. Looking at places in Dublin was just crazy.

Linda Coogan Byrne decided she now had time to finish her book and that going away to Portugal to a place her grandmother loved would work perfectly.

“I’d been paying £1,300 in London for a three-bed with one other person and all bills were included. That was in east London. It was spacious, it had an office in it, and I naively came back to Ireland. I wanted to be nearer my nieces and family but I was shocked when I saw the price of everything.”

But how did the move to Portugal come about?

Linda had secured a book deal which she had six months to finish, but with work she missed the deadline and renegotiated it. With her industry on ice due to the pandemic, she decided she now had time to finish her book and that going away to Portugal to a place her grandmother loved would work perfectly.

“My nana, who was really really dear to me, she spent a lot of the last time of her life in Portugal, so I thought: ‘Maybe I’ll be able to go over to Portugal and retrace her steps, and finish my book,’ ” explains Linda.

“I chatted to her on her deathbed, and she spoke a lot about this place, she always loved travelling — it gave her a new lease of life when my grandfather died. She loved him dearly, but she travelled a lot more after he died and she went travelling with friends and family.”

Linda decided to move to Albufeira, where she will be for the remainder of 2021, at least.

“I’m in a gorgeous two-bed apartment and it looks over the beach. It’s €850 and the second room has three beds in it and the other room has two beds.

I’m right beside the beach so if I’m having a stressful day in work all I have to do is step outside. I work three days and write two days, and I take Sundays off.

“When I got here first I decided to treat myself to breakfast, and it was only €5 for a full breakfast. And in the supermarkets the fruit and vegetables are much cheaper, and the people and weather are lovely.”

Linda moved out there knowing no one so some of friends and family worry she might be lonely, which she isn’t.

“I have to put my phone on silent because people think I’m lonely so they’re always ringing, but I’m here to write,” she says.

She also has to be careful in other ways to keep focused.

Linda had no intention of moving to Portugal, it came about when her move home to Ireland was met with extortionate rents, compared to what she had been paying in London.

“I have to be diligent otherwise I’d be down the beach all the time. I’ve always worked to a routine,” says Linda.

“I sat in this gorgeous little bar, Casa Da Fonte, and after months of closure they’d reopened and I got a glass of wine in there for €3. I was their first customer in months.

“I’ve been dolphin and whale-watching and I’ve visited caves and I’m learning how to swim too. The galleries are open too and there are musicians playing in bars. It was absolutely brilliant to hear live music again.

“I could be persuaded to stay here.

Linda is documenting her Portugese adventure on Instagram @lindajeancooganbyrne

Aoife Keogh: A family of nine moves from Bray to a farm in Monaghan

While the parents of Ireland were faced with homeschooling during the pandemic, there was one woman who managed her six children at home, while pregnant with another.

Aoife Keogh was living in Bray with her six children and her husband’s job meant that he could not work remotely. It was a life- changing experience.

The Keogh family found themselves welcoming their seventh baby into the world last July and putting their family home on the market five weeks later. By April of this year, they had moved to a 30-acre farm in Co Monaghan, where they knew no one.

It was something we had always wanted to do, with something like the pandemic it makes you reassess what’s important. 

"When you’re trapped in your house you might as well be trapped somewhere beautiful,” says Aoife, who has her own children’s clothes business — MacTíre Kids.

While her business has been in operation since 2017, it was always designed to work with her family and a more enjoyable lifestyle. But the pandemic spurred the family on to make greater changes.

“We were looking for a better lifestyle,” says Aoife. “We lived off the main street in Bray, and it was a lovely estate and there were lots of kids and it was brilliant for school.

“But the more kids we had the more confined you feel and my husband was working outside of the home. He had quite a stressful job, he’d come home a bit stressed and we thought: ‘There must be a better life.’ ”

Aoife Keogh, who has her own children’s clothes business, MacTíre Kids, would recommend a big lifestyle change like hers to anyone.

Her husband decided to take a career break and the family decided to start looking for the farm they had always dreamed of. They looked in Wicklow but Monaghan is where they could afford.

“People keep asking us why Monaghan in particular, but we just fell in love with it,” says Aoife.

“We had been looking for an old farmhouse with land, but land was the priority not the house, we were looking for a particular site. It’s right on a lake, there’s 30 acres, but the house needs a bit of work and we are renovating it at the moment.”

The family of nine, with children aged from 11 down to 10 months, moved in April and so far they have planted raspberry bushes, apple trees, and various root vegetables.

They were able to buy the home outright with the proceeds of their house in Bray.

“We had enough to buy it, but everything we are doing is on quite a tight budget and we are just renovating what’s there. These properties you can’t get a mortgage for,” explains Aoife.

The plan is to grow the farm and maybe look at bringing in angora goats which have mohair, but for now the family is enjoying the great outdoors.

“The freedom the children have being able to go out and play, before I always had to take them to a park and now all we have to do is just open the front door and we have fields and fields to go and explore with rabbits and pheasants and deer. They’ve fishing rods and bows and arrows and they’re building bases,” says Aoife.

A born risk-taker, would she recommend the change to others?

“If you want it bad enough you’ll find a way, I would recommend it to anyone who’s considering a big lifestyle change, just go for it, the worst that can happen is you have to sell where you bought, life is too short.”

mactirekids.ie