Restored cottage in Tipperary is a force to be reckoned with

If the walls of Mill Lodge at Ballinderry, Co Tipperary, could talk, they’d have quite a story to tell.

Built in the 1800s for use in connection with a nearby mill, it was an RIC Barracks during the War of Independence and became a Garda Barracks at the start of the Civil War.

The English cabinetmaker who carefully and beautifully renovated it in recent years, says he has been told tales by locals of prison breaks and arrests during its eventful history. Behind one of the window panels in the living area he found names and dates written on the walls, which he has preserved for posterity.