Be inspired by this award-winning Galway home

Mary Enright returned to Legaun, Co Galway, and wanted to build a subtle, comfortable house where she could truly be at home, writes Rose Martin

The rug on the snug’s floor was a gift from Mary’s friends at Ceadogán Rugs, Wexford.

In late summer, the rough boulder walls of Galway are alive with undergrowth. Meadowsweet runs wild from the hedgerows across rough paddocks and the pink tassels of Rosebay Willow herb waft in a soft breeze. Bumping along a boreen dotted with rusting sheds and past cattle pulling lazily from rushy fields, you come across a striking scene. A low form in white sits behind a rendered rath, with monumental chimneys in concrete rising to pierce low skies.

This is the townland of Legaun and this is the house that Mary built. Born and raised here, but with a lifetime spent teaching amongst her late husband’s people in Wexford, Mary Enright knew she wanted a retreat, a home that would fit modestly into the landscape, and one that would be warm, comfortable, and beautiful. A place to be truly at home.