The Great House Revival: 'We named our patio the Hugh Wallace Terrace'

Siobhan O’Mahony tells Eve Kelliher why she and her family enlisted the celebrity architect as they transformed the former post office in Butlerstown, Co Cork

Sun, 09 Feb, 2025 - 20:30

Home Editor Eve Kelliher

Keen to put their stamp on a former post office, Siobhan O’Mahony and Timmie O’Brien sent away for the help of celebrity architect Hugh Wallace.

Siobhan, a native of Ballydehob, Co Cork, and Timmie, from Butlerstown, Co Cork, bought the property in Butlerstown five years ago for €195,000. “Timmie was reared across the road and he used to come across to get his sweets in the shop there when he was growing up!” Siobhan tells Irish Examiner Home.

As well as those magical memories Timmie, a carpenter, also has practical know-how from his experience as a foreman on building sites so he and Siobhan promptly set about transforming the premises into a forever home for themselves and their sons, Jimmy, 10, and Miah, 5.

Siobhan had lived in Dublin for many years when she was a trainer with beauty brand Clarins. The couple sold her city apartment but funds still didn’t stretch to cover the enormous renovation.

So with some work completed, they “closed the door” on the project and lived in a rental property in Clonakilty. Then, Siobhan decided to contact The Great House Revival team, as she believed “being involved in a television show might help to spur us on”, she says.

She was right. Once architect and host Hugh Wallace arrived, they found it easy to share their vision of what they wanted to do with their budget of €180,000. “Hugh is exactly what you’d expect — only nicer,” says Siobhan who now works as a full-time carer for her elder son and is also a makeup artist.

Siobhan pictured recording the history of their home with Timmie's dad Mike O'Brien and uncle Patty O'Brien and John O'Regan, a former longtime Buterstown postman. The photo was taken in Mary O'Neill's pub, opposite the property. Picture: Robbie Elder

In fact, the couple were encouraged by the entire TV crew and community who weighed in to help, she adds. “I cried so many tears — and it was because of how everyone rallied around us and all the new friends we made, including other participants in the series,” she confides. “These people are good people. They were egging us on. They wanted us to be proud of it [the renovation].”

One Saturday, word got out that the “reveal” was to be filmed the following Wednesday, adds Siobhan. “Suddenly, there were 30-odd people at our house, helping. We had a patio in a day. We called it the Hugh Wallace Terrace — for the craic! I might get him to cut a ribbon on it!”

Siobhan has also found common ground with Hugh in other ways. “I organise events — and Hugh has agreed to join me in West Cork in April for a home event I’m staging, called Host Abhaile, at Fernhill House Hotel in Clonakilty.” The ticketed event, on April 13, 2pm, will also feature past and present participants of The Great House Revival and other design pros and experts (keep an eye on Instagram @butlerstownposthouse or @Siobhanomahony.ie for details).

We’ll get to see Siobhan and Timmie’s story in the first episode of the new series of The Great House Revival tonight Sunday, February 9, at 9.30pm on RTÉ One. Other restoration projects in the extended eight-week series include a herdsman’s cottage in the Burren, Co Clare, a derelict cowshed being transformed into a contemporary home in Co Roscommon, and an artist’s dream conversion of a Victorian townhouse into her home and studio on Douglas Street, Cork. We head to Rathmullan, Co Donegal, where a former seaside guesthouse is transformed into a cosy and stylish retreat, and St Mullins, Co Carlow, to see a ruinous farmhouse and sheds brought back to life as a first home for a young couple.

Siobhan O'Mahony and Timmie O'Brien with Hugh Wallace.

Back in Munster, a traditional stone farm cottage is restored in Knocknagoshel, Co Kerry, and in West Cork, a dilapidated country house gets a new lease of life as a family home.

These are not your typical high-end renovation projects. Budgets range from €75,000 to €400,000. The series showcases the ingenuity and determination of everyday people who are taking on the challenge of restoring derelict and forgotten properties, says Hugh Wallace: “They are creating comfortable, functional homes full of character and charm while working within sensible budgets.”

The architect adds: “The greenest building is the one that already exists.”