See the oceanside Kerry home remodelled to withstand the elements

Catherine Shanahan discovers how The Forge in Castlegregory has been redesigned to take on whatever the weather throws its way

Designer Craig Morrison outside The Forge, Castlegregory, Co Kerry. Pictures and Video: Larry Cummins

Remember Storm Ophelia? The post-tropical cyclone that hammered Ireland’s coastline on October 16, 2017? For the owner of a home in Kerry called The Forge, in Fahamore, Castlegregory, it was the day a rogue wave cut loose about the house.

Some might jump ship in the wake of such an ordeal and head for the higher and drier hills, but not so the owner of The Forge. In the knowledge that he had a site to die for, he hired someone to design a home that would withstand whatever the elements conjured.

He was fortunate to know the ideal candidate: Designer Craig Morrison, whose wife is related to the client. Based in Morrison Design Studio in Kinsale, Co Cork, Craig has experience in designing homes and buildings suited to extreme environments. “I guess the whole thing was a bit of a family affair as the client is my wife’s cousin,” says Craig.

A Tasmanian, Craig married an Irish woman whose grandmother grew up in Spillane’s Bar & Restaurant, a popular Castlegregory hostelry directly across the road from The Forge, which is so-called because it was once home and workshop to the local blacksmith. 

The last blacksmith to have lived there, a Mr O’Connor, died in the mid-1970s. His brother Hugh continued to live at The Forge until the early 1980s, after which the property fell into disrepair, the planning files say.

In 2002, a planning application was made to build a new dwelling in place of the original forge, estimated to have been more than 100 years old, with plans to retain some of the original walls. However, it seems structural problems arose during construction and the original building was flattened and replaced. 

Designer Craig Morrison looks out over Brandon Bay from the seawall constructed to protect the property.

It later became a surf shop and operated as such for a couple of years before reverting to a dwelling,

which it has been since 2010. Images on Google Street View of what this replacement looked like show a traditional dormer bungalow, with a design that made no meaningful use of the site or of the mesmerising view.

With Craig on board, the current owner applied for permission to remodel the house substantially in 2021.

The designer’s main challenge was to create a home impenetrable to future Ophelias. “As it’s right on Brandon Bay, Storm Ophelia sent a wave right through the house. 

The living area.

"It didn’t destroy the property, but it did destroy the interiors, so a big part of my design was to prevent that happening again,” says Craig.

What he came up with is pretty unique. As well as remodelling the house to a striking contemporary design, he changed its outlook, pivoting the room layout, so that the main living accommodation looks seaward. 

Bay-facing walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling glazing, and the roof rises into an apex, over a double-height space, adding impressive volume.

Beyond the seaward-facing windows is an internal courtyard, open to the skies and the rugged shoreline, but capable of being closed off by the most singular element of the design: great, hulking, orange-red storm shutters, made of Corten steel with perforated Corten sheets, that can be rolled closed on tracks to shut out wayward surf or shield against high winds. “In the closed position, they shelter the house and the floor-to-ceiling glass,” adds Craig. He designed the whole system and had the steel fabricated by CDS Metalwork in Kilkenny.

Sea views from a bedroom.

The tracks and wheels were a one-off design “specifically for this job”, says Craig: “The concrete frame was also designed for the shutters to take extreme wind conditions, upwards of 80 knots. All the Corten parts were custom-made to my specific details.”

The metal shutters are closed to protect the property from the elements.

In an increasingly harsh environment, they protect the house and courtyard from the worst of the weather. Rolled back, they expose the sublime views, out over dazzling Brandon Bay, in this most scenic corner on the north shore of the Dingle Peninsula, once described by National Geographic as “the most beautiful place on earth”.

The Forge on the beach and steps are part of the seawall, left; a shipping container used for storage is set into the ground to be less obtrusive, top right, the enclosed outdoor courtyard, below right.

It’s an area beloved of surfers, with miles of glorious beaches, stretching from the three-mile sandy spit of the Maharees, westwards through Castlegregory, and with the conditions to snare it a place on the Red Bull list of the eight best surf spots in Ireland. “It’s one of the most exposed parts of Ireland. Red Bull used to hold windsurfing competitions here,” says Craig.

Late evening sunshine hits the rear of the property, where a concrete outdoor dining table and olive tree are located.

While The Forge is designed to withstand extreme weather events, which are occurring with increasing regularity, it is also designed to capitalise on light and views.

Natural light floods through large skylights and through the glazed walls that frame the views.

Two patios get the best of the light and weather as they face south and west. Both are sheltered by roof overhangs. An apex window on the seaward side above the double-height living space rises high into the ceiling of engineered oak and plywood.

The timber continues down the walls of the main living space, which includes the open-plan kitchen/dining/living areas of this one-bedroom house.

Craig enlisted the help of Tralee-based carpenter Tim Somers in the design and detail of the interior. “The interior is a complete one-off, every detail carefully considered, with a lot of craft in the joinery. There are lots of hidden pieces in it, including cupboards and study desks,” he says.

The build work, which saw the property substantially altered and modestly extended, was done by local builder Michael O’Leary.

It started in November 2022 and finished in May 2024. Craig says it’s not an “ostentation house” — his client didn’t want that — but it is “probably like nothing you have ever seen”.

He has a track record of producing unique one-offs. Another recent project included the design of Santhia on Well Road, a courtyard house on an irregular suburban plot by the Well Road roundabout, at the corner of Woodview.

The design incorporates two-bedroom pavilions, linked by a glass-walled living area. “The solid pavilion forms, in lapped cement boards, contrast with the transparent link,” says Craig, who adds that a central courtyard anchors the design and is framed by lush, meticulously crafted gardens. 

The outdoor fireplace and barbecue area are enclosed on three sides and open to the sky and bay view.

On a road stuffed with impressive homes, Santhia still stands out.

Craig says any of the homes that he’s designed are “pretty unusual”. He’s done a couple in Kinsale, adding a modern white extension to a home on the downhill from Charles Fort to the Bulman pub in Summercove, and is designing another, higher up in Summercove.

He says it’s much more challenging to plan for one-off housing in Ireland compared to his native Tasmania. “And they wonder why there’s a housing crisis,” he quips.

Getting planning for The Forge was a drawn-out process: “Even though there was an existing house there, it was very tricky. We had to be very careful from every angle, and there were a lot of technicalities with the sewage.” He enjoyed it nonetheless, and for sure, it’s a house built to last. Just batten down the hatches and watch it repel whatever the Kerry coast might throw at it.