See the homes on Ireland's coasts, riverbanks and lakesides

Of course, proximity to water — especially the sea — is associated with many positive measures of physical and mental wellbeing.

A recent World Health Organization report, Green and Blue Spaces and Mental Health shows that time in nature improves moods, mind-sets, and mental health.

The TG4 director says: “I think like a lot of people during covid I gained a new appreciation for water. I used to be scared for my life to go swimming any time that wasn’t August, in Spain! Now I love cold-water swimming.

“I grew up on the coast, in Dublin, and then I moved to live next to the water in Galway for five years, in Salthill. I’ve always been by the sea.”

Tithe Cois Uisce/Homes by the Water is the theme of a TG4 series Oisín directed and it plays on our enduring fascination for houses on coastlines, lakesides and riverbanks as well as the lives of those who occupy them.

“We’d previously done a series for TG4 ‘Homes by the Sea’, several years ago, which was very successful. We widened the scope to include rivers and lakes and canals and even houses on the water.” 

The shoot took place over six weeks in 2022 and the series is airing at the moment on TG4 on Wednesdays.

As an island nation, we have been building houses by the water for thousands of years — on dramatic cliffs off our coasts, by lakes and rivers, and on canal banks.

Each week presenter Síle Nic Chonaonaigh visits a different location to meet those who have built houses by the water.

“There’s a different theme in each episode, between big and small, old and new, ordinary and extraordinary,” adds the director.

The first episode saw Oisín and Síle and the team visit artist Donnchacha Quilty on the outskirts of Galway City, Tracey Jeffrey of Tracey’s Farmhouse Kitchen in Newtownards, Co Down and with masseuse Veronica Lydon in Letterard, Co Galway.

They also sweep into some more unconventional homes that have made interesting use of space, including a surfer’s camper van, a barge, and a modular home in Kinsale, Co Cork.

Exploring hideaways such as Lost Cottage, owned by Brian Spain, in Kerry was a particular delight for Oisín.

“I thought I had seen Ireland before I had done this show but there are so many hidden gems that we’re unaware of — so many rivers and lakes and hideaways that people have built near them, like this one in Caragh Lake,” he says.

The designers of Quarry Hill Church at Strangford Lough, architect Melanie and her husband, engineer Martin Hamill in Quarry Hill Church, also impressed Oisín.

“This is a project and home they have renovated as a luxury guesthouse,” he says.

Originally a Presbyterian church, it had been on a “building at risk” register, suffering the fate of many churches in modern times, declining congregations, eventual closure, then lying vacant for many years.

“We were not only drawn to the building’s historical and architectural significance but also had a personal connection, although not members of the congregation we had both grown up with this building, a landmark at the entrance to our village we watched its steady decline with sadness,” says Melanie.

The result of the renovation? “It’s just on another level,’ says Oisín. “It’s an amazing building, a church that maintains the feel of a church but yet it’s very comfortable, very warm, a very impressive job. Anyone can go up and stay there.” 

Episode four focuses on those who have decided to build boltholes in secluded areas. Antóin MacGabhann is a civil engineer and has built ‘Plug-In Cottage’ on the banks of a river estuary in northeast Donegal. 

Gillian Beare’s parents had been welcoming visitors to Finn Lough since 1983, now Gillian and her brother have taken over and have created the perfect retreats.

Islanders take centre stage in the fifth episode — Máirtín Ó Conceanainn and Síghle Cotter talk about Inis Mór, the rich history of the Manor House on Rathlin Island features, and Claire de Haas and Brock Montgomery share what it is like to live all alone on the Great Blasket island.

Claire, from the Netherlands, and Brock, from Canada, had responded to the annual advert seeking island caretakers for six months.

The remote windswept Kerry island, where they had worked as holiday cottage caretakers, had been their home for six months in 2022 and they had lived with no electricity or water mains system. “It just goes to show you don’t need a mansion by the sea to enjoy life,” says Oisín.

“It’s the closest you’ll get to knowing what it’s like for the original Blasket Islanders who lived there before they departed from there in the early 20th century,” says Oisín.

Climate change is the focus of one entire episode. Irish poet and Aosdána member Paddy Bushe has lived on the water’s edge in Waterville, Co Kerry for 50 years, during which time his home has grown closer and closer to the sea.

“The cliff edge is coming nearer to the back door of his house every winter,” adds Oisín.

“Living by the water is obviously very aspirational for a lot of us but it also presents its own challenges.” 

The team also visits Nicholas and Annie Bowen in Skibbereen who built ‘Passive House’ and are doing their utmost to remain as sustainable and climate-aware as possible.

“This was really impressive in terms of sustainability,” says the director.

• Tithe Cois Uisce airs on Wednesdays on TG4 at 8.30pm and the series will be available on TG4 Player