Mark Duley, Headford, Co Galway
I'm from a small farming area in Hawke's Bay in New Zealand, which most people haven't heard of. I came to Ireland in 1992 to be the organist in Christ Church Cathedral; that was the start of my Irish odyssey. I had no Irish connection. I was working in the UK at the time, and the cathedral job came up. I came and stayed.
I suppose the two countries are on a similar sort of scale, in terms of population and the size of the place. Ireland is a lot smaller in terms of getting around, New Zealand is far more spread out and far more dramatic in terms of its scenery. One of the nice things about Headford is that there's nothing spectacular about it, though of course you've got Connemara on your doorstep, but it's just far enough removed for it to be well and truly off the tourist trail, which was one of the attractions for me. I am the artistic director of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, so I have to do a mix of different things - conducting, programming - and we have a festival coming up in Ardee, Co Louth, at the end of November. So I have to do a lot of travel with my job, and this is a very good base to be working from.
My partner and I bought this house in 2003. It's quite a historic house, and we're doing a gradual restoration project on both the house and the garden. The house is from various periods: bits of it go back to the late 17th century, we think. There are two big tall chimney stacks that are probably from that time. Most of it goes back to the early Georgian period. It was built by one of the tribes of Galway, the Skerrits. It has delusions of grandeur here and there, but executed in a rather eccentric fashion.
We are trying to rediscover and recreate a lot of the detail, which has gone missing over the years, in terms of woodwork, panelling, period joinery. There's quite a bit of detective work to be done, and we're pretty much making it up as we go along, because it's not a very typical house - it's not like a big grand house, nor is it like a smaller farmhouse. There aren't many models to observe, so we have to be fairly creative about it.
We're surrounded by working farms, so we feel like we're part of a rural scenario which still has its integrity, even though there are so many new houses. A lot of people around here have a connection to the house. And one might think that coming here we would be regarded as blow-ins or outsiders, but people are quite pleased we're trying to make a go of the house and the garden.
In conversation with Davin O'Dwyer
The Ardee Baroque festival, Nov 24-26, www.irishbaroqueorchestra.com