'I thought I'd have no kitchen; just a table, my air fryer and my kettle' - Leitrim doer upper

Leitrim woman Martha Gilheaney has upped sticks and moved to Leitrim this year and her social media accounts are blowing up with followers who can't get enough of the city to country living story. 

Ballinamore native Martha is a business lecturer at CCT College Dublin, a private college in the city centre lived in the capital on and off for around twenty years (she left to live in Italy for a number of years and completed a Masters in the North) and has spent eight years in the city centre renting a beautifully renovated former bank. 

"I'm getting spotted now! I get people coming up to me saying, 'Oh, you're the girl from Instagram'," Martha told the Leitrim Observer when we caught up with her this week.

She now has over 17,000 on Instragram and over 6,000 on Tiktok and said that over the last three weeks she has seen a sharp incline in interest in her content. "I was on the train and this guy said 'How's the renovation going?' I was in Aldi in Carrick-on-Shannon and a woman came up to me and told me she enjoyed my content and had done something similar."

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Buying an old house to renovate can be a daunting prospect but Martha's said that by the documenting the process, she is showing others that it is achievable. "I suppose people are see that it is doable as well as the process of moving from the city to the country and continuing to commute. I actually had an estate agent contact me who told me that he has so many people come from the cities coming to him, looking at houses around the country and enthusiastic about this dream but don't go for it. And they may get back to him two to three years later and haven't made the move but are still dreaming about it. He always says to them, 'just give it a go; what's the worst that can happen'". 

When asked what she missed most about the city, she said loved to visit the parks. "Going around the parks was really nice. I suppose being able to walk everywhere; to meet a friend or to go to work or to go shopping; everything was so convenient and accessible and I would home ten minutes after whatever I was doing and that was pretty special."

Speaking of her six-hour round trip to work she said it was "fine" but would like to see some changes implemented to make it more convenient for more long-haul commuters such as herself. "I think it's great I actually have the platform now to talk about his because last year I sent an email to Iarnród Éireann asking the if they could have a train leaving Dublin at 5.30 or 6pm. I never got a reply but now I'm on Ireland Am or in the Irish Times saying that the train times on the Dublin to Sligo train are terrible for people who want to commute. After after Longford, is not considered a commute stop but people are commuting from further away now and probably more people want to do it. That's the main problem I have - the fact that there is that gap until from 5pm to 7.30pm in the evening."

She said that the well-publicised lack of a trolley was less of an issues as "it's less relevant to you when you are commuter because you usually have your food, coffee and everything with you. If you are just going up to Dublin for the day then you really miss the trolley because you don't think to bring that with you."

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Talking about the works that are currently taking place on the house, Martha said that "no decor has gone in as of yet but I have been approached through a kitchen supplier (Ashford Kitchens) through social media. He sent me a message and said that he had opened his own new business and loved his products and loved what I was doing and asked if we could work together. I thought I wasn't going to have a kitchen for a long time; I'll just have a table, my air fryer and my kettle. He came down and took all the measurements."

She said the for the kitchen she is going for "light and a dark wood effect and the handles are a brassy colour and the counter will be white. I'll have a cabinet for my plates and cups that'll be dark wood and glass and then shelves as well in dark wood. The kitchen is so important; it's the heart of the house."

She said that she is thrilled after finally getting her hands on a chandelier that purchase on DoneDeal. "It took ages to get here because it came from their house to another house to my sister's office to here. 

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She said: "It's humongous and I hope it fits; it's a brass and crystal chandelier and the idea is to put it in the kitchen; it's definitely a statement."

Something to note for others who may be interesting in pursing their own country dream is that Martha successfully applied for both the vacant property refurbishment grant and vacant property refurbishment grant amount to €70,000 towards the required works that need to be carried out to make the house liveable. Another reason for those looking for a home to consider doing up a derelict house rather than opting for a new build. 

She added: "My house is going to be like new on the inside but then it has that character as well and the feel of a house with history; I love that, I just think it's the best of both worlds."

So will this be her first Christmas in her new abode? "When I get my holidays, I wont' be returning to work until February. That's great because I'll be in the house by then. I don't know if I'll be in for Christmas. The family have been saying for months that they will be coming to me for Christmas dinner to christen the new house but if saw the house now, you'd say there's no chance. There's no floor, no toilet or kitchen but you never know!"