{"id":172215,"date":"2025-12-03T04:14:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T04:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/172215\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T04:14:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T04:14:16","slug":"tributes-paid-to-hugh-wallace-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/172215\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes paid to Hugh Wallace \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Siobh\u00e1n O\u2019Mahony and her partner, Timmie O\u2019Brien, bought the former post office in Butlerstown in west Cork<\/a> with a dream of converting it into their forever home.<\/p>\n

But their plans stalled, and O\u2019Mahony says appearing on RT\u00c9\u2019s<\/a> The Great House Revival<\/a> appealed to her, as they were \u201cso long trying to get it finished, I needed to put a fire under someone\u2019s backside!\u201d<\/p>\n

In June 2023, Hugh Wallace<\/a> came to visit and filming began, culminating in the tasteful renovation of the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just assumed when the show was finished we wouldn\u2019t really see him again. But we kept a really strong friendship up with him. He\u2019d ring, he\u2019d text \u2013 I did an event in west Cork on renovations and he came down and hosted it with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how he had the time for everybody,\u201d she says. \u201cHe was just such a charming man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back, the architect offered the family some good tips.<\/p>\n

He suggested that they didn\u2019t put a wall upstairs, and leave it instead as an open playroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a brilliant idea,\u201d says O\u2019Mahony. Another of his ideas was to blow the wall out of the kitchen and build a terrace. To mark it, the couple had the idea of creating a plaque in his honour, to commemorate the \u201cHugh Wallace Terrace\u201d. <\/p>\n

Wallace loved the idea, and was planning to come down for the unveiling. <\/p>\n

Will they still go ahead with the plaque?<\/p>\n

\u201cOne hundred per cent,\u201d says O\u2019Mahony, adding that she\u2019d love Wallace\u2019s husband, Martin, to come down and open the terrace, in due course.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Hugh Wallace radiated sheer joy on the screen. His death leaves a huge gulfOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

One tip they did not take on board was a recommendation that they move the bathroom. O\u2019Mahony says the last time Wallace was down, he came for dinner in their home, and he went upstairs and said \u201cThank God you didn\u2019t listen to me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d be like that. He\u2019d always give you the credit where he thought you deserved it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Kieran Cotter featured on the last episode of the last series. The Kerryman had recently returned from living abroad, when he decided to renovate his grandmother\u2019s old cottage.<\/p>\n

He was attracted to the programme because he wanted to promote the small village where he\u2019s from, Knocknagoshel. Cotter started the renovation in the spring of 2022, before going at it full-time in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"HughHugh Wallace and Kieran Cotter <\/p>\n

\u201cI quit my job to work on the house full time and moved back in with my parents. It took a bit of sacrifice, but it was a very enjoyable year to be fair\u201d. Wallace helped him with the layout, the history and old building techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was always good craic to be had, and he was always respectful. He was a one of a kind character,\u201d says Cotter, adding, \u201cHe liked the ambition and naivety I had. I think he found it entertaining\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Westport, Karen Whyte and her husband, Donnacha Curley, appeared on the second series of the show, renovating their 1770s home, Grove House<\/a>, from an empty and damp wreck into a jewel-toned haven. <\/p>\n

The programme aired in 2020, but they kept up the friendship with Wallace beyond that.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Step inside an 18th-century historic Mayo homeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in shock. I can\u2019t believe he\u2019s gone. I was only talking to him about two weeks ago,\u201d Whyte says, adding that Wallace had been in touch because he was coming to the town to do some filming and wanted to meet up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stayed here with us a couple of times, whenever he was in the area,\u201d she says, adding that he was \u201ca dote of a man\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so kind, with such twinkly sparkly eyes. He was so self-deprecating, with zero airs and graces. He was brilliant and will absolutely be missed\u201d.<\/p>\n

The first time they met set the tone for their relationship. <\/p>\n

It was a really windy stormy day in Westport when he first visited the house, and the couple were nervous.<\/p>\n

But, after falling in the front door, Wallace laughed and said \u201cwe\u2019d better do that again\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just put us at such ease,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Do they recall any of his design tips?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe used to say, \u2018will I give you tips that I know you\u2019re going to ignore?\u2019\u201d she laughs, but says his recommendation to use Farrow & Ball Brinjal paint, a deep aubergine colour, in the hallway, was one that stuck. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so affable; in all the time that I saw him here, sometimes it was really pressurised, he never once raised his voice, or had a strop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Siobh\u00e1n O\u2019Mahony and her partner, Timmie O\u2019Brien, bought the former post office in Butlerstown in west Cork with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,94951,61,12283,60,6085,620],"class_list":{"0":"post-172215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-hugh-wallace","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-interiors","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-rte","14":"tag-west-cork"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}