About “ten seconds” scrolling through Rightmove was enough for Rosanna Irwin to conclude that buying a home in London “was not on the cards financially”. It was April 2021: the Irish-born 31-year-old had just quit her fast-paced tech job at Meta in Dublin and, in the throes of a “quarter-life crisis”, had moved to a rental in Hackney, east London, with her film-producer partner Killian Connolly, 33.
“What do I want to do with my life?” Irwin asked herself. “It definitely wasn’t selling social media ads.” One sunny afternoon, as the couple explored their local web of canals on an inflatable kayak, they got chatting to a boater while waiting for a lock to open. “He offered us a look inside his boat,” she says.
“I could not believe how spacious it was. His boat was amazing. We decided that we wanted to buy one.” And so in July 2022 they paid £100,000 for a 60ft x 12ft widebeam boat, transported via truck from Manchester to Watford before cruising into central London to their first mooring. “The guy next to us immediately asked, ‘Do you want a beer?’”, which summed up the open-hearted energy of the boating community.
Irwin: “Continuous cruising is the magic of living on a boat”
AKIRA SUEMORI FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Getting to grips with their new lifestyle didn’t take long. “Continuous cruising is the magic of living on a boat,” Irwin says. “Every couple of weeks you’re in a new borough.” Asda groceries would be delivered along the towpath; fuel — whether coal, gas or logs — could be ordered by text message via a roaming supplier dubbed “the fuel guy”. The most surprising thing, though? “How much it felt like living in a house.”
Together, the couple revamped the boat’s interiors. “I love anything to do with interior design. I would inhale Architectural Digest and all of those magazines,” she says. Despite Connolly regularly travelling for work (filming sports documentaries for Netflix), Irwin never felt unsafe while staying solo on the boat. “Even if you are only passing for a couple of days, the person in front of you and behind you is always looking out for you,” she says. “It’s such a tight-knit community.”
Yet Irwin’s ongoing pursuit of purpose and a high-octane succession of jobs in London left her completely burnt out. “I worked in film for a bit, documentary, reforestation, carbon credits and then finally broke down mentally,” she says. July 2023 marked a “breaking point”.
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“I was doing all the things that you’re meant to do to feel good — exercising, eating well, doing acupuncture, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy — but I couldn’t have felt worse,” she admits. That summer proved a fateful gearshift. While visiting a friend in Denmark, the couple ended up on an “accidental digital detox” in a yurt on Samso, a carbon-negative island where Copenhageners escape to immerse themselves in pristine nature.
“After three days on this island with no internet, I came back feeling like I hadn’t felt in years. It was so profound that I came back to London, quit my job and, that week, moved back in with my parents to Ireland at the age of 28. I thought, OK, how can I recreate the experience that I had, but for others? It made me think, how many [people like] me are out there quietly burning out, but pretending everything’s OK because there is this pressure to work hard, be online and show off our social lives.”
That low point led to Irwin setting up Samsú — now a small collection of secluded stylish digital detox cabins — she’s named her first cabin Saoirse (which means freedom in Irish). The idea is simple: to spend 72 hours entirely offline. Guests stay in the countryside beyond Dublin with no wifi; locking away smartphones and receiving notebooks, a film camera and an old Nokia for emergencies.
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Back in London, the couple sold their boat in an unconventional way: TikTok. After casually posting photos to the social media platform in November 2023 before planning to list it on the marine marketplace Apollo Duck, Irwin was inundated with inquiries, selling “within less than two weeks” for £160,000, more than 10 per cent over the £145,000 asking price.
Irwin and her partner, Killian, spent more than £180,000 on the build
AKIRA SUEMORI FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Boat life had left an indelible mark on the pair, though, and despite Irwin now being based mainly in Ireland, they hatched a plan to build a new boat. “Both of us had this itch: what boat could we create if we designed it from scratch?” she says. Work kicked off in February 2025, at which point Connolly was splitting his time between London and Dublin: “We thought we could keep [the boat] in London and Killian would stay there when he’s over for work”.
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The nine-month build took “far longer” than they’d planned and cost more than £180,000. Their new design applied all they’d learnt from their previous vessel. Natural light was a priority: “Anywhere we could, we put in a window.” The second principle was flexibility. Connolly’s idea to add a multi-functional library room/office/second bedroom behind a pocket door, within the kitchen/living/dining area, meant the sitting room could be extended or closed off as required. “It makes the boat feel so much more spacious,” Irwin adds. “The first and second boat are ultimately the same size, but this one has a second room.”
Natural light was a priority during the design phase, hence the large skylight
ROSANNA IRWIN/KILLIAN CONNOLLY
Irwin in the houseboat’s multi-functional library/office/second bedroom
AKIRA SUEMORI FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Floorboards were salvaged from an old church in Wales; the vintage furniture and fixtures were sourced on Facebook Marketplace and eBay. “The first thing that we bought for the boat, before the steel work was even done, was the double butler sink” — a generous flourish that you wouldn’t expect on a boat and an aesthetic borrowed from the pared-back bathroom at the café Jolene in Newington Green, north London. With custom copper taps and a heated towel rail, this sink sits upon a repurposed record cabinet: “A drawer slides out and fits toilet rolls perfectly and underneath, there’s loads of space for toiletries”. The walk-in rainfall shower, with reeded glass, has a tiled seat and recessed shower nook for toiletries, with light pouring in through the skylight above.
The main bedroom is kitted out with a king-size bed and fitted birch wardrobes. It took them “days” and multiple coats to stain the birch panelling and cupboards in the library, bedroom and kitchen in a mid-century-inspired teak tone. Irwin and Connolly “work really well together”. “We have similar tastes. During the design process, we would have debates, but rarely disagreements.”
The main bedroom is kitted out with a king-size bed, while the bathroom features a double butler sink
ROSANNA IRWIN/KILLIAN CONNOLLY
They christened their chic new widebeam Pomeroy, after Connolly’s father’s boat — a renovation project he began years ago but, being a lawyer rather than a handyman, never finished. “We did all the furnishing and design,” Irwin says, however professionals handled the carpentry and structural work, as well as fitting a Barrus Shire 70hp engine, Victron lithium battery and a solar system, meaning Pomeroy is fully off-grid.
The boat, in “sail away” condition, is moored at Willowtree Marina on the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal in west London near Hayes and Harlington station (on the Elizabeth Line).
Irwin: “This was the first project where we effectively got to design a house exactly how we would want to live in it”
AKIRA SUEMORI FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
“There were no corners cut. This was the first project where we effectively got to design a house exactly how we would want to live in it,” she says. “As we got to the end, we knew that we would be selling it; 2025 was also the year that we chose to get married and also add a cabin to Samsú. We’ve now both settled in Ireland.”
Pomeroy is ready for a new owner to take the helm. The couple are selling via London Town & Country Property Auctions with an opening bid of £195,000. The final opportunity to view will be on Thursday, March 19 at 11am. Bidding opens Wednesday, March 25 at 10am and closes at midday. The mooring (£900 monthly) at Willowtree is transferable, subject to an interview with the marina and a transfer fee (2.5 per cent of the purchase value of the boat) or the buyer is free to go on a continuous cruising licence if they prefer.