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Author Topic: Elderly woman in Ireland lives without electricity or running water in cottage  (Read 976 times)

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Offline Meg

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Elderly woman in Ireland lives without electricity or running water in cottage
« on: August 24, 2019, 08:20:38 AM »
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    • I'm intrigued with the life that an elderly Novus Ordo Catholic in Northern Ireland lives, since she does really well living in a thatched cottage without electricity or indoor plumbing or water. She gets water from a stream, and she cooks most everything in a fireplace hearth. I think that this type of living would be good in the event of a serious economic downturn.

    Here's a video from 1992, which is a docuмentary of her life until that time:




    A more recent video of Margaret from 2018:

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    "It is licit to resist a Sovereign Pontiff who is trying to destroy the Church. I say it is licit to resist him in not following his orders and in preventing the execution of his will. It is not licit to Judge him, to punish him, or to depose him, for these are acts proper to a superior."

    ~St. Robert Bellarmine
    De Romano Pontifice, Lib.II, c.29

    Offline cosmas

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    Re: Elderly woman in Ireland lives without electricity or running water in cottage
    « Reply #1 on: September 04, 2019, 11:40:27 PM »
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    • I have an Irish Priest friend whose relatives still live on dirt floors in Ireland and yes no Electric etc. very primitive but they like it that way !
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    Online Nadir

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    Re: Elderly woman in Ireland lives without electricity or running water in cottage
    « Reply #2 on: September 05, 2019, 02:21:01 AM »
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    • Quote from: Meg on August 24, 2019, 08:20:38 AM
    I'm intrigued with the life that an elderly Novus Ordo Catholic in Northern Ireland lives, since she does really well living in a thatched cottage without electricity or indoor plumbing or water. She gets water from a stream, and she cooks most everything in a fireplace hearth. I think that this type of living would be good in the event of a serious economic downturn.

    I'm intrigued as to why you labelled her a Novus Ordo Catholic, Meg. DId I miss something?

    She has a fascinating story, and a most valuable education and knowlege of her own environment. Thank you for posting.

    Seeing she is born into that life it is not at a hard life. It  is hard not knowing how she will cope in her older years, but most of us have the same concern. 

    I grew up in Sydney with the usual services - electricity, h/c running water, washing machines etc, then when I married lived without electric and other assocated services like refrigeration for 14 years. It was not a hard life at all. In fact, it was a great life, just as hers seems to be. Free in more ways than one. It's a good life even if there's not an economic downturn. It's not so long since almost everyone lived like that.

    What really irked me is the silly patronising attitude of the interviewer in the short video.

    I wonder if her nephew will value his inheritance. I hope he does.

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    Help of Christians, guard our land from assault or inward stain,
    Let it be what God has planned, His new Eden where You reign.

    Offline Meg

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    Re: Elderly woman in Ireland lives without electricity or running water in cottage
    « Reply #3 on: September 05, 2019, 03:37:59 PM »
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    • Quote from: Nadir on September 05, 2019, 02:21:01 AM
    I'm intrigued as to why you labelled her a Novus Ordo Catholic, Meg. DId I miss something?

    She has a fascinating story, and a most valuable education and knowlege of her own environment. Thank you for posting.

    Seeing she is born into that life it is not at a hard life. It  is hard not knowing how she will cope in her older years, but most of us have the same concern.

    I grew up in Sydney with the usual services - electricity, h/c running water, washing machines etc, then when I married lived without electric and other assocated services like refrigeration for 14 years. It was not a hard life at all. In fact, it was a great life, just as hers seems to be. Free in more ways than one. It's a good life even if there's not an economic downturn. It's not so long since almost everyone lived like that.

    What really irked me is the silly patronising attitude of the interviewer in the short video.

    I wonder if her nephew will value his inheritance. I hope he does.

    I labeled her a Novus Ordo Catholic because she attends the local parish, which I assume is Novus Ordo. I didn't intend to put her down in any way - I just wanted to make it clear that she is a Catholic, but attends the Novus Ordo (I assume). You probably noticed in the video (the longer one, I think) where

    Margaret said that she's grateful for a strong faith.

    I'm glad you like her story. I too wonder how someone like her would cope in her later years, and yes, we all have to think about that for ourseves, but hopefully she'll have a caregiver, or something like that. Being a spinster, she has no children or grandchildren to help her out.

    It's fascinating that you lived for many years without electricity or h/c running water, washing machines, etc. I'd like to hear more about what that was like, if you feel like telling about it. You mention that it's free in more ways than one. I got the impression that Margaret Gallagher might feel that way too.

    Yes, the patronizing attitude of the interviewer in the short video is quite annoying. I chalk it up to people who work in television being shallow.

    I wondered too what the nephew will do with the property when he inherits.

    My husband has consented to us maybe building a cottage similar to Margarets', with a similar set-up. I'm going to study how those cottages were built. Not exactly brain surgery, but it did take skill. My husband says no to the thatched roof though - it would be prone to fires.
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    "It is licit to resist a Sovereign Pontiff who is trying to destroy the Church. I say it is licit to resist him in not following his orders and in preventing the execution of his will. It is not licit to Judge him, to punish him, or to depose him, for these are acts proper to a superior."

    ~St. Robert Bellarmine
    De Romano Pontifice, Lib.II, c.29

    Online Nadir

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    Re: Elderly woman in Ireland lives without electricity or running water in cottage
    « Reply #4 on: September 05, 2019, 06:56:16 PM »
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    • Meg, I have written a few times about our life. I am a bit pressed zfor time right now but here is something I wrote

    From the thread Skills (women only)

    Quote from: Marlelar on March 10, 2018, 06:20:47 PM
    No electricity, please tell us more!  I have lived without for short periods of time but not for months on end. You must be a hardy soul indeed.

    Nadir:
    We had very little savings and the only chance for us to have our own place was to move 3000 kms to a remote area, on the other side of an un-bridged river, which we had to drive through. As it was close to the source it was quite shallow, except when it flooded. Then we either waded through or stayed home. There were no services at all. We locals even made our own road. We all chipped in the funds for the heavy machinery. We built the place up over 14 years and then sold it. It was the best possible location to raise a family and our children still dream of going back but... No power, no phone, no TV, no refrigeration, a small solar set up for lighting and a generator for building work, pumped our own water by waterwheel, our own fire brigade etc. etc. A great experience!
    End quote.


    About building a cottage, we did that too using a combination of mostly chicken wire, hessian and cement for walls. Much of our materials came from the dump. We had to use what was available to us. It worked well and we had an average of 1 visit a month from young people travelling in Australia. They loved it too, especially the Germans. They were dreaming of such a life.
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    Help of Christians, guard our land from assault or inward stain,
    Let it be what God has planned, His new Eden where You reign.

    Offline Meg

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    Re: Elderly woman in Ireland lives without electricity or running water in cottage
    « Reply #5 on: September 05, 2019, 07:01:51 PM »
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    • Wow, that's amazing, Nadir. Thanks for the info.  :)
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    "It is licit to resist a Sovereign Pontiff who is trying to destroy the Church. I say it is licit to resist him in not following his orders and in preventing the execution of his will. It is not licit to Judge him, to punish him, or to depose him, for these are acts proper to a superior."

    ~St. Robert Bellarmine
    De Romano Pontifice, Lib.II, c.29

    Online Nadir

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    Re: Elderly woman in Ireland lives without electricity or running water in cottage
    « Reply #6 on: September 06, 2019, 12:09:07 AM »
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    • Happy to share, Meg.

    Some background for us:
    My husband had spent 9 years as a missionary in Madagascar, without electricity, and I had spent 2 years, without power, as a missionary in Australia.

    So we both were accustomed to a natural way of life away from so-called "civilization".

    But that is not why we chose that life. The reason is thay at the time there was no other option open to us where we could live the "good life" in peace, without stress, as neither of us had substantial savings for living.
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    Help of Christians, guard our land from assault or inward stain,
    Let it be what God has planned, His new Eden where You reign.
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