With my daughter here for a week-long visit and us making the most of every moment of her stay, there has been little time for blogging from the bog! However, with both Kate and Eoin taking naps to recover from a day of dolphin watching from a boat in the Atlantic, I thought it was a great time to post a photo of our newly installed and recently painted half-door, along with our new house sign, which replaces both the old sign and the old name!
First, the door. A work of art, and an art to work! When the man who made our door installed it and then explained the intricacies of the lock and latch system, I was at first a bit overwhelmed and thought that maybe I had romanticized the old wooden half-doors, a.k.a. Dutch doors, which once graced so many old cottages in West Clare and around rural Ireland, and had bitten off more than I wanted to chew. But within a day, I was in love with this door! The latches and the locks were very easy to master and the opening and closing of this door has become a simple, yet elegant, ritual. And nothing beats having the upper half of the door open to let in the fresh Clare air and light on a mild day! A big thank you goes to Richard Beer of Irish Country Furniture for making us this beautiful, old style wooden half-door with its hidden, modern security!
Secondly, the sign and our new name. As I wrote in an earlier blog entry, “… a rose by any other name…” , when we purchased the cottage we considered keeping the name Rose Cottage, if it had any historical significance to the house. However, after a few inquiries of the locals, we found out that the name had no connection or significance to the house other than the fact that it was on the sign. Due to the lack of an actual address, the cottage needed a name, but we wanted the name to have some meaning to us. So, after finding a local forge, Paddy Murphy of Kilkee Forge, we decided to just keep it simple and name the cottage after ourselves – but to do it in Irish! Therefore, Rose Cottage is now, officially, Teach deBúrca, meaning basically “Burke House” or “Burke’s House”. It’s easy enough to say, with deBúrca pretty much sounding like it looks and “Teach” sounding like “tock or chock” – depending upon what part of the country you’re from when you say it!
Except for the major work we had done on the property to clear and level the ground and add drainage ditches, many of the details we have taken care of during this stay… such as, the door, the name, the Belfast Sink, and even finally having The Traveling Butter Dish and friends in place in the kitchen, were the little things we needed to do to put our mark on the place and make it ours. And I am happy to say that I feel very satisfied that we have accomplished this goal!
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August 2, 2010 at 10:09 pm
lifeonthecutoff
A wonderful name for your cottage and an equally wonderful door. I love red doors and what could be better on Teach deBurca! What a great picture of Eoin at the cottage door. I love the look of a half-door. It seems as if the cottage is slowly becoming yours – really yours.
August 3, 2010 at 3:22 am
bloggingfromthebog
I’m glad you like the name (and the door) – we didn’t want to get too cute with it, but “Burke House” sounded boring so we went with the Irish version. Eoin wanted it to be named “Bob” by the way!
August 5, 2010 at 1:22 pm
lifeonthecutoff
Ha, ha! Bob. Now that would have made room for many a story.
By the way, I’m reading Durango by Keane. Have you read or heard of it? Hallmark did a feature on it, which was fun, and the book has been gathering dust for far too long. I am enjoying it, Janet, and wondered if you have read it. Set in Ireland as war is about to break out with the hill folks about to hold a cattle drive to Durango. Lots of trembles of laughter over here as I plod along.
August 3, 2010 at 12:59 am
dona Howlett
I’ve thought so many times about having a RED Door. After reading your blog it’s given me the impetus to do just that.
I have to go buy the Paint and then put my son to work.
My house color is grey……..so it should look really nice.
Thanks for the push………
Your’s looks lovely.
August 3, 2010 at 3:23 am
bloggingfromthebog
Good luck with your door Dona, I’m sure it will look great!
August 3, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Patricia
The red door is perfect. Really suits the cottage, as does the sign. The old Irish lettering is lovely. 1You’ll have triggered off a spate of red door painting here….I was looking at my own door tonight as I drove towards it on my way home from the set dancing at the Heritage (I’ve now taken that up as well as ceili – my husband has become a dance widower – you’ll have to try it at least once when you get back – it’s totally addictive) and I think a can of the red stuff will have to be procured over the weekend. You’ve done a truly remarkable job in putting your own unique stamp on the cottage in such a short time. I hope you will have many happy years in it whether on visits or more permanently at some stage. Hopefully one of these years we’ll be in Ireland at the same time and I’ll hop down for a day to visit the De Burca’s fabled teach beag in person.
August 4, 2010 at 2:59 pm
bloggingfromthebog
I would love to to try set dancing – but I am sure I’ll never get the nerve to do it!
Can’t wait to find out if you paint your door red too!