Stay in a stylish mobile home and lend a hand on our peaceful family property on the Cooley Peninsula, Ireland

Details

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  Description

  We are a multi-generational family living on a peaceful rural property just outside Dundalk, overlooking Dundalk Bay with the Cooley Mountains with its forests and walks behind us. It’s quiet and natural, but still close to town, with a local pub a short walk down the lane. We share the space with two friendly dogs and enjoy a simple, outdoors-based way of life. We have kayaks and bicycles to share.
  
  We’re welcoming help to work on some specific projects, or with more general tasks (there is more detail in the section on help below).
  
  This would suit someone who enjoys being outdoors, is happy with hands-on tasks, and likes bringing order to things.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Light gardening

  Creative DIY projects

  Light maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Culture

  

  Self development

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Music

  

  History

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Writing

  

  Carpentry

  

  Animals

  

  Camping

  

  Nature

  

  Fitness

  

  Mountain

  

  Sailing / Boating

  

  Water sports

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Hiking

  

  Cycling

  

  Adventure sports
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We’re a multi-generational family with a mix of Irish and South African backgrounds, and that shows up in everyday life, especially around food and conversation. Professionally, we are a primary teacher, an organisational and leadership development consultant, a retired fashion designer, and a final year school student. We renovated our own house while camping on the property.
  
  Some of us are working, although there will usually be someone around. We enjoy simple things: reading, poetry, good conversation, and getting stuck into practical work. We cook outdoors most weeks and bake sourdough bread with a starter that is almost 80years old.
  
  Workawayers are welcome to join in with meals occasionally, but there’s also plenty of space to do your own thing and enjoy the quiet surroundings, or go for a kayak, bike ride, walk or trail run.

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  Help

  We’re welcoming practical, hands-on help to bring order to the property.
  
  For those wanting to work on a specific project for some end-to-end satisfaction, we have a list to choose from based on your own experience and skills: a timber trellis to the outside of our house, a large rock water feature, a mobile chicken run, replacing a chimney in our outdoor BBQ kitchen, finishing a small old stone wall, sorting out two raised vegetable beds and making frost covers for winter.
  
  We also have more general tasks like cutting and stacking scrap timber for firewood, sorting and separating materials for recycling, clearing and tidying outdoor areas, a bit of overgrowth trimming, light gardening and basic landscaping. The tasks are varied and straightforward — more about steady effort and initiative than specific skills.
  
  This is Ireland, so if it rains too much for too long, we focus on painting another rtoom inside our house or tidying one of the sheds or workshops, which somehow always get messy again.
  
  We would like 4-5 hours per person for 5 days a week, and we are flexible how this is organised so we can figure it out together.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  You’ll be staying in a designer-renovated mobile home set slightly apart from the main house, so it feels private and quiet, surrounded by fields. It’s been thoughtfully redone and is very comfortable, with Wi-Fi, a TV, a complete kitchen, and an en-suite bathroom with a large walk-in shower. There is a king-size bed and a small second room with a single bed as well as a double sleeper couch in the living room. The deck with outdoor seating and a counter space works well for eating or relaxing outside. It’s a self-contained space, so you’ll have your own independence while still being close enough to the house.
  
  We will provide basic groceries for day-to-day meals, and you’ll have full use of the kitchen in the mobile home. You’re also very welcome to join us for some shared meals, especially at weekends when we often cook outdoors. At the same time, we value having our own space sometimes, and we imagine you will too, so we can figure out a happy balance together.

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  What else ...

  We’re well connected for travel, with Dundalk train station on the main Dublin–Belfast line nearby, as well as local bus routes. The area is good for getting out and exploring — the Táin Way passes through the Cooley Peninsula, and there are plenty of walks in the Cooley Mountains.
  
  The village of Carlingford is a short drive or bus ride away and worth visiting for its setting, cafés, and small harbour. Overall, it’s a good base if you enjoy being outdoors and seeing a quieter part of the east of reland that is still accessible to Dublin and Belfast.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  The mobile home has reliable Wi-Fi and a comfortable setup for remote work inside at the dining-room table or outside at the counter overlooking the bay, so it can suit digital nomads. The help we’re asking for is flexible and can usually be arranged around your working hours, as long as there’s a shared understanding about getting the tasks done. This tends to work best for people who are self-managing and can balance a few hours of practical work each day with their own commitments.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Socialised and friendly dogs. Ours are Ridgebacks and big, goofy things that love other dogs. They are not at all aggressive, but they are very physical, so aggressive or neurotic dog visitors might struggle.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  My animals / pets

  

  Finn & Margo (5 years)

  Big, goofy, loving Ridgebacks who love all the space they have to run and play

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