manchan.com - Straw bale house


In 1997 Manchán built the first straw bale house in Ireland.		Bales of straw were laid as blocks and plastered with lime and sand.


It was warm and comfortable and cost €5000 to build.		He lived in it for 5 years until cracks began to appear.


In 2002 he built of house of concrete plastered in mud, straw and cement, with a grass roof.	Article on Manchán's house from Irish Homes Magazine	He planted six thousand oak, maple, larch and Scots pine around it and an orchard of forty fruit trees.


Teampaill Mhancháin, (6th Century AD. ) Dingle Peninsula Co. Kerry.		In the 6th Century two different saints called Manchán built simple hermit-type homes in Kerry and Offaly.