What previous students have said about the course

An absolutely fantastic weekend. I was buzzing the whole way home. The sense of independence that I’ve gained from the course is amazing.

I feel like I can tackle projects by myself, I now have a grà for it and can't wait to start a project. It gave me the ability to take things apart in my head and reverse engineer them so that I feel I could make them. The people were amazing too. It was awesome meeting like minded but completely different people with different backgrounds and skills.

Absolutely loved it and would recommend anyone do it to gain the confidence to do things themselves. It made something that was a complete unknown seem simple and doable and gave me a starting point to learn more and know what to search for.

-Emer, 35, Galway

The course is led by Paul Lawford. In 2020 Paul quit his city job to sell all of his superfluous possessions and find out, through action, could someone with no previous construction experience build their own home, and could that home be affordable, environmentally sound, functional and beautiful. The answer was yes, and since then Paul has lived in his self-designed and self-built eco tiny house on wheels, immersing himself in various eco and off-grid construction projects since. Paul leads a diverse coaching team of professionals, from carpenters and architects to engineers and gardeners - all with one thing in common: They’ve all also built their own homes.

What You’ll Learn

• The use of basic hand tools like hammers, saws, measuring (our favourite!) and marking devices

• The use of essential power tools such as the drill, impact driver, power sander, oscillating tool, circular saw, jig saw and nail gun, sliding double bevel mitre saw and more

• Basic construction skills covering material selection, measuring, marking, cutting & joining

• Basics of structural design including loads, weatherproofing and human centric design

• All through the context of tiny houses and small structures

• Advanced timber framing techniques, principles and practice

What’s Included in the Fee

The €510 course fee includes:

• Two nights accommodation in the local eco hostel (5 min walk to workshop) in a shared dorm. Some private rooms may be available upon request pending availability.

• Collection and drop off to the train station (5 min drive) if that’s how you’re travelling

• All of your meals, including three lunches, two breakfasts, two dinners and tea, coffee and snacks when we’re getting hangry.
  This is locally grown, ethically produced food that’s second to none - you will not be disappointed.

• (Almost) All materials and tools you’ll need, we just ask you bring a notebook, pen and a pair of steel toed puncture proof safety boots. You can pick boots up here and here for good value, and keep an eye out in Lidl and Aldi too as they often have them for a low cost.

• A five-to-one student to coach ratio during practical work

• An in-depth tour of a self built, off grid, eco-tiny house on wheels in the wild 

Moneyback Guarantee

Everyone learns at different rates, and people have different talents in different areas. While we aim to meet you where you’re at and get the best out of this weekend with you, if you complete this course and truly, honestly feel that what you were promised just wasn’t what you were given, we’ll refund you the fee (Excluding meals, materials and accommodation).

The Location

The course takes place in the community workshop of Cloughjordan Eco Village, Ireland’s only eco village. This is a safe space where all are welcome, where we aim to educate and empower people to solve problems using practical know how and skills.

How to Get Here

We encourage you to take public transport.

If coming from Dublin, there’s a train leaving Hueston at approx 8am arriving in Cloghjordan at approx 10am - we’ll grab you at the station. The return train leaves Cloughjordan at approx 6pm Sunday, giving you about 30 mins to get your stuff together after we finish up, and then we’ll drop you down.

If you’re coming from Limerick or Cork City, there are similar train services with a few connections.

All info can be found on irishrail.ie, select the arriving station of Cloughjordan (if travelling on a bank holiday please note the travel times in advance)

Driving is of course possible too, there’s ample parking on site. If you have a space to give someone a lift, then please let us know.

Accommodation

You’ll be staying in Django’s Hostel, Cloughjordan Eco Village’s award winning Eco Hostel. This is hardly a five minute walk from the community workshop. Rooms will be automatically separated by gender. Due to demand we can’t currently facilitate private rooms, but if you’d like to book your own accommodation elsewhere please do and use the code BIGVAN at checkout to remove your accommodation fee.

If you’d prefer to bring your campervan we can arrange for a space for you. Use the code BIGVAN at checkout and we’ll sort the rest..