“One common misconception is that straw bale building is far cheaper than block-build,” says Gargan.

“We saved perhaps €1,400. About half the cost of building a house is labour. The wall content is a very minor component in the overall cost.”

Planning permission proved unexpectedly easy to attain. “We initially applied for permission for a log cabin home, but this was turned down because the local authority said it needed to look more like the traditional homes already in the area,” says Gargan. “We were drawn to straw bale because we needed a rendered surface to comply with this.

“When we went in with plans for our straw bale home, the planners weren’t concerned about what we were building our home out of, rather about what it would look like.”

Other straw bale homes in Ireland have been built to more regular designs, with some, such as the dormer constructed by Richie and Linda Murphy in Dunmore East, indistinguishable from conventional block-build properties.

Watson and Gargan, however, had their own ideas. First, they wanted to power their home independently, and so included a wind generator in the design.

They also planned and installed a system to recycle hot air, effectively reusing more than 90% of the house’s heating.

The high insulation value of straw was the main reason they chose it as a building material, but the main distinguishing aspect of their home was their choice of a sod roof, providing an additional grass-covered outdoor amenity area.

The project took just over a year to complete. “We converted the barn loft into a room to live in while the work was under way,” says Gargan. “We poured concrete for foundations and constructed a tent over it, using the space as a workshop to complete the timber frame components for the house before assembling them. After that, we took the bales, ordinary machine-produced hay bales, and tied and stapled them in place. The next part was expensive — the special lime render which went on the inside and outside of the bales cost about €2,000.”

The couple worked for four days a week on the site, along with their construction team of four, who were being paid by the day.

“If we were doing it again, the labour cost would perhaps be cut in half because once people know what they’re doing, they do it faster,” says Gargan. “Because we and the people we had working with us hadn’t done this before, time was wasted trying to think of how to do this and how to do that.”

Within a year, the couple and their one-year-old son, Luke, were able to move in. The interior of their completed home looks exactly like any other house, apart maybe from the exposed timber beams, which add character. Covering 1,600 sq ft, the house has a bespoke handmade kitchen, four bedrooms and an open-plan living area which comprises a dining room and a living room. There’s also a utility room.

Excluding site costs, the overall cost of the project was €140,000.

Watson and Gargan are delighted with their new home but agree that straw bale, at least this early on in its application here, is not for everybody.

“There were a number of problems to be overcome,” says Gargan.

“First of all, despite the fact that straw bale has been proven as being as safe as any other type of home in a fire, we couldn’t find an insurance company willing to take us on. We had to go to a broker in Donegal, who went through an arm of Lloyds’ which specialised in unusual constructions. It ended up costing us 50% more.

“We didn’t need to take out a mortgage to build this home, but we wouldn’t have got one if we’d tried for one. This, like the insurance issue, boils down to the fact that if your home type doesn’t figure in boxes a, b and c, they don’t want anything to do with you. It’s more to do with lack of imagination and inflexibility on their part than anything to do with the integrity of a straw bale home.

“Of course, if we wanted to sell the house, we’d also have difficulties. Probably we’d only ever sell it to like-minded people.

“We are both serious about the environment, and times are changing fast. We know that it’s the beginning of the end for inefficient block-built homes which are reliant on oil and gas for heating.

“Timber homes had to start somewhere in Ireland and the people who pioneered them here must have been considered mad in the beginning. We want to show people that straw-build can be done.”

To this effect, Watson and Gargan have decided to test the straw bale properly, and 81 sensors have been placed in the walls of their home to measure moisture levels.

“The only problem that we think straw bale might have is its vulnerability to moisture in Ireland,” says Gargan. “So far things are looking positive. A high degree of moisture can be expected all round in the first year as the render dries out. Only our west wall is now in the danger damp zone, although moisture levels are still falling at a rate that is encouraging.

“Are we fully convinced? I’ll tell you in another two years!”

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