Cork duo are set to appear in TV DIY show

FORMER QE2 chef Kenneth Murphy and his wife Gene live in a 150-year-old farmhouse in Killeagh, County Cork.

Ken converted an unused room over his garage into two bedrooms for his daughters, Samantha and Gemma — something he’d been promising to do for them for a long time — and the project features in The Big DIY Challenge on RTÉ1 on Thursday at 8.30pm.

Jackie Peterson, of Bandon, also appears in the episode. Jackie, who is partially deaf and has a son Jack, who has Down’s Syndrome, and a daughter, Rebekah, upcycles her mother’s old furniture to create a colourful chicken coop, in memory of her mother, who love the animal.

Other projects seen by presenter PJ Gallagher include a man who is building a seating area and crescent moon-shaped firepit in Kilmoon, Co Clare, from locally sourced stone.

PJ also meets Geri Canavan in Rochfortbridge, Co Westmeath, who is attempting a beautiful bedroom makeover that’s been inspired by Marie Antoinette’s bedroom at the Palace of Versailles!