There are some houses that are found, and others that feel as though they were always waiting. Lough Sillan House belongs to the Brennans.

Set within nine and a half acres of mature gardens sloping towards the shores of Lough Sillan in County Cavan, Lough Sillan House is a former glebe house dating back to 1819. Once a Church of Ireland rectory, it has been carefully restored in recent years and is now a private home and hospitality retreat surrounded by lakeside landscape and woodland.

For Sabina and David Brennan, the journey here did not begin with a clear plan. Living in Dublin at the time, it was during the Covid period that something shifted. The pace changed, priorities softened, and the idea of living differently began to take hold.

Sabina has often spoken about the importance of intention and focus in her work, particularly in her book The Neuroscience of Manifesting, where she explores how the brain responds to clarity of vision and sustained belief. The idea is simple but powerful: what we hold onto, consistently and with conviction, begins to shape the path in front of us.

Lough Sillan House appeared almost unexpectedly.

“I kept coming back to Lough Sillan House in my mind. Even when things stalled or slipped out of reach, the sense of it never really changed. The decision wasn’t something made at the last minute when the keys were finally handed over. It was there long before that. It doesn’t feel right to say it was simply bought. It was something I was already moving toward, something I was holding onto quietly until it finally became real.”

But Sabina remained fixed in her decision.

“I saw it,” she says. “And I didn’t want to let go of that idea.”

Restoring a place, and everything around it

When Sabina and David first arrived, Outbuildings had been overtaken by ivy and thick greenery, their stone walls barely visible beneath years of growth. The old animal enclosures in particular had reached a point where nature had almost reclaimed them entirely. It was not a matter of renovation, but rescue.

The work that followed was slow and considered, unfolding season by season. Sabina and David were closely involved throughout, taking on much of the manual labour themselves. Sabina designed the layout and interiors of the outbuildings, shaping the overall vision.

The cottages, as protected structures, were restored by skilled professionals including stonemasons, under the guidance of a conservation architect. This approach was required as part of a small council grant and ensured the work met the necessary standards.

In the second year, volunteers joined through the Workaway programme, an initiative where volunteers exchange time and practical help for the experience of living and
working in a place like this. They focused on the gardens, helping to clear brambles and restore the more formal areas.

The result was a gradual, careful restoration, combining professional expertise with hands-on work.

The Out-buildings, once hidden beneath ivy, were slowly revealed and rebuilt, their original character preserved. Standing today, they form part of a collection of cottages on the estate, offering guests a place to stay.

Designing a guest experience

Across the estate, each space has been developed with a distinct identity. From private courtyards to lakeside spa facilities, the emphasis is on atmosphere rather than scale.
Even unexpected elements have been incorporated into the design approach. In one basement courtyard, a wall that had previously been cemented over was later used as the backdrop for a mural, painted with the help of Workaway volunteers.

Inside the cottages, the interiors were designed with restraint, focusing on texture, comfort, and continuity with the surroundings.

“I wanted the interiors to reflect the experience people were having here,” Sabina says.

There is a strong continuity between house, garden, and lake at Lough Sillan. Over time, the project has developed into something that feels less like a restoration and more like a reactivation of place.

Within its first year of opening, the transformation had already begun to draw attention. Lough Sillan House was nominated among Ireland’s Top 50 Properties, and from 2025 onwards, five-star reviews followed across Airbnb and Booking.com. Guests speak not only about the setting, but about how the place feels, calm, personal, and quietly unlike anywhere else.

Echoes of the past

A poem written about the house in 1891 still lingers as part of its story. Sabina states,

‘A charming view from the town’s fair centre,
of those silvan beauties you can obtain,
the lovely groves of fair Carrig Creena,
its tidy mansion and gay demesne;
where summer tourists and pleasure parties
at leisure they do row and sail.
On fair Lough Sillan and round the islands,
the grandest place in Old Grannuail.’

‘The glens of Wicklow, or famed Killarney,
the Cliffs of Moher in West of Clare;
the fair Rostrevor or Kilary Harbour,
to sweet Lough Sillan they can’t compare’

“The words reflect the house as it has been turned around to fit back in time. A full circle moment.” States Sabina.

What began as a personal shift in perspective during a period of uncertainty has become a long-term restoration project rooted in place, nature, and continuity.