The sheer power of the record winds that hit the west coast last week are perhaps most clearly illustrated by the structural damage Storm Éowyn left in its wake.
Maureen Folan spent last Thursday night in her son's house, a short distance from her own property near the village of Carna.
When she got up the next morning, the power was gone.
With the Status Red wind warning lifted, Ms Folan headed home, planning to light up her range and cook some breakfast for those without electricity.
"I was on the way home and a neighbour stopped me on the road and asked me if I had stayed there," she says.
After explaining that she was returning having been away for the night, "he told me he would bring me back and that the house had been badly damaged".
The sight that greeted the 74-year-old was one of devastation.
Gusts in excess of 180km/h had ripped the roof clean off the property, leaving a trail of destruction in and around the house.
Inside, little could be salvaged. A place lived in for generations was ruined.
Today, as she showed RTÉ News around what remains of the 120-year-old structure, Ms Folan said she was still finding it difficult to come to terms with what had happened.
It appears that a gust of wind lifted the roof at the front of the house and that it effectively whipped back on itself, detaching completely.
In the heavy rain that followed, the ceiling gave way, flooding the property and complicating the task of salvaging anything.
In a matter of minutes, a lifetime of keepsakes, trinkets and essentials were destroyed.
Locals were quick to arrive on the scene, doing whatever they could to rescue furniture, electrical goods and other items.
But there’s no hiding the scale of the destruction. Insulation from the loft is strewn around the garden and nearby fields.
A portion of the roof lies across the road from the house, around 200 metres from where it once sat.
But while the roof is no more, the house stands solidly where it has always been. Stone walls of a thickness common in previous centuries face the Atlantic, almost in defiance of the elements.
Ms Folan hopes to repair her home and move back in. But that task has been complicated by the fact that she has no insurance to cover the rebuilding costs.
Her plight saw politicians visiting her during the week, with pledges of support to get her back on track. An assessor is due to carry out a survey to determine the level of financial assistance she will ultimately be eligible for.
The Conamara native is hopeful that will come "sooner rather than later" and that promises made in the aftermath of the storm will be kept.
Her community has also rallied around, establishing an online fundraiser to assist the popular woman.
"This place is like heaven in the summer, but the winters are always tough," she says. "But I want to get back. This is a house but it’s also my home".
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