Seven days on and Storm Éowyn continues to impact four generations of one Galway family, who have found themselves back living under the same roof in order to share the benefits of a generator as their village remains without electricity.
Two days ago, Shauna Murphy decided that she and her two children, 10-year-old Fionn and eight-year-old Cara Dowd, could no longer remain in their home in Liscuib, Ballymacward, Ballinasloe, due to storm damage to the house and the ongoing power outage in the area.
With no heat and no electricity, Shauna and her children moved down the road to the family farmhouse where her sister and her partner and three children, along with Shauna's father and grandfather, are also living without electricity. Built in 1932, the three-bedroom home is now being powered by a generator.
"We have had to move down with my sister who was able to get a generator because she has a newborn baby. So there's actually ten of us at the moment living in a three-bedroom house and that's including my 91-year-old granddad, so there's actually four generations together living in the one house," she told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
For Shauna’s two children the move has been an unwelcome upheaval - Fionn said the novelty of the move has already worn off: "Well it's good to spend time with the family but not this much time. It's been like two days since we moved in; I’ve barely got any sleep."
For Cara, being away from the family pet is an unwelcome outcome, "It's been very tough...I miss everything and I miss my dog at home," she said.
For Shauna the toughest part of the last seven days has been having to leave her home.
"The hardest thing is moving out of your home and moving in with your family. Just when it's not your own home, feeling like a burden."
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For Shauna’s sister Bronagh Murphy, a different set of challenges has presented. Just over two weeks ago, Bronagh gave birth to her baby daughter, who is safely ensconced in a Moses basket in the sitting room, as her mother, aunt, cousins and great grandfather watch on.
"We came home on the Wednesday and the storm hit on the Friday so we have been kind of under pressure since with a newborn and I have two other kids, one with ADHD. So trying to keep him occupied with no electricity now has been tough and a newborn on top of it, so trying to adjust to everything has been really tough," she said.
Without a shower and electric cooker, Bronagh is grateful to have the use of a generator which ensures she can at least sterilise the bottles necessary for her baby daughter.
With an estimated reconnection date of 5 February for the village, the Murphys are thinking of other neighbours who are also struggling as the outage continues.
"We're lucky here we have a generator but all of our neighbours, surrounding neighbours, have absolutely nothing. At the minute we are unplugging the generator and bringing it up to a local dairy farmer so that he can milk his cows, like it's just...really tough," said Bronagh.
The ongoing power outage is also impacting heavily on Shauna and Bronagh’s 91-year-old grandfather Johnny Murphy.
Despite the cold and the darkness, he has a resilient attitude while the wait continues; "What can you do, only stick on with it until it comes back, hoping it will come?"
Johnny remembers well the big storm of 1961 but said he has never seen anything like this. As a fire blazes in the sitting room of the farmhouse, his thoughts turn to others who do not have the same options available:
"We're not so bad we have the fire, the turf fire there, but people with those new houses now with no chimney, it’s terrible."
Right across the road from the Murphys is one of those new houses without a chimney.
Kara Mullins, her partner and their two daughters, aged six and two should be enjoying living in the home they built less than two years ago.
Instead with her dressing gown and a hat on to help fight off the cold in her kitchen, Kara said she feels embarrassed that she is living in a new house that now cannot keep her children warm.
"We moved from a house that had a stove, an open fire, a gas hob and you know I’d give anything now to be in that house," she said.
When the electricity does return to Liscuib, Kara is concerned the all-electric house will not be fully warm for a further three or four days, as the under-floor heating installed throughout the property returns to full power.
For Kara, the advent and aftermath of Storm Éowyn has brought a number of concerns over the viability of her home and the support available to the fore.
"We spent a lot of money on trying to go to, you know 'eco friendly house’ and you know where's the back-up infrastructure when things go wrong? It’s been eye opening, we don't have it, we don't have the resources right now," she added.
They say a week is a long time in politics but for those left in the dark in the west of Ireland, without heat and without power, it is perhaps even longer.
