Along with her husband and three sons, Deborah took a hands-on approach to the chapel conversion
‘Restoring an old chapel breathed new life into the area’
Virtually derelict and having stood empty for more than a decade, the 19th-century Methodist chapel Deborah and Noel Kavanagh bought in 2009 was both unloved and unwanted. ‘Our initial plan for the property was to turn it into a restaurant with living accommodation above,’ Deborah explains. ‘However, after spending months on research and negotiating a string of hurdles with the local planning department, we came to the conclusion that it wasn’t a viable option.’