A boy’s own adventure

There aren’t many who can say that the weather during the recent miserable summer suited them just fine. But award-winning architect Neil Burke-Kennedy can. His satisfaction with the weather has, however, nothing to do with architecture, and everything to do with his passion for surfing and the sea. According to the boyish forty-something, there was hardly a day this summer when he couldn’t do a bit of surfing or, indeed, more adventurous still, some kitesurfing . It’s a passion that saw Neil channel his considerable architectural talents into designing the perfect holiday home for himself and his family in an idyllic location on the Sligo coast. And once the school holidays begin he, his wife Dervila and his three gorgeous boys relocate to Yeats Country. There, Neil says, he can surf by day and work by night, successfully combining his practice with his passion, thanks to the usual modern aids of internet, computer and mobile phone. He is, of course, keenly aware too of the other benefits of the relocation — the chance to spend time with Paul, eight, Ed, five, and Matthew, three.

The Sunday Independent