Final wishes of County Roscommon man fulfilled in emotional ‘Room to Improve’

The final wishes of a County Roscommon man to build his dream home for his family was the focus of the popular TV programme ‘Room to Improve’ on Sunday evening.

There was an emotional response from viewers when the revamped home was revealed by architect Dermot Bannon.

Former Shannon Gaels GAA club member Dominic Keenehan, late of Cashel, Carrick-on-Shannon, County Roscommon sadly passed away on July 18th, 2023 at the age of 38 after a brave battle with a rare form of cancer.

Dom was diagnosed with cancer in June and passed away one month later leaving behind his pregnant wife, Orla McDermott and their 14 month old son Lachlan. After Dom’s diagnosis St Farnan’s GAA Club, the club of his adopted home in Sligo and the club of his wife, Orla, suggested a fundraiser to support him, but Dom's wish was that this would be done for his family after he was gone to help towards the much needed renovations of their home. ‘Dom’s Wish’, was launched to support the family and Shannon Gaels GAA Club rowed in behind it.

College sweethearts Orla and Dominic bought their seaside bungalow in Aughris, County Sligo four years ago, with the couple planning to raise their family in their forever home.

However, as they were spending their first Christmas as a family in 2022, Dominic and Orla suffered the highest of highs with the lowest of lows — with Dominic being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer right around the same time Orla found out they were pregnant with their second child. Just months after Dominic passed away from the cancer, Orla welcomed their second child, a baby girl named Eden Dominique, into the world.

Following his death Orla continued with their plans to renovate the home and to carry out the design they had decided together. Enlisting the help of architect Dermot Bannon to bring her home full of damp and mould up to code, Orla revealed that she already had planning permission for an extension before Dominic passed away — with her ‘all in’ budget being set at €275,000. However, Dermot admitted that it would be tight.

“Orla wants to build the dream that herself and Dom set out to do,” Dermot said on his popular ‘Room to Improve’ programme. “I think Orla has a dream in her head, and if I deviate from that too much, or if I can’t achieve as much of it as possible, in a funny way it’s kind of like a big let down… there’s a lot of emotion wrapped up in this build.” While he managed to get the preliminary budget bang on, the extension and renovations didn’t come without their challenges — with Orla and quantity surveyor Claire Irwin flabbergasting Dermot when they wanted to get rid of pillars that, they said, were “just dressing up the front.” 

Dermot and Orla had several exchanges and after another issue surrounding the design of the front, Dermot seemed to get even more frustrated — saying, “I’m trying to do something here that’s a little bit different; that is responding to this, and with that there’s going to have to be a little trust and a little faith, and a little bit of ‘I haven’t seen that before.’ Some people might not understand it, whatever. That’s ok! They just have to trust me.” 

It wouldn’t be ‘Room to Improve’ without budget issues, and with the addition of a roof light that Dermot wanted, Claire met with Orla to warn her that they were at the part of the build where the budget “could lose the run of itself.” Despite the issues, and an overall final price of €295,000 — meaning the budget went over by €20,000 — the finished product was the house reborn —with its original living room, which Orla said was a reminder of Dom as it was his favourite room.

“Dom would love this,” Orla said. “He’d think it’s absolutely fantastic and this is what he wanted for myself and the kids. I know he’d love it.”