‘It was horrendous out here’

John Nooney has been examining the stars from his self-built observatories at his Clonkill home since the moon landing in 1969 and all his equipment had withstood the elements until Storm Éowyn and its 100kmh gusts hit last Friday week.

The storm that battered the country on January 24 left many households in the Clonkill area (and other areas) without power for the best part of a week. It also ripped portions of the roof of an observatory that John constructed more than 40 years ago.

If that wasn’t enough, one of the trees that marked the boundary between John and his daughter’s house missed flattening her shed when it fell with millimetres of it.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, retired engineer John (84) says that the power of the gusts during Storm Éowyn were stronger than anything he ever experienced before.

“It’s by far [the worst storm], no comparison, whatsoever. There’s more damage out here [than ever before].

John not only constructed his observatories, he also did the mechanics for their rotating roofs. Given the destruction caused by Storm Éowyn, he feels that he and his family got away lucky.

“I wasn’t thinking about that [the damage to the observatory’s roof]. It was horrendous out here. I think you really feel storms in the county. There are trees all around. We were fortunate.”