For some of us, a nod to eco awareness means little more than the odd trip to the bottle bank and remembering to bring the recycled plastic bags to the supermarket. For that reason, an eco village might sound a fearsome place to live, policed by rigorous kaftan-wearing vegans on the outer fringes of the green movement. In Cloughjordan, currently home to Ireland's only eco village, it's true, you might see people in sandals. But that's really just down to the autumn sunshine. For in this small north Tipperary village, gradually transforming itself into a blueprint for sustainable living, there are 40 shades of green followers, from families simply wanting a healthier place to bring up their children, to individuals downsizing, to a working day no longer dictated by stress and traffic jams. And of course, there are the people who have always lived there. Because aside from all of the very worthy talk of passive housing, solar parks and edible landscapes, the word you hear most is 'community'.

In the bookstore on the main street, a mosquito net panel hangs in the sunny doorway. But as owner Millie Barrow explains, the early autumn wasps are about the only unwelcome visitors here. She sold her Dublin home during the property boom and moved here with her nine-year-old son four years ago, signing up as a member of the eco village project and now renting until such time as she can build her own sustainable home. "The main reason I moved is for Elliott – he has great freedom here," she says. "He is really thriving and settled in to the local school. There's a great community spirit, and always was, even before the eco project was first mooted in 1999."

With its Georgian wide street and old village green surrounded by ancient beech trees, Cloughjordan was decked out last week in the county colours of blue and yellow. But it has an historic identity beyond that of heroic hurling. One notable native was 1916 revolutionary Thomas McDonagh who, as one browser in the bookstore told us, used to walk the nearby Knocknacree wood where "he wrote his terrible poems". The late Victorian Catholic church in the village has one of the finest Harry Clarke stained-glass windows in the country. Pains have been taken in the eco village to maintain some of that local heritage, and so an old granite wall plus a belt of ancient trees have been preserved. "We had to fight our corner to stop the bulldozers uprooting them," says Dave Flannery, who works in the eco village office and shows the Sunday Tribune round. The bulldozers referred to were those involved when infrastructure work got seriously underway in 2007. The 67-acre site, along a cobbled siding off the main street, still remains pretty much a building site. That it's one of the largest and most active construction sites in the country may not be that great a boast given the current economic climate. So how has the downturn, and the banking crisis, affected those planning their dream green home?

"Of course, the economic crisis has made it more difficult for people to borrow money or sell their house to finance a move," says Flannery. "That said, we have two thirds of sites already sold. For those that can access the funds, the cost of construction has come down substantially. What you won't see in here is row after row of identical houses. Each home in the eco village is different and a host of green building materials is being used. It's like a test ground for many different materials and build systems."

So, here comes the science: there are already passive timber-frame houses built, others constructed from cob – which accounts for the bales of straw we saw outside some of the buildings. This is a traditional building approach that mixes sub-soil with straw. But lime and hemp (which is believed to absorb carbon in the drying process) accounts for most of the houses built so far.

The average cost of a site is €70,000; It is possible, according to the project sales office, to buy a site and build a 3-bed house for approximately €185,000. The 67 acres of the village within a village consists of three areas roughly divided into residential, woodland and food production. Of the 114 houses planned, and the 16 'live-work' units, 10 houses have been fully completed and residents moved in. Another 30 houses are currently under construction, while the 30-bed eco hostel and learning centre is planned for completion in October. Over seven acres in the residential area have been given over to include community gardens and play areas, while there is also the 'edible landscape' of fruit trees and bushes including 84 different varieties. Green-fingered types will appreciate having their own allotment areas in which to grow produce. In the woodland area are forest gardens and amenity areas. But especially innovative is the facility for energy production – the imminent arrival of solar panels will create the biggest solar park in the country, says Flannery. This will provide 80% of energy needs for residents and businesses in the summer months; in the winter, two massive wood-chip boilers will cater for the bulk of water and heating requirements.

That the new eco project has merged with the original village is evident in the Cloughjordan community farm. Almost 60 families are involved in the farm project, while the new Buyers Group will mean that eco village residents can buy products more cheaply. Everyone the Sunday Tribune spoke to agreed that it's the combination of heritage village and sustainable living that makes life here an attractive proposition away from the rat race of the cities. But to remove the rose-tinted spectacles for a moment, city slickers might find less appealing the fact that the train to Cloughjordan is currently a once-a-day trip only, while the village itself is not exactly choc a bloc with cafés and restaurants. But then ask someone like former blow-in, now confirmed villager Millie Barrow if she is ever tempted to pack her bags and jump on the train to Heuston and she's pretty adamant: "I'd never go back. Life is just so more relaxing here."

www.thevillage.ie
There will be an 'experience day' on 25 September

Pat Malone and Wendy Bailey are building an energy-efficient, sustainable home along with another couple

"We're building two semi-detached houses along with friends, Bruce Darrell and Morag Friel," explains Pat (above). "Bruce and I pooled our resources basically. I'm a vegetable grower, Bruce is an architect, and our aim is to have an energy-efficient, mortgage-free home each. Before this, people had the money to hire builders, but increasingly, there are more people like us.

"Because we are building ourselves, we plan our costs to be around €130,000 – two-thirds of most building costs are for labour, so straight away we are making a saving. There is never a problem calling a meitheal, a gathering of neighbours and friends willing to help complete a task. Years ago in Ireland, that was the only way cluster houses could be built. People really love to work with the earth, get stuck in and get their hands into it. And earth is cheap. The construction of the ground floor of the building took 10 people just four hours.

"The exterior structure is of hemp and lime plaster and we have unusual things such as copper sills. That's the great advantage – you can pick and choose your own way and your own materials, and of course to an environmentally sound standard. It's like that thing about everyone having a book in them – people want to build their own house too. We have used a lathe with wattle and daub technique – most builders wouldn't dream of using that as it is very labour intensive. To date, we are under budget.

"Working together? Bruce and I are well able to air our grievances with one another. We can't afford to sulk, and have to accept if something isn't going to work, then we have to get on with it. One developer told us we'd end up falling out – well, not so far."

Van Geraghty moved from Dublin with her son Eoin (9) to live in the village three years ago

"I had never lived in the country before and felt I'd never be interested in it. Perhaps unusually for someone brought up in Dublin, I don't have any relatives from the country and it's been that way for generations. But I was intrigued about the eco village project through friends who are involved. I came along to one of their Experience Days one winter, and by the end of it my mind was made up. I put my house in Dublin on the market and moved to Cloughjordan in June 2006. I bought a site, rented for a time, and then moved to my finished house last April.

"Moving somewhere completely new, on your own with a child, could be a lonely prospect. But there is something about living here that is hard to explain in words, it's not something tangible that I can express. It's a gentle quality. Some expect people here to be in dreadlocks or whatever. It's not like that. There isn't a 'type'. No matter who you are, you would fit in here. I came for the community aspect, not especially for environmental reasons. There's a lot of goodwill, especially for people like me who don't have relatives close by to turn to. I love the idea that we are so connected to the village of Cloughjordan itself and I have made really good friends here. For my 50th birthday last month, I had a joint celebration with another friend in the village and it was great fun. I am working locally, and have the best of both worlds in terms of being a single parent because I can still do the school run and be there to help with homework. For Eoin, too, I can see such a huge benefit as he grows up. He's got an appreciation of rural life, he's able to play freely, and knows I am very near if he needs me. And there are so many things for kids to do. There is hurling, soccer, he can go to music and pottery classes, he can go to scouts, and it's all literally on the doorstep – unlike in the city where you have to drive. Child minding is not a problem either and people are really supportive of one another. We eat healthier too. As members of the community farm, we get fresh vegetables delivered twice a week, while the Buyers' Group means we can buy organic products and eco friendly products more cheaply.

"It's not for everyone of course. And it did take me a while to settle down. I still visit Dublin and like the buzz of the city. But I would never go back. It's the little things here that make it special. I remember reading in the papers last spring about monitoring the dawn chorus in the city and how people would meet up at 4.30am in the morning. I don't have to do that – I can hear it through the open bedroom window from the luxury of my bed."

Dave Flannery is one of the members of Sustainable Projects Ireland. He has a background in landscaping and marketing

"What attracted me to the project is that it brings together a lot of the ideas and principles I believe in, all in one place. It's also interesting from the organisational side of it – there is no big boss telling you what to do. There is no developer involved, its consensus driven. I'm originally from Dublin and then moved to live in rural Limerick in 2002.

"While I enjoyed the rural life there, what I feel Cloughjordan brings is the best of both worlds because I have the community here and countryside but if I feel the need for a weekend in Dublin, I can take the train up. But there's so much going on. There's the theosophical society, cine club, sport, music – we are almost at the stage where we need more people to come and avail of all of the activities. In one sense it's as
much about rural regeneration as
it is about ecological living.

"Most of the people who will live in the eco village are like myself, people who have moved here within the past five years and are renting in the meantime. The number of pupils in the two local schools has grown. Ultimately, the eco village is a place where it will be easier to live sustainably. It's not just about the houses, it's as much about lifestyles. But we're certainly not perfect – we're all individuals and families, trying our best. People might look at us and think we are trying to be self-sufficient. It's more about being self-reliant.

"During the Celtic Tiger years, a sense of community was lost in many places. In a way, the village offers people the opportunity to restore that. In other eco village projects elsewhere, they tend to be sited away on greenfield sites or hills, and separate from existing towns. What makes this project so appealing is that we are part of an existing, larger community here in Cloughjordan."