Original version

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History: Celtic Tiger: Ireland's 'ghost estates'

Documentaries

Ireland's 'ghost estates'

24/08/2023 GMT

Celtic Tiger: Ireland's 'ghost estates'

BBC World Service - Witness History, Celtic Tiger: Ireland's 'ghost estates'

How the collapse of Ireland's Celtic Tiger led to thousands of abandoned housing estates

The Celtic Tiger - the nickname given to Ireland's economic boom - crashed in 2008 and led to thousands of abandoned 'ghost estates'.

In 2006, Michele Burke and her fiancé William were looking forward to moving into their dream home in the picturesque town of Killaloe, in Ireland. 

But when Ireland's economic boom - known as the Celtic Tiger - ended and the global financial crisis of 2008 hit, construction on Michele and William's new house abruptly stopped. 

The couple were stuck paying a mortgage on a home they couldn't move into. They were not the only ones struggling. During the recession, there were more than 1,000 abandoned 'ghost estates' in Ireland. 

Michele tells Vicky Farncombe about her eight-year fight to move into her house.

(Photo: Michele Burke outside her abandoned home in Killaloe in 2013. Credit: BBC)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

Celtic Tiger: Ireland's 'ghost estates'

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

About BBC World Service