In 2018, Mark and Angela Mulholland left their County Antrim home to fulfil their dream of living on the lakes of Fermanagh. Mark, who owned a communications business, and Angela, a nurse, met whilst they were working in offices next door to each other.

As a couple they share a love of the lakes and spent their weekends and holidays together cruising Lough Erne.

“It was always our dream to one day live on the lakes and not have to worry about going home on a Sunday evening,” Mark told The Impartial Reporter.

To make their dream a reality, the couple, who are now both retired, took a “leap of faith”, taking the decision to jump off the property ladder and build a barge.

“It was a bit of a leap of faith for us to do this, but we both felt it was right,” said Mark.

After researching what kind of barge they wanted, they found a company to build it: Piper Boats, based in Stoke-on-Trent. “It’s a Dutch-style steel barge with a wheelhouse, which kind of suited us, because a lot of these barges have a tiller at the back, and you’d be standing out in the snow, wind and rain.

“We quite liked the idea of being inside when we are driving,” explained Mark.

The couple worked with the designer at Piper Boats on different layouts and options in terms of how the galley kitchen would look, and where the bedroom would be, among other elements.

Talking about his and Angela’s involvement in the design of the boat, and features they specifically chose, Mark said: “The living space was really important to us.

“It’s a very sociable boat, and when you’re down in the kitchen preparing dinner, or whatever, you can still chat to the people in the living room.

“It’s very open plan and a very sociable area, and that was important to us.”

Highlighting one of the quirky parts of the boat, Mark said: “We have a dining room which converts into a bedroom, but it has a flexible wall which can be adjusted, and effectively the room can be opened or closed.

“It can be a part of the lounge, or it can be separated into a spare bedroom.”

Another key design feature of the barge are the double doors, which open up on to the back deck.

“For me, they are the best feature of the boat, because you can literally open the doors and sit inside or outside, and it’s like you’re outside. Even if it’s pouring out of the heavens, you can still sit here and enjoy the views,” said Mark.

“We had a hand in everything. Angela completely designed the kitchen in terms of where all the appliances were and what height they were at, where they would be positioned.

“Piper Boats let us crack on. If they thought we were suggesting something that wasn’t a good idea, they’d have told us, but they were really happy to work with us,” he added.

As the boat was being built, Mark and Angela travelled over to Stoke-on-Trent to see it at each stage of construction.

“We were really excited whenever in 2018 that the barge was finally ready,” said Mark.

In the spring of 2018, they brought the finished barge to Lough Erne. “We had it launched in Knockninny,” said Mark, going on to explain that they have a permanent mooring station there.

“In saying that, we spend a lot of time on both lakes, Upper and Lower Lough Erne. We had solar panels fitted to the roof recently, so that gives us a lot of freedom to not have to worry about being plugged in to electricity, so we can live off nature and we can go venturing and exploring on islands.”

As with most boats, Mark and Angela’s barge has a name, ‘Nola’.

When asked of the origin of the name ‘Nola’, Mark shared a charming personal anecdote.

He explained that when he bought his first boat, a day boat, around 27 years ago, he sailed it throughout the seasons.

“Nobody told me to stop sailing, and towards the end of October I was still sailing it,” he laughed, noting how it didn’t have running water, heat or a toilet.

“I just loved the lake so much, I just kept going. So one night I decided to go as far as I could down South and I ended up in Belturbet in Cavan. I went to the very end of Belturbet, and there was a little jetty on the right-hand side.”

Mark moored his boat at the jetty just as it was starting to get dark. He explained that it was so cold that when he opened the canopy at the back, it crunched.

“I saw a little pub in the distance called Flynn’s and I went up to it and I ordered a hot drink of some description, and the lady behind the bar, Mrs. Flynn, said, ‘You must be the one in the boat’, and I said, ‘I am’.

“We sat chatting and she said, ‘I’ll make you a jar before you go’. She actually made me a hot water bottle, so worried was she that I wouldn’t make it through the night,” he laughed, adding: “But I remember that night, sitting listening to these old Irish guys singing and reciting poetry and telling stories – it was magical. That was a very fond memory.”

Years later, Mark returned to the bar and met the same woman, Mrs. Flynn.

“She was amazed that I’d made it through the night, but she remembered me. From that point on, we became really good friends,” he noted, going on to explain that he and Angela later held their wedding reception in Flynn’s Bar.

When the couple decided to build the barge, Angela was sitting with Mrs. Flynn one evening, and asked her, “What’s your Christian name?” and she answered, “Angela, my name is Nola”.

“She was a very special lady in our hearts, and Angela and I chatted about it, and we asked Mrs. Flynn if she would mind if we named the barge after her.

“She was absolutely delighted – she said she could not have been happier. So when we named the barge, we brought it to Belturbet, and she organised the local priest to come down and bless the barge.

“We had a little brass plaque put on to the barge and she unveiled the plaque and made a speech.

“She was absolutely chuffed to have had a barge named after her,” said Mark.

“Unfortunately, she was the first person in Belturbet last year to die of Covid, at 93 years of age. She was a lovely woman and she was delighted that her memory would live on through the barge,” he added.

Three years since moving to Fermanagh with their barge, the couple have truly settled into life on the lough, with their beautiful custom-made barge ‘Nola’ a familiar sight around the lakelands.

“We love how one day we can be in Enniskillen, in the hustle and bustle, but then you can go to an island or sail down a river and be escorted by a Kingfisher, or see deer jumping about, and watch the sunset.

“Sometimes you have to pinch yourself and realise how lucky you are. We are still very much in love with the life,” Mark told this newspaper.