Late Hugh Wallace reveals heartbreaking Laois family connections in The Great House Revival

A heartbreaking episode of RTÉ television show The Great House Revival with the late Hugh Wallace, revealed surprisingly close Laois family ties with the beloved Irish architect.

Hugh passed away unexpectedly last December 1 aged 68, while the series was still being filmed. A decision was made to complete and air it in his memory, and the emotional fifth episode dealing with Hugh's death aired this week, now available on RTÉ Player.

In it Hugh is advising a young New Ross family on their ambitious restoration of a Victorian townhouse property.

He revealed that his uncle came from Portarlington, in his typical matter of fact humour. 

"The back of your house reminds me of my uncle's house in Portarlington. He was 92. Put up the ladder to clean the gutters and fell off and killed himself," Hugh told the homeowners.

As they react in sympathy, he added "no it was a good way to go. Do you know what I mean? 92. Never sick in his life. Over. I loved it," he said.

Tragically Hugh never saw the end result of their work, with his friend and voiceover for the show, Brendan Courtney visiting at the end of the programme last month to see the stylish gently renovated home. One more episode remains, to be shown on Sunday April 19 at 9.30pm.

Hugh has many Laois cousins in Portarlington, including the Cobbes, Fletchers, Dignams and Wardrops. 

John E Fletcher and Eric Wardrop had paid tributes on Laois RIP.ie upon his death, describing their cousin.

“Condolences to Hugh’s Husband Martin, family and friends. Hugh was my born first cousin, only child of Susan Cobbe from Portarlington and Kenneth Wallace from Dublin. Susan was one of my mother’s younger sisters. In earlier years I was well acquainted with and played with Hugh on his regular visits with his parents to our home.

“His father Ken would invariably refer to Hugh as the ‘Nipper’. Hugh still has cousins in the Portarlington area, the Cobbes, Fletchers, Dignams and Wardrops. Since Susan and Ken died many years ago I have not had any contact but I am aware that Hugh and Martin visited the graves at Lea Church on several occasions. Hugh faced several serious challenges in life and had the foresight and strength to overcome each, resulting in him excelling as an Architect and TV presenter in the construction arena. Hugh, you were a credit to your parents and relatives and you can now rest in peace knowing that you did a good job in life, albeit cut short," said Mr Fletcher.

“My deepest Sympathy to Martin and families and Hugh’s large circle of friends and admirers on Hugh’s passing," his cousin Eric Wardrop had said.

“I was circa 14 years older than Hugh who was a baby when all the Cousins played games at our Granny Cobbe’s home on numerous occasions. We loved to meet Uncle Ken and Aunty Sue and baby Hugh.

“Later in life when I lived in Dublin for a short while, I was fortunate to be able to meet Hugh on many occasions. Many of his Cousins and Hugh on a few occasions met up after Christmas at my Sister Hilary’s for a get together which we all enjoyed. Hugh was a lovely Cousin and great fun to be with and will be greatly missed. Hugh will be greatly missed by Martin and all of his family, and many friends and a vast amount of his TV Viewers," said Mr Wardrop from Thomastown, Kilkenny.

The Great House Revival actually has yet another Laois link.

The music for the show is composed by a talented young Abbeyleix musician, Reuben Harvey, 25. 

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"So honoured to have written the new theme music for The Great House Revival Series 6. I had the pleasure of working with the wonderful team at Animo TV. Coming soon to RTE & BBC in memory of its fantastic host, the late Hugh Wallace," he said ahead of the series' airing.

Reuben has also composed original music for many films, including five new short fims in the Dublin International Film Festival 2026.