The Cabin Cure: Samsú Digital Detox Getaways in Ireland

None of Rosanna Irwin’s past jobs prepared her for what she does now. But they all led to a feeling of overload and burnout. After studying business at University College Dublin—”art was always the real love,” she says—Rosanna became a senior sales account manager at Facebook, relocated from Dublin to London to work in film, then “swerved into climate,” and took on business roles at a reforestation company and a carbon-credit trading platform.

In 2023, a chance holiday on the tiny Danish island of Samsø with her future husband, Killian, led Rosanna to a dramatic course shift: the two were vacationing in Copenhagen when Killian queried a local tattoo artist who told him he’d have to come find him on Samsø. “We drove out on a whim with no accommodation booked,” Rosanna tells us. “It’s an amazing place, fewer than 3,000 people, carbon-negative, mostly farmland. We ended up glamping in a field for a few nights. There was no phone signal or internet—it was an accidental digital detox. My mind had not felt that calm in years.”

The experience was so revelatory that on return Rosanna quit her job, moved back to Ireland, and starting building Samsú, a company devoted to offering others the opportunity to digitally detox while immersing in beautiful spots in Ireland. So far, Rosanna, now 31, has purpose-built two Samsú cabins—she leases land from farmers and owners in choice secluded spots—and signs on other cabins that offer “curated by Samsú” experiences. In each, Rosanna fully guides guests by supplying everything needed for a cell-phone-free respite—books, music, and indoor and outdoor bathing opportunities included. Minimum stays are two days—“science shows it takes at least 24 hours to fully disconnect from your devices,” she says.  Here, a look at Samsú’s first three rentals, each just big enough for two.

Photography by Jasmine Hughes, courtesy of Samsú (@samsucabins).

Cucu in Westmeath, Ireland

Above: NYC-based Irish architect Alexander Buckeridge of Studio Buckey designed the off-grid, solar-powered cabin in close collaboration with Rosanna, who’d admired an island regeneration project in Ireland he’d worked on. The vertical structure is inspired by historic Irish tower houses and sits on 350 acres of land just an hour from Dublin.

“Rosanna wanted something that stood apart from the wave of standardized cabin hospitality, so we focused on a design that responds to its landscape rather than simply sitting within it,” Alexander told Dezeen. Note the hand-hammered, roll-top, copper bathtub that awaits—it was custom made in India. Guests leave their cars a ways away and wheel their things in a wagon. “Analogue only ahead” reads the parking sign.

Above: Cucu, Rosanna specifies, is “for the burnt-out: couples, friends, and solo travelers who need to properly switch off .”She herself may be working harder than ever, but says she revels in creating her own movement.

To get Samsú off the ground Rosanna is currently the lone employee, “no business partners or investors,” and she does “as much of the unskilled work on the cabins—sanding, painting, sealing, oiling—as I possibly can to keep costs down.” To stay afloat, she runs the social and marketing strategy for an Irish sauna company soon launching in the States, as Rosanna may do herself one day.

Above: The interior is finished with plywood, glazed tiles, and Marmoleum flooring. There’s a wood-burning stove for the colder months, a seating nook, kitchen, and bathroom with a shower and compost toilet. The ladder leads to the bedroom.
Above: Rosanna sealed the cabin’s two porthole windows herself—”my dad spent the first three months of his retirement on site with me,” she says. There’s a simple indoor cooking setup, fridge, two burners, and whole coffee beans and a hand grinder included, and an outdoor grill. On arrival, guests receive an “analogue kit”: a phone lockbox that reads “you won’t regret it,” instant film camera, cassette player and tapes, board games, and a hand-drawn map of the land.
Above: The sinks have copper piping faucets.
Above: “We wanted Cucu to feel almost like a cocoon,” says Rosanna. The bed is king size.

Saoirse in Westmeath, Ireland

Above: Saoirse was Rosanna’s first digital detox cabin and is on the same property as Cucu—they’re a five-minute walk apart (the two can be booked together for a group of four).

“I designed Saoirse myself. It came out of staying in a lot of other cabins and paying attention to what was missing and what could be done better,” Rosanna says. “I worked with a builder to bring it to life. It’s timber-framed with a pine ply interior. The goal of Saoirse’s design was everything you need, nothing you don’t.” It’s off-grid and solar powered.

Above: The cabin is built for analogue living—for reading for hours with windows to nature,”
Above: The taps and shower were assembled from copper piping. The seat cushions are made of Donegal tweed.
Above: Enclosed by greenery, the bedroom has the feeling of a treehouse.
Above: A Crosley portable cassette player, homemade tapes, reading material—and no alarm clock or places to plug in.
Above: The cabin comes with a wood-fired, riverside sauna. For the full Samsú experience, Rosanna advises guests to explore their surroundings on foot and not venture out during their stay.

Duchas in North Mayo, Ireland

Above: Duchas is an”off- grid, solar-powered cabin for two on the banks of the Owenmore river on the west coast of Ireland, hidden on the edge of a walled garden in a mature native woodland on an old Irish estate,” reports Rosanna. It’s the first of Samsú’s Curated By spaces: “we partner with like-minded owners to bring you unique stays that align with our values and standards.” In this case, Rosanna also served as an advisor and guide throughout the building process.
Above: Duchas was designed to feel like an old Irish cottage. The handmade dishes and mugs are from Rosie’s Pottery in nearby Easkey. That’s the hand-crank coffee grinder next to the kettle.
Above: A bed with a view. The owner’s Auntie Anne made many of the cabin’s cushions.
Above: The cabin comes with a barrel sauna and a cold plunge, too, overlooking the river.

The third Samsú-designed cabin, another Studio Buckey design, is on the verge of opening. And Rosanna’s is expanding the Samsú concept to represent Ireland’s most unique places to stay in nature.

More well-designed dwellings n nature:

• “A Place to Gaze at Nature’s Cinema”:  A Hidden Lakeside Hut in Norway
• Homestedt: Two Catskills Cabins by a Nature-Minded Couple (Available to Rent) 
• Designers on Holiday: Modern Minimalist Tents, Cabins, Guest Houses, and More
• Getaway Cars: Converted Rail Carriages as Rental Cabins at Settle in Norfolk, England