Was the aircraft over the village, rather than close to it?
In UK the "500 foot rule" is not actually referenced to height, but rather to "separation distance" (although things may be differently worded in the Irish regs; I dont know).
So an aircraft could be flown very close to ground level provided the horizontal separation is 500 feet or more.
If he was actually over the village (congested area?) the 1,000 foot rule may apply in any case.