Lovely jewelbox of a place with thoughtful and considerate touches like stocking in milk, brown bread, and yoghurt and most importantly COFFEE AND TEA! (We were just so jetlagged when we arrived and having those things in the kitchen felt like a true kindness!)
The sweet little (Irish cultural heritage listed) Mountmellick Embroidery Museum across the street was delightful, with friendly folks who were clearly happy to see visitors after such a quiet time during COVID. They gave a tour for just the two of us, and we picked up some books and embroidery supplies from them both to support the museum and to have really unique Irish-unique gifts for friends.
The Hare's Corner was right next to the Museum, and was delicious for both breakfast, lunch, and even Sunday roast with huge portions and great coffee options!
Lynn's place was cozy, charming, and immaculately clean. (The only two things we had trouble with were trying to figure out how to use the Nespresso machine and in finding the switch outside the bathroom to turn on the shower water pressurizer, and both of those challenges were of our own making! *laugh*)
The place was so centrally located in the middle of Ireland (Mountmellick) that we were able to easily do medium-to-long day drives and see things in every direction on the map! Portlaoise train station (literally 10 minutes away) had regular runs of Dublin commuter trains from 6am to 10pm that meant we didn't have to drive into that traffic mess to see sites in the city when we chose to visit.
But the magic happened out in the countryside, with no part of the Republic really out of our reach in the zippy rental Renault we were able to park right by the blooming flowers at the place's front door... True highlights were going inside Newgrange/Bru na Bóinne; walking around the Rock of Dunamase (a beautiful castle ruin on a high hill); touring The Shed Distillery; eating oysters, smoked mackerel, and sea scallops at the new bistro in the King's Head pub in lovely Galway; driving the spectacular and NARROW Sally Gap road on the way to Wicklow; smelling seaweed and salt as we drove along the Wild Atlantic Way; and stopping by a roadside stone circle with flowers blooming!
Having this warm and snug basecamp so centrally located in the Midlands made it possible for us to do our ambitious set of day-trips in all directions of the compass and always have a comfy place to come home to!
Best Airbnb rental we've ever done, and we recommend it highly for those who want to explore some of the "not Dublin" parts of Ireland!
Thank you Lynn!