Carmel’s house was the cherry on the top of our 5 week tour of Ireland and the UK. We were a group of 12 adults, both female and male. We had chosen Carmel’s house for our last night prior to the 24 hour flight home to Australia specifically because it was in the countryside, a long way from the hustle and bustle of the cities. When we arrived and received the warmest welcome from both Carmel and Fintan, we knew we had made the right choice.
The house was approached down a long winding driveway with ponies in the paddocks and a grand white carriage in the front garden. The house was large and sprawling with large bedrooms and plenty of comfortable beds with clean linen for everyone. Each bedroom had its own ensuite. There were towels and robes in each room, a bottle of water and Lindt chocolates in each room. The fire was on in the living room and there was plenty of comfortable seating for our large group. The refrigerator and kitchen cupboards were stocked with everything necessary for breakfast the next morning including cereals, breads, condiments, tea, coffee, sugar, milk, juices, fruit, eggs, bacon, sausages, black & white pudding, cold meats and cheeses for sandwiches, spreads etc etc etc. it was enough to feed us for a week but we only had one night!
If I were ever to take a large group to the Republic of Ireland again, I would most definitely organise to stay here in Carmel’s house for the entirety of our stay and use it as a central base to explore the countryside. It’s an hour from Dublin, 2 hours from Belfast, the Cliffs of Moher and Galway and 2.5 hours to Donegal. In summer, there are a mountain of daylight hours for safe country driving.
We loved everything about this house. 😀