I don’t know if I can do justice to this house, but I’ll give it a try!
This was without question the best place we stayed in Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is an absolutely gorgeous redone home right on the bay with beautiful views of the water.
Peter went above and beyond to add special, personalized touches upon our arrival. I don’t want to mention everything specifically, because he will customize his welcome for each guest. We had every amenity. Three bedrooms with extremely comfortable beds. Nice hot showers. We did a load of laundry and let everything dry on the clotheslines outside in the sunny yard which smelled of honeysuckles.
We watched bunnies hop around the yard in the morning while we ate breakfast.
We *walked* down to reen pier where they have evening sea kayaking tours to view the bioluminescence in the water. During the day there are also boats for hire and a whale and dolphin-watching tour leaves from the same spot. It was SO convenient to be staying right next to the pier! Especially since the night kayaking ends after midnight. Every other kayaker had to make a long drive back to their lodging in the dark and we just scurried up the driveway :) it was wonderful.
It’s a scenic 10-15 minute drive into Skibbereen which has anything you need. There’s also union hall, castletownshend, and leap within 10-20 minutes. You get a gorgeous, isolated sea cottage but really aren’t far at all from full-sized grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, pubs, hikes, beaches...
This house is absolute paradise, with the kindest host to boot. I really hope we get to return one day.
Do yourself a favor and stay here, for at least a few days. Stop in the supermarket at Skibbereen and bring your goodies out to the house. Do the boat tour and kayaking from reen pier. Take a look at leap and union hall, both beautiful. And just relax! I also recommend the famine museum in Skibbereen and Mary Ann’s restaurant right across the water in castletownshend. This is a great central location to all of that! Thanks for everything, Peter.