Ballyvolane House

César award in 2009

'A proper country house, run in a relaxed and modern style', this Italianate Georgian mansion is the family home of Justin and Jenny Green. 'Highly professional', they met while working at international hotels before returning to Ireland. They welcome visitors as house guests: 'It's like being invited into someone else's rather glamorous lifestyle,' said a reporter. The bedrooms have antique furniture; there are big beds, vast sash windows; freestanding roll-top baths, and a huge mounted stag's head in one of the bathrooms. Teena Mahon cooks country dishes for the four-course dinner taken communally around a large mahogany table: dishes like pear, Parmesan cheese and rocket salad; roast butterflied leg of lamb, salsa verde, chive and spring onion mash. Breakfast, which can be taken any time before noon, is a relaxed affair: freshly squeezed orange juice, loaves of bread and a toaster, a full Irish fry-up. A Bohemian-style tent has been erected in the walled garden to host events (plays, concerts, weddings). Good fishing with six miles on the River Blackwater. (J and MB, and others)

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