From the Georgian steps of pale-pink Enniscoe House, take in the ‘enchanting view of Lough Conn shimmering through a break in the woods’.

‘Supremely comfortable in that unique Irish country house way’, this pink-washed Regency manor house on the shores of Ballinakill Bay continues to please, say Guide readers this year.

‘The wonderful views of Lough Corrib, combined with warm, easy-going hospitality, make this a place in which we could stay for ages.’

‘Excellent all round.’ It is more than 50 years since farmer’s wife Myrtle Allen launched the modest restaurant that would burgeon into hotel, shop, café, cookery school and event space.

Approached up a long drive, this ‘beautifully maintained’ 18th-century country house stands in extensive grounds – ‘a delight tn the eye’.

‘Positively flourishing’, the Leslie family’s sprawling estate has remained in the hands of its founding family for nearly three and a half centuries.

A ‘country way of life’ is preserved at this traditional hotel on the edge of a village on the west Cork coast.

A traditional Irish country house atmosphere fills this creeper-clad Georgian mansion overlooking the quay of a heritage town on the shores of Clew bay.

In the spring and summer, a riot of colour bursts from the gardens and flowerbeds surrounding this rambling riverside coaching inn, said to be the longest-running in Ireland.

Cast your sights across the suspension bridge from the heritage town, towards this much refurbished 17th-century fishing lodge.

A ‘lovely, peaceful spot’ embraced on all sides by spectacular mountains, the lake here offers unhurried respite – as fishing enthusiasts have known since the 1880s.

In a Georgian country house beside the River Nore, Brede Thomas runs her elegant B&B with ‘real style and friendliness’.

Fall into the relaxed pace of country life here: green fields on the horizon, Margaret and David Kent’s ivy-clad Georgian house stands amid large, well-kept gardens on the owners’ working dairy farm.

In a village on the Wild Atlantic Way, this ‘friendly, well-run’ Victorian hotel has been owned by the Huggard family since 1915.

Between Lough Eske and the foothills of the Blue Stack mountains, Deirdre McGlone and Marc Gysling’s traditional hotel is run with heart.

In large gardens, behind lovely old stone walls, this pretty Georgian house – with its family photographs, squashy sofas, antique French beds and claw-footed baths – is steps from medieval Carlingford’s old town gate.

A fine base for exploring the medieval town, Phil and Rhoda Nolan’s good-value B&B is a 20-minute stroll, or quick taxi ride, across the River Nore to the castle.