A half-mile avenue meanders through parkland to Roderick and Helena Perceval’s classical mansion overlooking the ivy-clad ruins of a Knights Templar castle on a lake.

‘Country house luxury’ abounds in this Georgian mansion, run by owners Simon Haden and Frederieke McMurray as a luxury hotel.

It’s ‘something of a mystery tour’ getting to this ‘fine-looking’ pale-pink Georgian house, ‘but utterly worth it’, says a Guide inspector.

Approached through 40 acres of manicured grounds embracing woodland, lake and lawns, the Bowe family’s ‘ambitious, guest-centred hotel’ occupies an ‘imposing Regency house with sympathetic modern addition’.

‘Utter comfort – a fire lit after breakfast in the drawing room, drinks from the bar when needed.’ An endorsement from a regular visitor, following another stay at this family-run hotel.

With a seven-a-side soccer pitch, glamping tents, Bertha’s Revenge Gin distilled in a converted cattle shed, and breakfast served until noon, this is no run-of-the-mill hotel.

It’s a glorious drive through rolling countryside to Anne and Warwick O’Hara’s manor house, where guests are welcomed with tea and ‘a delicious variety’ of home-made cakes.

In a small harbour town between the foothills of the Twelve Bens and the Owenglin river where it meets the Atlantic, Julia and Paddy Foyle run their B&B with ‘generosity of spirit’.

A ‘splendidly labyrinthine’ Victorian pile overlooking a lake, this castle in name only is Ireland’s brilliant riposte to the corporate blandness of many modern hotels.

The Wild Atlantic Way, the Cliffs of Moher and the eerie karst moonscape of the Burren are on the doorstep of this 18th-century mansion. Hosts Martina and John Sheedy are happy to share their local knowledge and provide maps.

In ‘beautifully maintained’ grounds, from orchards to a Japanese garden, Beryl and James Kearney’s early 17th-century mansion is ‘memorable for all the right reasons’, reports a Guide stalwart in 2019.

Bobbie Smith is the welcoming heart and soul of this B&B in a former 19th-century rectory, which she runs with her daughter. It’s a ‘hidden gem’, say readers, with ‘tasteful and fine decor and furniture’, ‘exemplary comfort and service’.

A stone farmhouse abutting a 15th-century castle, at the heart of a working dairy farm, is run as a guest house by Jack and Kathleen Mernagh.

Small wonder visitors linger at this inviting, creeper-covered Georgian mansion on the Clew Bay shoreline.

A short stroll from the world’s oldest distillery, this amiable 17th-century coaching inn on the Causeway Coastal Route is an eclectic jumble of ancient and modern.

In a magical place on the shores of Lake Caragh, a serene hotel in a Victorian-style manor. Its name translates as ‘Hill of the Fairies’, a tree-covered knoll nearby.

In the Blackwater valley, visitors to this fine, ivy-clad Georgian country house are invited to stay ‘as if with friends’ by the welcoming Sharp Bolster family.

Restored with flair, Regina Gibson and Thomas Coyle’s ivy-hung former rectory is a warm and welcoming outpost on the Wild Atlantic Way.

A tree’s length from medieval Carlingford, this pretty Georgian house sits in mature walled gardens.

Phil and Rhoda Nolan’s friendly B&B is well located for exploring the medieval town with its castle and cathedral, just across the River Nore.

Off the beaten track, four generations of Verity Butterfield’s family have lived in this ‘impressive’ Georgian house, with ‘divine’ views down rolling meadow to a spring-fed lough.

Much loved by a loyal following, this ‘very special’, creeper-clad pink Georgian country house is a beacon of hospitality in wild Connemara.

A library in the stables, dedicated to the history of the evolution of civilisation, is a unique selling point, but there is much more to enjoy at Paddy and Hannah Flynn’s Georgian mansion in parkland beneath the Slieve Bloom mountains.

Opened as a sporting lodge by owner Henry Hodgson’s great grandfather in 1890, this Victorian country house is surely Ireland’s longest-standing hotel under family ownership.