Newforge House

In mature gardens and 50 acres of pasture on the edge of the village, Louise and John Mathers’s creeper-clad Georgian mansion is an elegant home from home. Such is the hospitality that John was awarded a British Empire Medal for it in 2018. ‘We did not meet Louise,’ writes a reader after a night’s stay, ‘but John and the staff could not have made us more welcome.’ The family has been here for six generations, and the antiques reflect the history, as do the original wood and tiled floors. Bedrooms have cut flowers, fresh milk, leaf tea, a cafetière and home-made treats; one has a four-poster and an original fireplace in the bathroom, while another has a half-tester. After drinks in the drawing room, guests sit down at 8 pm to a dinner cooked by John with local and home-grown produce. An either/or choice might bring rib-eye of beef dry-aged in a Himalayan salt chamber, or fish landed at Kileel. ‘Lovely place to stay and the food was outstanding,’ writes another reviewer. At breakfast there is an Ulster fry with award-winning sausages, and eggs from the hens that live the life of Reilly in the orchard. (Paul Hogarth, Sally Mehalko)