Afternoon tea is taken by a turf fire in the drawing room of this ‘beautiful’ 19th-century granite rectory at the foot of the Blackstairs mountains. Interiors are filled with books, paintings, photographs, family mementos, fresh-cut flowers. An 18th-century grandfather clock chimes in the hall. The ‘friendly’ owner, Bobbie Smith, is the life and soul of the place, our readers tell us: ‘She and her daughter made us so welcome in their wonderful home.’ The ‘cosy, comfortable and spotless’ bedrooms have period furniture and immense charm, perhaps a four-poster, an original fireplace. All come with home-baked biscuits. Candlelit dinner is served at the mahogany table in the warmly red dining room, where silverware gleams in the firelight. The chef hostess is a member of Euro-Toques, which celebrates the best food grown, raised, fished in Ireland. She uses local, mainly organic ingredients to create a daily four-course dinner, and hearty breakfasts with home-made bread and jams. The gardens are surrounded by pastureland and Christmas tree crops. People come to walk, cycle and play golf, but most of all to relax and be spoilt. (AM)