Sheedy’s

The perfect base for exploring the Wild Atlantic Way and the Burren’s dramatic karst landscape, the Sheedy family’s farmhouse has been welcoming guests since the 1930s. Third-generation owners John and Martina Sheedy are professional hosts, she front-of-house, he as chef. ‘A lovely welcoming place to stay. Martina is so hospitable,’ say readers. Bedrooms have a traditional elegance, with antique pieces and a soft palette, and include home-made biscuits and an espresso machine. Modern bathrooms have an over-bath power shower. You can take tea by the fire in the sitting room, sample whiskeys in the bar, relax in the sunroom. John, who has worked in a Michelin-starred kitchen, uses locally fished, farmed and foraged produce, home-grown vegetables and herbs, in dishes such as roast rack of Burren lamb or pan-fried fillet of Atlantic hake 
with crab risotto. The ‘excellent breakfasts’ are a 
feast: deluxe porridge, crepes, the full Irish with 
‘my personal favourite, Clonakilty white pudding’. 
At close of day, take a short drive to the Cliffs of Moher to watch the sun go down on Galway Bay. ‘We would happily return.’ (Sara Hollowell)