Ballyvolane House

Amid gardens and parkland, with bluebell woods and trout lakes, this Georgian country house, remodelled in the 19th century, is not a hotel but a family home, say third-generation owners Justin and Jenny Green. It is filled with possessions accumulated over nearly 70 years – antiques, portraits, landscapes, stuffed pheasants, lamps, figurines, vintage sofas. Log fires blaze; spaniels fawn. Bedrooms are full of character. Some have views to the Galtee mountains, or a huge bathroom with a trophy stag’s head over a freestanding bath. All have a coffee machine, home-made cordials, cookies and chocolate. A convivial dinner might include home-reared meat, salmon from their beats on the River Blackwater, fruit and vegetables from the walled garden, and foraged ingredients. Or perhaps nettle soup; gravadlax; roast saddleback pork, baked apple, Longueville House cider sauce; lemon posset; artisan cheeses. Children love to pet the donkeys, feed the hens and collect eggs for breakfast, or hop aboard for a trailer ride around the estate. A laburnum walk leads to bell tents and a ‘pig ark’ if you want to ‘glamp’ under the stars.