Mornington House

Home to the O’Hara family since 1858, this Irish country manor house with its gardens and wooded grounds lies just outside the village, in a landscape of rolling hills and ancient forests. Anne and Warwick O’Hara first opened their doors to guests in 1986. ‘The house loves people,’ they say – and so, clearly, do they. Our inspector was much impressed by their hospitality and conversation. A stay begins with tea and cakes by the fire in an elegant dual-aspect drawing room with framed family photos on a grand piano, the wallpaper dating from 1896, when the building was substantially altered. The spacious bedrooms have period furniture, pretty fabrics, high ceilings, tall sash windows, fresh-cut flowers. A cooked breakfast, ordered the night before, is served at the dining-room table, with home-made bread and jams. They no longer offer dinner, but there is a well-liked gastropub in Multyfarnham, which is also home to a Franciscan abbey with life-size Stations of the Cross in the garden. Anglers can spend days fishing on loughs Derravaragh and Owel. There are golf courses nearby, and horse riding can be arranged.