cashel house hotel

The comfortable, 19th-century house has log and peat fires burning in every hearth, plump inviting armchairs and plenty of magazines and books. To the large drawing room, hall-sitting room, den, and library, Dermot and Kay have added a large bar with a glass porch, where guests assemble before dinner to chat and study the promising menu, and a restaurant, also with big glass windows looking out into a small woodland glade.

The bedrooms in the original house are all of different sizes, and include some charming tiny single rooms. Additional large bedrooms, built on the back of the house, overlook the pretty sloping garden and have good tiled bathrooms and big antique wardrobes. Each is pleasantly furnished with both a double and a single bed, and divided by a step and archway from a sitting area with a table, armchairs, and a further divan couch.

Although the house is only yards from the sea and has its own small beach, do not come expecting sea views, as there is a tall bank of sheltering trees between the sea and the hotel.

Dinner is exceptional.