This place had an other worldliness before I learnt Crocnaraw meant 'hill of the fairy fort'. Perhaps it was the bizarre lampshades, a throwback to when Lucy's mother started B&B in the 1960s. Perhaps it was the bamboo wardrobe and sky-blue bathroom. Maybe it was the beautiful garden that hides this Georgian fishing lodge from view. Or maybe it was the untroubled, almost ethereal quality about Lucy that completely dismantled my plans for the day. I sat talking with her and a well-spoken gentleman in the timeworn Aga country kitchen for what seemed like ages.
This is a house that can't be hurried. The rooms are eclectic period pieces fossilised somewhere between the '60s and the '80s and are a lot of fun. The drawing room is lovely and airy, ideal to kick back in on a summer's day, while the warm snug with its turf fire would be just the place for a good book and a whiskey in winter. The wooden-floored dining room feels part teashop, part conservatory with lovely views of the garden planted by her
mother from scratch. Lucy looks after it today, decorating the house with fresh flowers. She also looks after four special donkeys that live in a field next door. Here the magic of Ireland is alive and well.