O'Leary's Farmhouse - the best B&B in Ireland

Trip Start Sep 04, 2009
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Trip End Sep 19, 2009


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Where I stayed
OLearys Farmhouse
(Rosslare hotels)

Flag of Ireland  , County Wexford,
Monday, September 14, 2009

Our next destination was the Hook Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in Ireland. I thought it was in Wexford City so we headed there.  We found Wexford and drove all around the harbor area but could not find the lighthouse. I double checked the brochure and realized, much to my dismay, the lighthouse was not in Wexford City, it was Wexford County at least one hour south of our current position. It was getting close to our normal nap time so we decided to go on to O'Leary's Farmhouse in Rosslare. This B&B was basically chosen with our eyes closed. We had no idea what we'd find when we arrived. On the drive to Rosslare we noticed signs for a car ferry that left from Rosslare Harbor and went to France and Wales. The signs for the harbor and for our B&B were always on the same posts. We now started hoping our B&B would be near the water. The GPS lead us through the village and back out into the country. I started to get nervous. I thought we were getting lost. We turned a few times and then headed down a rather narrow track that seemed to get more narrow as we got closer to the water
striped cows - weird aren't they?
striped cows - weird aren't they?
. The track was fairly long and we passed only three or four houses along the way. Finally on the left we saw the gates into the O'Leary Farmhouse. Wow, if we did not turn into the drive we would have driven straight onto the beach. We were that close to the water. Sweet.
Driving down the lane (long driveway) we passed strange striped cows in a pasture. Then we passed a smattering of sheep. As we continued we saw two people working with the sheep and joked that our B&B host was out there in the cold wind. After about 1km we reached the house. It was a very large white farm house that faced the ocean and it sat just 200 yards from the beach. Jim and I were very excited about this place. It was love at first site. We knocked and were let in by the host's husband, Gabriel. He said, Phil, was out with the sheep and would return shortly. Ha. It was our host we passed. How crazy is that?
Well, Phil came bustling in, showed us our room and offered us a pot of tea. She was fantastic and our room was the best by far. It was spacious with a large bathroom and a terrific view of the Gaelic Sea. The car ferries launched very near the house and we could see them crossing the sea. We really lucked out. Phil recommended a couple places to eat and left us alone for the night. We napped and then went into the village to eat. Music was not to be found so we returned to our beautiful room, poured wine and scotch and settled down to watch the ferry crossing
sheep
sheep
.
The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast and a long walk on the soft sandy beach. We walked until we found the fairy rock, (Phil told us a story about the rock so we had to walk there). Jim collected rocks all along the way. I collected pebbles. The wind felt so cold when we turned back to the house. My ears were throbbing from the wind whipping into them, so we didn't linger. We cleaned the sand from our feet and sauntered back down the lane to the house.
This was our most relaxing night and day of our trip. It makes me feel calm and serene when I think about it. Some day we'll go back and stay a few more days.  
After our walk, we packed up and headed to the Dublin airport to return the car. The hustle & bustle began on the M50.
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