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In 2004, we bought an old family cottage in a small, rural village called The Valley, on Achill Island. Mary's mother grew up in The Valley, and this cottage, her "favorite cottage in The Valley," was owned and built by her cousin. Achill Island is the largest island off the coast of Ireland, connected to the mainland by a short bridge. It is in the West of Ireland (in County Mayo) which is known for its rugged beauty and undeveloped coastlines. Achill Island is still very undeveloped, and because of its remoteness and serene beauty, it has been a popular place for writers, poets, and painters to spend their creative sabbaticals. More recently, it has also started to become a popular place for Dubliners and other Europeans to "holiday." Although a number of Holiday Cottages have been built in the last few years, the island is still very rural. One still must drive slowly around the narrow, windy roads, and frequently wait for cows or sheep meandering in your path.
We started a major renovation project on the cottage in late 2005, turning it into a four-bedroom, five-bathroom "country estate" which we named Panacea (meaning "a cure for everything"). The project was finally finished in early 2007. The original cottage portion was turned into a Great Room with an island kitchen, dining area, and hearth room with large open fireplace. The four bedrooms were added behind the Great Room -- three on the ground level, and a large master suite on the second level. The master suite has a sitting area, walk-in closet, and large bathroom with two sinks and a Jacuzzi tub. Panacea sits on an acre of land with open fields on both sides (which frequently have grazing cows), acres of common ground and lake at the back of the house with a backdrop of Mount Slievemore, and to the front lies open bog fields down to the coast of Blacksod Bay, providing magnificent, unobstructed sea views. This is truly a secluded, tranquil, and beautiful setting. When we or family members are not there on holiday, we are making Panacea available for vacation rental.
Achill Island is about 12 miles by 14 miles and has about 3000 people living year-round in its 22 small villages. You can count on at least one pub in every village. (Our "local," as they say in Ireland, is just on the other side of the lake behind Panacea, in an historic estate of English nobility now called The Valley House.) In the holiday season, the population grows to about 12,000. The tourism supports several good restaurants, but with grocery stores nearby and a complete kitchen in Panacea, guests can choose to stay huddled in the "cottage" in front of a cozy turf fire -- now that's the real Irish way. |
