Barley Cove Thatched Cottage

This is the part of the trip that if you remember by one of my first blogs is the whole reason this trip became more than a pipe-dream.  Thats right, after leaving Jameson we headed towards Scariff and the make believe like thatched roof cottage that we had found online.

The drive there seemed to take forever.  In part I'm sure its because of the building anticipation of getting there, the fact that I was worried we would arrive too late for what would be thought of as considerate for the owner & the fact that we got stuck behind a convoy of tractors.  Thats right, once we go to close as to be able to palpably sense and feel the cottage's presence we got stuck behind a convoy of about 5 tractors that were on some kind of charity drive.  Their top speed was between 15-20 MPH!  As was typical it was on a winding 1 lane each way road that you couldn't see around the next curve to find out if it was safe to pass.  Luckily the tractor driver's took pity on us and waived us past when the lead driver saw it was clear for us to go.  After that it was smooth sailing and we rolled up to the cottage at about 9-10 PM.

I had emailed Fidelma about 2 weeks before our trip to ask her about fishing for Joe & also to find out her procedures/requests for checking into the cottage.  Her response was that we weren't to worry ourselves about it, that all would be worked out when we arrived. Well we arrived but quickly realized where there was nobody there & no key to be found under the welcome mat that we had no cell phone.  I drove back into town & Tracy ran into the ice cream store to call her.  No answer.  We waited & I tried again, this time Fidelma answered & low and behold she was at the cottage with the rest of our group!

I can't tell you how amazing this cottage is.  It was sunset on the valley behind the cottage when we arrived, there are 2 donkey's that greet you as you pull up & the cottage itself is straight out of the Quiet Man.  Mom would have loved it.  As I mentioned previously, there were signs as to why this would be the perfect place to stay & let me just tell you now.  Our expectations were exceeded!!

Here are the signs again...I still think Mom sent them my way as I fell in love with the place:
 From outside it is quaint & stereotypical of what one would think when they imagine what Ireland might look like
Mom's favorite flower was the yellow rose, outside the main door of the cottage, on either side of the door are giant yellow rose bushes.
Upstairs in the loft area is a spinning wheel, Mom was a spinner! &
On one of the plant shelves in the kitchen was an old black Singer sewing machine very similar to the one mom used to have!!

My favorite part of the house, silly as it sounds was the split farm door.  It was bright red set against the stark white of the cottage.  Best of all, we could open the main door & keep the bottom split closed & lean out and just bask in the amazing view!!  I would spend a bit of time every morning there with my cup of coffee and soak it all up.  I cannot do justice to how beautiful a sight it was so if/when I can figure this thing out a bit more I'll try to put up a photo so you can see for yourself.

The cottage also came with a real peat burning fire.  Our first night there the fireplace was already lit by Fidelma so we had only to keep it going.  On the 2nd night the boys found out how difficult it is to actually get the fire going to begin with!  I think it took them about a solid hour before the fire was going without having to be constantly tended to.  Seriously it would be going great & then within minutes it would die down without the peat actually catching.  By the end of the trip we had purchased a new box of fire starters because we had used so many in our attempts to start & keep the fire going the first few nights :)  The effort was well worth it as the fireplace just added to the homey feeling at night time.

I can go on and on about the cottage as it was one of my favorite things about the trip, but I don't want to bore you too much.  Perhaps I'll find a way to just post some pictures of the place to let you gain the understanding on your own.  If you ever get the chance to visit Ireland, I cannot recommend the Barley Cove Thatched Cottage enough.  If I could purchase it I would happily move there!!