Lily’s Cottage
Towering Waves and Warm Turf Fires
Book this homeCounty Donegal
This is a respectful renovation of the cottage that was home to a spirited spinster known as Lily. The result is a wonderfully atmospheric modern home that is the perfect romantic escape.
From here you can explore Donegal’s renowned Surf Coast, stunning strands and windswept cliffs on the Wild Atlantic Way’s land of legends.
Chalky tones and contempo tweeds
In a cottage of two halves, the main entrance is now via a roomy well-lit lobby around the side of the house, that links the old to the new – classy and uncluttered.
AT A GLANCE
- Sleeps
Up to 4 guests
From €1,050 per week - Bedrooms
One double & One twin bedroom
Family shower room - Other Rooms
Open plan Sitting/Dining room
Kitchen
Entrance Lobby - Features
Rear patio with lawn
Private parking - Contempo
Flat screen TVs, WiFi internet
Good Cell phone reception - Availability
Weekly: Saturday to Saturday
Weekends: Friday to Monday
Midweek: Monday to Friday
The original thatched roadside home remains the main living area with much of the traditional artisan feel of thick white plastered walls, petite windows, and a seductive stove at one end, all perfectly crafted.
A formally furnished dining area completes the other end of this charming open space.
Through the original front porch, a time-honoured split stable door frames neighbouring dunes that announce the ocean beyond.
The balance of this historic part of the cottage, is now a cosy twin bedroom.
Facilities & Ameneties
Kitchen Appliances
• 5 ring Electric range with twin ovens
• Fridge
• Dishwasher
• Quad Toaster
• Nespresso coffee machine
• Microwave
Utility Appliances
• Washing machine
• Tumble dryer
• Iron
Bedrooms
• Sizes – one King-size and two single beds
• Hairdryer
Tech & Entertainment
• Wi-Fi Internet
• Flat-screen TV
Other
• Logs & Turf
• Central heating
• Dual head shower
• Some board games & Books
A contemporary extension, sensitively annexed a step or two up to the rear, contains the kitchen.
Grey and alabaster white in a chic shaker country style, with a wall of sliding glass onto the sunny cobbledy back patio.
At the centre, comfy upholstered stools around the marble breakfast bar reclassify this as a family room.
The main accommodation is via a short passageway off the kitchen in this cottage extension.
The pristine shower room, has a luxurious walk-in twin-head rainfall shower.
Mirror-door sliding wardrobes are used to great effect in the master bedroom, concealing ample built in storage without diminishing the sense of space.
Outside
Although the cottage faces onto a main road, there is private parking behind. It is also surrounded by farmland, and adjacent to a fine equestrian centre, which you can check out here.
The dunes backing Tullan Strand can be seen across the road, but they are on government property and you will have to travel the short distance back into Bundoran to reach the beach.
Provisional Booking Form
A refundable breakages deposit 0f €350 is payable with the rental amount will be refunded within seven days of departure, provided all is in order.
Holidays’ Dates for 2023 are priced as following:
Easter Weekend 7th- 10th April 2023 – €1,500
Halloween 27th- 1st October 2023 – €1,500
Christmas 23rd to the 28th Dec 2023 – €1,500
New Years’ 30th December 2023 to the 2nd January 2024 – €1,500
| June to September | €1,150 per week | €165 per night Minimum 7 nights |
|---|---|---|
| October to May | €1,050 per week | €165 per night Minimum 3 nights |
| June to September 2022 | €1,500 per week | €215 per night Min. 3 nights |
| October to May 2022 | €1,295 per week | €185 per night Min. 3 nights |
Select your Dates
AVAILABLE BOOKED
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Your travel arrangements are important, so all provisional bookings are double checked with the owners to ensure that your plans do not conflict with theirs, this can take up to 24 hours, but we haven’t forgotten about you.!
Provisional bookings will be followed up by email, at which point we can answer specific queries you may have, verify your booking and request a deposit to confirm.
Please note that all unconfirmed provisional bookings will expire after 3 days.
If your preferred dates are not available, please click here to review all houses that match your dates.
Restrictions
Parties – The owners regret Stag, Hen, Wedding or 21st parties are not admissible.
Pets or Smoking – No, sorry
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Reviews
I’m pleased to report…
that I could not have been more comfortable. Claire O’Reilly was kindness itself and looked after me most generously during the two weeks of quarantine, which I observed properly. And throughout was an ideal owner, ready to assist but never intrusive.I had to return to London for various appointments, but otherwise I would have been content to stay in Donegal indefinitely. I hope and intend to return.
Ian, September 2020
We had an excellent break in Lily’s cottage
From the moment we arrived, Claire was very welcoming with the stove lit for us on a very wet day. Her daughter baked delicious cupcakes and Claire also provided us with a complimentary bottle of wine, crisps and chocolate for the kids. Milk, butter, tea and other items were also there if we needed them.
The old cottage was beautiful with old antique furniture and fabulous interior design whilst the new extension had a modern kitchen with all mod cons.
The location of the cottage was excellent right beside an equestrian centre where my daughter and I went horse riding. Fabulous beaches and scenic attractions are all short drives from the house.
I would thoroughly recommend the cottage to others and have already recommended it to friends and family and indeed unique irish homes website.
I will definitely be looking up the website for our next holiday.
Patricia, July 2020
New to Unique Irish Homes – 2021
Click here for reviews on 
using Lilly’s in Search for Posts
Out & About
Bundoran is not just a surfer’s paradise, it’s also a mecca for anglers, walkers and golfers; and of course a gateway to the cliffs and magical mountain remoteness that Donegal has to offer…
Here are some of our favourites…
- Check out those waves on a board
- Gallop along a beach
- Chip onto a green at Donegal Golf Links
- Visit the Countess’s home at Lissadell
- Go sea angling with Darryl
- Quick Bay tour on the Waterbus
- A visit to the Craft Village
- A cliff top hike at Sliabh Liag
- An Atlantic boat trip below the cliffs
- Pop in to the Castle
- Fish the loughs with Andries
- Get a hole in one in Bundoran Golf Club
- Cycle through three counties
- Dine out in Donegal
- Hook yourself a salmon in the Drowes
- Take an easy loop walk at Benbulben
- Explore the Surf Coast
Festivals:
Rory Gallagher Festival end of May
Budoran Surf Music Festival in June
The Locality
The cottage lies half way between Ballyshannon and the coastal resort of Bundoran at the foot of County Donegal, on a narrow strip of the republic separating Northern Ireland from the Atlantic.
The county, and Bundoran in particular is world- renowned for its golden surfing beaches, such as the Peak, Tullan Strand, Murvagh beach, and nearby Rossnowlagh, which is one of Europe’s finest. The European Surfing Championships have been held here on three occasions. Donegal Bay’s funnel-like shape encourages huge Atlantic rollers, occasionally as high as 7 metres, putting the Wild into Wild Atlantic Way.
There has been an 18-hole golf course in Bundoran since 1894. Located on the historic Great Northern Railway Company site, old railway sleepers encompass the par 70 course which enjoys the most breathtaking and scenic views of the Atlantic Ocean.
The town has a number of popular cliff walks, and the one that borders the golf club passes unusual rock formations known locally as the Fairy Bridges.
During the Second World War this area experienced a lot of airborne activity as sanctioned flying boats from Lough Erne in the UK flew missions out over the short Republican corridor into the Atlantic. It was a Catalina from Lough Erne that spotted the notorious German battleship Bismarck out in the Atlantic – and this led had been in pursuit but had lost contact in heavy fog.
The word Éire remains crafted in white stones on headlands around Donegal, which acted as navigation aid for those flying above.
A magnet for salmon and trout anglers, there are several high quality fisheries in the region, with the first Irish salmon of the season frequently caught locally in the Drowes River on 1st January.
Ballyshannon is regarded by some as ‘Ireland’s oldest town’ and the museum has artefacts and memorabilia stretching back from the recent past to 10,000 BC. Though reared in Cork, guitarist and singer Rory Gallagher was born here and the town centre contains a statue erected in his memory.
The stunning sea cliffs at Slieve League are worth a visit. At 600 metres high, they are nearly three times higher than the more famous Cliffs of Moher. A narrow twisting precipitous road about an hour West of Donegal town will take you to the best viewing point at Bunglass.
photo Giuseppe Milo
Donegal town, about 25 minutes away by car, home to the recently restored Donegal Castle, built by Red Hugh O’Donnell in 1474. The town can get very busy in high season, with great pubs and live music.
Donegal was invaded by the Vikings in the 8th century and they used it as a port – hence its Gaelic name Dun na nGall, which means ’Fort of the Foreigners’.
Click here to find out more…
Just 15 minutes south in county Sligo the iconic and dramatic Benbulben mountain has an easy walk from the southern more gentle side. From the summit there are stunning views over the coastal plain. Below on Mullaghmore Head, is Classiebawn Castle, the home of Lord Louis Mountbatton until his dramatic assassination in 1979.
This is Yeats country. William Butler Yeats was a Sligo boy who, with his brother Jack, evoked the Sligo countryside with great beauty and genius in poetry and painting. As children the boys visited Lissadell House – now becoming a popular destination – for cricket matches and horse racing, and often stayed there during the years 1893-5.
How to get there – Car advised…
By Air: Flights to Dublin, Belfast or Donegal airports.
Donegal Airport – is about one and a half hours from the cottage.
Knock Airport – is about one and a half hours from the cottage.
Dublin Airport – is just under 3 hours from the cottage.
Belfast Airport – is approx 2 and half hours from house.
Shannon Airport – is just under 3 hours from the cottage.
By Sea: Ferry crossings
Dublin City Port/Holyhead has a fast crossing and is just over 3 hours from the cottage
The Belfast Liverpool ferry is approx 2 and half hours from house.
Map
Gallery
