Walkers Cottage

A finely proportioned building with generous room sizes, Walkers Cottage has recently been extended to the rear, and completely refurbished to a very high standard.

A house of two halves, the original 19th century home which first greets you has thick walls with the original six over six, three section sash windows bracketed by simple solid shutters.

The living room to one side of the lobby is perfect for family games, both board and more high-tech.

There is an abundance of logs from the estate to power the wood burning stove.

To the opposite side of the hall, a rustic dining table seats eight for large meals or entertaining on with painted Van Gogh chairs. There’s even a blackboard for murals or menus.

A deep arch to the rear opens seamlessly through to the bright family kitchen of the extended house.
The two rooms are united by walls of pale pumpkin, and bleached oak floor boards.

Moulded ceiling friezes and solid panel doors are of traditional country house style, augmented by a beautiful white limestone floor, soft buttermilk tones and flush lighting.

French doors open southwards from the kitchen into the panoramic gardens. The remainder of the ground floor consists of a large stylish bathroom and a spacious utility room and boot lobby. You encounter an idiosyncratic collection of artworks in key locations throughout the house.

A carpeted winder stair takes you up to the bedrooms – one on each corner of the house – and a second family bathroom complete with dual head shower. Children get an irresistible twin bedroom of their own. Candy pink with very special AA Milne wallpaper. A winged headboard tops the sumptuous double bed in the crimson bedroom, where floor boards creak with age from a previous century.

Walkers Cottage is perched above the parklands of the historic Woodhouse Estate ranging for 340 acres West from Stradbally village. The property is bisected by the meandering river Tay, which swirls right past the Lodge and escapes under the road bridge for a final dash to the Atlantic. 156 acres of woodland comprising of more than 150,000 trees – some dating back to the mid 18th century – await exploration either on foot or on cycle tracks.

Stradbally Cove with its sheltered sandy beach is across the road from the Gate Lodge.

The owners occupy the eponymous Georgian mansion at the centre of this private estate, but visitors are free to enjoy the walled garden, impeccably reproduced Victorian glasshouse, and paddocks of grazing red deer.

Please enquire about fishing rights or other activities on the estate.

Kitchen Appliances
• Twin Electric Ovens
• 4 ring electric induction hob
• Fridge
• Freezer
• Dishwasher
• Microwave
• Coffee machine
• Toaster

Utility room Appliances
• Washing machine
• Clothes Dryer
• Iron

Bedrooms
• 3 Super King Size zip-link beds
• 2 single beds
• Hair dryer

Tech & Entertainment
• Good Wi-Fi Internet
• Mobile phone coverage is patchy
• Flat screen smart TV
• with Sky Sports
• DVD player

Other stuff
• Some Books
• Some DVD movies
• Bicycles available (book in advance)

• Paddle around in Kayaks
• Munch a lunch in the Tannery
• Sink a hole in one at West Waterford
• Cycle a stretch of the Waterford Greenway
• Music and a pint at the Local
• Walk and dip at Clonea Strand
• Trek a pony on the Copper Coast

• Golf the Gold Coast links
• Catch something serious in the ocean
• Hill walk the Comeraghs
• Adrenaline motoring at Rally Connection
• Play a round at Dungarvan
• Sample some glass with class
• Visit Reginald’s Viking tower

Stradbally – Gold Medal Winner in the Tidy Towns 2019 awards – is a short walk out of the estate, and has a grocery shop and a couple of pubs, but for a full range of shops, Dungarvan a 15 minute drive along the coast is your best bet.In Dungarvan, King John’s Castle, an Anglo-Norman fortification ( 1185) would have originally been entered by drawbridge. It is undergoing reconstruction but there are guided tours, an audio-visual show and exhibitions during the summer season.

Above Stradbally, there is the substantial ruin of the largest medieval church in rural Ireland. It contains a fortified presbytery, probably built for protection during the disputes between the Powers and Fitzgeralds, whose boundary lands ran through the area.

This region known as the Copper Coast gets its name from the copper mines that were active in the 19th century. It is a sometimes stormy coast that has more than its fair share of ship wrecks.

Road Bowling is a traditional and popular local sport that requires hours of practice and technique to master. 28oz steel balls are rolled in turn for just over a mile along roads from Fenor to Annestown.

About half an hour away, the magnificent Lismore Castle with its long and distinguished history, has splendid gardens open to the public during the summer months, and compelling cultural events are held in the town throughout the year.

They are mad about cycling in Dungarvan, and it was here that the first cycling club in Ireland was founded in 1869. The local club went on to win the first ever bike race in the British Isles. They still have the cup to prove it.

Mahon Falls is a dramatic 80m waterfall nestled in the Comeragh Mountains surrounded by breathtaking scenery. There is a car park near Lemybrien 15 minutes away from the house with a not too strenuous thereafter, so don’t miss it.

Tramore is about 35 minutes away, and is a popular resort for tourists in the summer. It has a 5km beach, sand dunes looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean, and a well deserved reputation for surfing, kite surfing and windsurfing. Clonea Strand is much closer, is one of the finest blue flag beaches in the region, and also has a growing reputation as a good surfing beach.

Waterford, about 45 minutes away, is Ireland’s oldest city. Originally a Viking settlement, it is now a major port with much to see and do. Glass, or crystal, was manufactured in the city from 1783 until early 2009, when the factory there was eventually shut down. There is a great annual Viking marathon in June.