Ireland
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We are a married couple with four boys. The eldest is working in London, the second is working his way round the world with the horse racing industry, the third is married and living in New York with his husband and the fourth has just finished his third year in Trinity College, Dublin. with one more to go.
We found this house 25 years ago. Built in about 1760, it was a virtual ruin and we have restored the main block. The gardens, which include two walled gardens, are gradually being restored. Caroline is a keen and knowledgeable gardener (RHS qualified), while Patrick is an architectural historian.
Our sons come home for holidays and we have students staying in the house at times.
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Help in the house
Animal care
If they want to learn English we can help them and Patrick is TEFL qualified and can give English lessons.
We encourage them to explore the surrounding beautiful countryside and take them with us for walks and visits to local sites if they want to come. We teach them about the Irish legends of this area and Irish history and architecture.
At this time of year there is always work in the garden. When it is raining, there is plenty of work to do in the house. This building is an ongoing restoration programme. There is always painting and there is some housework. This is our fifth year of hosting workawayers and, as you can see, people like staying here.
We make a point of treating our workawayers as part of the family and every night we all sit down to dinner together. We really enjoy it if a workaway cooks for us sometimes - particularly food from their country.
English and French
Full board. We have a double room and a single room with a bathroom next to them.
This area, largely unknown to tourists, is situated in the North Midlands of Ireland and is rolling country with beautiful lakes. It is 100kms northwest of Dublin, close to Mullingar, with good transport links: train, bus and main M4 close by, (75 mins. driving). There is good fishing in the lakes. The village has a good pub with music on occasions and restaurants nearby (driving). The house is very much in the country, surrounded by farmland (though we are not farmers). As such it is not suitable for people with allergies to animals. The local village is 10mins. walk away. There is a daily return Bus Eireann bus to Dublin (about 2.5 hours each way). There are, however, other faster methods of getting to Dublin by bus and train.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Two
25 hours maximum
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