There’s a joy about driving down little lane ways in Ireland because one often comes across beautiful cottages that are clearly loved by their owners.
Recently, I came across two beauties near a little inlet here in Co. Waterford. I’ve come to think of them as The Blue Door
and Little Red
At the bottom of the lane was the tranquil sea:
Seeing these cottages made me think of a woman I met in a shop in Washington DC, who, on hearing my Irish accent, asked me if Ireland really has white-washed cottages, beside the sea which are bedecked in roses in Summertime.
I smiled that day as she described her vision of Ireland. Yes, it is somewhat stereotypical but it’s a stereotype that makes me love this little corner of the world.
So gorgeous Jean. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
As an aside Jean, I just posted over at Mark Bialczak’s http://markbialczak.com/2016/03/13/a-short-drive/comment-page-1/#comment-77332 If you have time to drop by for a read, i’d be honored.
Morning Paul, hope all’s good with you.
I’ll be over to Mark’s shortly.
Good morning Jean. We just moved our time ahead by an hour this morning so it is 5:11 here.
Oh we’ll be leaping on again in a couple of weeks. Feels like you’re that bit nearer for now, though, which is nice.
Beautiful. I hope to see Ireland some day.
Hi John, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. It’s a lovely country.
What quaint lovely cottages…I love them both ..my little shed with Moss growing on top of the roof reminds me of an Irish cottage because of the moss that grows…I have my flag that denotes that we’re of Irish descent hanging from a pole.
Joni, you’re little shed sounds very quaint.
Interestingly, Irish people tend not to fly the Tricolour at their residences even on St. Patrick’s Day. It will be interesting to see if they are flown at Easter this year which is the centenary of the Easter Rising.
I love that phrase “lane ways” and I don’t recall hearing it before. Quite lovely. We actually had a smidgeon of sun break through for a few minutes this morning, bathing my little hillside cottage in sunlight…but more rain is coming again today.
Suz, I’m surprised that ‘lane way’ isn’t commonly used over with you. Maybe you don’t have enough lane ways!!!
Your hillside cottage sounds lovely.
We have “country lanes”–or rather did when I was growing up. It meant a one vehicle road where only the ruts of the tires defined it, and went up to rural houses from the “main” dirt road. 🙂 First time I saw one in years was last year when I was doing a little “country driving” near where my grandparents lived. I ended up on a one-vehicle lane with only two tire ruts…that dead-ended on me and I had to back up for quite a ways. I guess that does make it a “lane ways” doesn’t it? 🙂
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. The dead end bit rings very true!
Looks very tempting.
Hi Robin, do I dare to think that you may be finding the sea tempting??
love the cottages.
Hi Joseph, I thought they would appeal to you alright!
🙂
There are worse things to be stereotype for! 😉 The cottages are lovely to look at. Who knows what the owner thinks though.
Lovely photos.
Thanks! I agree about the stereotypes. We won’t even go into them!!
Same here!
Good!
Lovely cottages Jean, I love ‘the blue door’.
Yes, they’re little gems, Andrea.
So it is true! Our beach cottages are nothing like your lovely ones. Thanks for sharing!
Hi CC, yes, it’s more than true.
Gorgeous…makes me want to jump on a plane..:)
Oh I love hearing that!
Love those little cottages. So sweet. Curious, what would a cottage like that cost where you live? A Range?
Hi Sandy, the prices vary considerably. Much depends on the location and the state of the cottage as you’ll see from this listing http://www.myhome.ie/residential/ireland/cottage-for-sale
Thanks for that. It was very interesting perusing the various offerings.
Glad you found it interesting.
Truth be known, I don’t actually blog, but there are a few to which I will respond..(s)..I dearly love Ireland and Scotland. Lived in a castle in Scotland for 3 years which is surely the dream of many people, no? Was married to a Kerryman for many years and although that is no longer the case, we remain wonderful friends with visiting rights..(s) I do have some hysterical and wonderful stories of my years there so perhaps one day I will start a blog..who knows?…grin
Oh I hope you do start a blog as I’d love to hear those stories.
The castle in Scotland sounds brilliant.
When I first visited Brosna (Co Kerry), a cottage like that was 12,ooo punt. I don’t know what that would be today in euros,
Hi Laura, thanks for writing.
I’m amazed at the low prices in Kerry. 12,000 punts would be about 17,000 euro. From my research, it doesn’t look like once would get many cottages for that now unless they were in terrible condition and in some very poor location.
Welll it was 1989 and the cottage was in the village of Brosna itself. My mother in law lived right down the hill. A MOST wonderful village!
Hi Laura, I adore Kerry as well.
I can remember some nice cottages in and around Tramore going for under 20k in the 1980s and early 90s but prices soared during the Celtic Tiger years, slumped again in the Recession and are well on the rise again now.
Laura is a life-long friend of mine, and having lived in Ireland, I recommended her to your blog.
Thanks a million for the intro, Sandy. I look forward to reading Laura’s blog.
Simplicity is beauty. Just as you show here. xo
So true, Pam.
The castle in which I resided was outside of Brechin (south of Aberdeen/north of Dundee). It was the ancestral home of the Earls of South Esk. I got to know the Earl a good bit and was the first American to ever host a room on the one day of the year that the castle was open to visitors/tourists. I did that for the 3 years while in residence and after moving to London I continued to return and show the room to visitors a further 2 years. It was extremely interesting and I loved learning about the Earls family and history and castle and sharing it with others. There was a middle part of the castle which caught on fire in both the 10th & 19th centuries which they roofed but never rebuilt. It was said that Mary, Queen of Scots had stayed there at one time and that at that time the clan were Jacobites!! Ach well, it is the Highlands, after all…(s)
WOW, that’s exciting stuff.
I’ve lots of Scottish blood so have spent a good bit of time over there – no castles though!
You can, actually! Kinnaird Castle is now, in part, a b&b….so if you are ever that direction again, you should check it out and maybe stay for a wee bitty..(s)
Oh, that’s one for the TO-DO List. It would be such a treat.
I highly recommend that you do so. It is very, very reasonably priced and the flats sleep like 4 – 6 people. I’m not sure if they still do pheasant shoots but I do believe you can go fishing at their salmon run. It really is a most gorgeous place.
Oh, it sounds wonderful. So, so tempting!