Weekend break: Discovering a hidden gem in Roundwood House
AN eco walk in the gently rolling hills of Slieve Bloom followed by an epic buffet of Iranian lamb roulade, sticky sesame beef and brandy ice cream — do weekends away get any better than Roundwood House?
Well, sometimes they do. The weekend we visited the historic Georgian home of Paddy and Hannah Flynn at Mountrath, Co Laois, the evening featured a performance of the Donal O’Kelly play Joyced!, delivered with immense power and charm by his daughter Katie.
This magical tale of the real life characters behind James Joyce’s Ulysses would turn any weekend from good to great. If this is the regular level of the in-house entertainment, it’s little wonder Roundwood’s special events enjoys a lot of repeat business.
Such was the opulence on offer at Roundwood, it’s hard to know where to start. Perhaps the price might be the biggest of all the treats. One package on its website features a matinee theatre performance with a ‘Victorian lunch’ for a mere €50 entry fee.
I can’t speak for the lunch deal, but my mouth still waters at the thought of the magnificent buffet-style dinner which accompanied Joyced! for our visit.
The assembled guests feasted on Turkish aubergine-wrapped chicken, sticky sesame beef, Iranian lamb roulade, parsnip and cashew nut terrine, as well as garlic roasted red peppers.
Amid such delicacies, I’d still have to single out the baby roast potatoes, melt-per-bite mouthfuls whose gentle Irish humility would be all too easy to overlook on such exotic platters, blushing as they were aside the mixed baby salad leaves, pear, garden herbs, blue cheese, and balsamic port reduction.
Not surprisingly, the atmosphere around the grand dining table was appropriately upbeat, people chatted away while serving one another from the succession of large serving plates arriving onto the table.
Not a curmudgeon nor a crank was to be found at table; those of us normally partial to a bit of professional criticism were simply overwhelmed by the quality of the food, the hospitality and the incredible surroundings.
Hats off to host and master chef Paddy Flynn, a Canadian whose former life as a musician and songwriter occasionally still echoes through the beautiful home which he and wife Hannah have restored in such respectful detail. Among other VIPs, the guest book features the comments of Arcade Fire, fellow Canadians and recent Glastonbury headliners.
You won’t find a TV in any of the wonderfully old world rooms in the main house. Instead you’ll find books sitting invitingly on vintage shelves and bedside lockers. A bit more than mere decoration, the ambience here definitely lends itself to reading.
You’ll also find an entire library in The Forge, a converted 17th century stone building converted into a split level guest apartment. On the evening of our visit, the stunning sitting room was used as the theatre in which in Joyced! thrilled 40 or so hugely appreciative guests.
Of course, the old world rules are broken for families. Say it in hushed tones — visitors staying in The Forge will find a TV and DVD player, plus mod-cons including microwave, dishwasher and washer/drier.
Self-catering rates in this idyllic annex vary from €250 for two or three nights up to €320 for a week. It sleeps two adults, with a couch bed for the children. Toys will be provided upon request. Pets are welcome. The Forge does not have broadband, but Wifi is available in the main house.
On this weekend, myself and my wife left our two teenagers behind. Not that we’d deny them such a luxury break, but we couldn’t really see them enjoying the Glenbarrow Eco Walk through the majestic Slieve Bloom Mountains, right on Roundwood’s doorstep.
For any low-energy readers out there, it’s worth noting that this pleasant walk under the canopy of Slieve Bloom’s forest is made relatively easy by the pressure-treated wooden beams and stairs which Coillte has built into any challenging parts of the trail. The beams have thousands of metal staples hammered into them to give the walker a solid grip underfoot.
The guide for this hill walk was Tom Joyce, rightly referred to as “part sherpa, part mountain goat” by those who know him. Tom is a respected artist, whose seascapes and landscapes hang in private collections in Ireland, England, Italy, Greece, Australia and the United States. He also wrote the definitive guide to the Slieve Bloom woodlands (now out of print).
As you walk around the Glenbarrow woodlands, one of the Coillte-protected trails along the Slieve Bloom Way, Tom stops to offer you an insight into one deep, sandstone in the heart of this sleepy forest.
This stark clearing was scythed into the tree-lined uplands by glaciers in prehistoric times. In fact, these sandstones originated as sandbars in the channel of a great river at the end of the Devonian period of earth history about 354 million years ago.
Visitors to the forests will also see fine-grained mudrocks standing out incongruously among the predominant sandstones. These formed on the floodplain beside the ancient river during periods when it was in flood and mud and silt were carried across the floodplain by the swollen waters.
Tom Joyce will also regale you with tales of the forest’s flora, whose exotic names include scented orchid, butterwort, grass of Parnassus, carline thistle, blue fleabane, burnet rose, shrubby hawkweed, greater hawkbit and knotted pearlwort.
Of equal interest to our group of walkers was the young staff member back at Roundwood House who was a former student of Tom Joyce’s — the acclaimed artist, author, eco-warrior, mountain guide and Renaissance Man extraordinaire. A most appropriate companion to Roundwood House, another gem of a hidden Ireland for which you’ll feel richer after the discovery.
Sample prices: €120 per person sharing; two-night getaway special, two nights B&B plus one dinner, €175 per person (based on two people sharing); family activity special, one night B&B plus one dinner, €120 per adult sharing; children under 12 sharing with parents €25, under fives free. Available all week, including weekends.
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