House that’s hot to trot

Tommy Barker is impressed by an Ardagh farmhouse on 13 acres.

HALF doors at the kitchen, and half doors at the stables — truly Ballykenery House is a home for families who love animals.

The renovated farmhouse in Ardagh, Co Limerick is on 13 acres, has stable doors to stop the horse bolting, and a half door at the kitchen’s boundary to stop the hens coming in. The house’s owners, Liam and Helen O’Connor, are uprooting with their five children, dog and 12 horses for a new life in France (see also p1). They’re leaving the down-on-their-cluck hens behind with the house as everyone else flees the coop.