Perfect country retreat

BOUGHT on a honeymoon visit to Ireland almost 40 years ago, Dereen House still has all the trappings of a more romantic era.

The period home in the Lee Valley in Co Cork has been an Irish holiday home hideaway for an internationally-based couple with a background in finance, and who have had houses in New York, Florida and Eaton Square in London, among other pretty desirable settings.

Up against such exalted company Dereen House is no slouch either, in fact its selling agent reckons it is one of the most modestly perfect country house packages to come to the Munster market in quite a few years.