When you arrive at Castle Farm B&B and step out of your car, the first thing you’ll do is marvel at the views of Ballycotton Bay and the lighthouse from the house’s hillside location, meaning you get an uninterrupted vista straight down to the sea and to the village of Garryvoe. The second thing you’ll probably do is take deep breaths of the fresh sea air rising up to meet you with its unmistakable salty tang.
Margaret and Tom Leahy's B&B is a Georgian house from the 1780s and it takes its name from the castle ruins in the farmyard. It has a well lived-in farmhouse feel, but what it might be lacking in mod cons it more than makes up for in warm hospitality and its prime location.
Bedrooms are simple, clean and comfortable. The breakfast room is filled to bursting with their daughter's Irish dancing medals and boasts that same stunning view of the sea, where you can enjoy one of Margaret's freshly baked scones, still warm from the oven if you're lucky, and a cup of tea when you arrive.
Located just minutes from the Ballymaloe Cookery School, the blue flag beach at Garryvoe and many of the area's hotels that are popular wedding venues, this is a good base from which to explore East Cork's many attractions. The B&B can also now cater to dogs too with their new outdoor kennel and run.
If you want to experience a genuinely warm welcome in an authentic Irish farmhouse ona working farm, then you are in for a treat as Tom and Margaret’s guest at Castle Farm B&B.