By, Sharron Livingston
1 min read
There are 600 acres of land surrounding this remote but very stately home in St Laois.
Parked by its lake are bikes and golf buggies but the best way to look around is by pony and trap. The driver, Lionel, points out the estate's parish church, various follies, such as the viewing tower built to create jobs during the potato famine, the grottos and hidden gardens.
It's pretty sensational but so is the house itself. When I arrived in front of its sandstone facade, uniformed staff where there to meet and greet. It was the start of a formal and supremely tranquil stay.
Formerly home of Sir Charles Coote, ninth baronet of Mountrath, it was sold after World War One to the Patrician Brothers who turned it into a Roman Catholic school. The house fell into disrepair and was bought by an American millionaire, Fred Krehbiel, who restored it saying "cost what it may".
