Croan Cottages are five recently built, traditional style self catering cottages that make a very relaxing holiday retreat. The holiday cottages are set around a central courtyard on the grounds of historic Croan House in County Kilkenny, Ireland.

Croan Cottages are fully furnished three bedroom (1 x double & 2 x twins) and two bedroom (1 x double & 1 x twin) spacious detached holiday cottages. Each cottage has an open fire, a private furnished patio and barbecue area.

Although the cottages have a traditional style and are on an old estate, they were built recently and have been furnished to an exceptionally high standard, having Failte Ireland's (Irish Tourist Board) highest rating of four stars.

If you expect to arrive too late in the evening to arrange shopping or a restaurant booking, if you are planning a day's activities and would like to have your evening meal waiting for you on your return, or if you'd just rather have some delicious food prepared for you, just ask us. We offer a selection of dishes for lunch or dinner delivered to your door.

Each dish is available ready to heat or ready to serve. The choice available includes:

• Irish Stew
• Beef Bourguignon
• Lamb in Rosemary and Thyme sauce
• Fish Pie
• Beef Lasagne
• Vegetarian Lasagne

Croan cottages boast all the mod cons one could expect from four star self catering accomodation, including fully fitted kitchen with dishwasher, washer/dryer, fridge/freezer, cooker, microwave, TV and central heating.

Each cottage has an open fire in the lounge for Autumn or Winter evenings and direct access to private patio and barbeque area for al fresco dining and lazy summer evenings.

The kitchen has all of the appliances and implements that you might require during your stay.
 
Each Cottage offers the following:

• Large kitchen and living area
• Bright and cheerful decor
• Washing Machine/Dryer
• Dishwasher
• Fridge Freezer
• Electric cooker
• Microwave
• Satelite Television
• Wirless Broadband
• Private car park
• Open Fire
• Water provided from private well
• Central heating
• We also have a selection of board games, video games, DVDs and videos that our guests can borrow.

Today, we farm the grounds of Croan House as a smallholding with rare breeds of animals and poultry to provide as much of our own food and drink as possible.  Croan's walled garden and paddocks are being restored to support our smallholding and we hope to be able to raise even more of our own food as work continues.  Large Black Pigs, Chickens, Ducks, Goats, sheep and Geese are kept in check by the ever-enthusiastic Bella the Dog and mean that we have a constant supply of bacon, eggs and poultry.

An orchard of Apple, Plum, Pear and Cherry trees has been planted and includes many rare old varieties native to Kilkenny. This we hope will provide enough fruit to let us produce our own cider and jam.

Use is also made of the wild produce from the Hedgerow and the surrounding woods. Pheasant and Rabbit are in abundance and even the humble Nettle is put to use in the making of delicious Nettle Beer.

Things to do:

We provide plenty of information for guests to our cottages on arrival.  The Kilkenny and Waterford areas have many interesting and fun events organised throughout the year. You can review a list of some of these on our Upcoming Events page.

Offering miles of local nature walks, Croan's beautiful rural setting is rich in places of interest to explore. Ireland's finest medieval city and its arts and crafts capital, Kilkenny, is minutes away, with a range of craft trails, historic gardens and cultural activities. The Dunbrody emigrant ship (New Ross) and Waterford Crystal are close by, as are the historic towns of Kells and Cashel. Dublin can be visited by train or car.

Seaside villages with sailing, sea fishing charters and watersports are within easy driving distance. Excellent walking, angling, canoeing, championship golf and horse racing are available locally as are seasonal sports (hunting and game shooting). Shops, pubs and restaurants 2 miles. Waterford Airport 29 miles. Rosslare Ferryport 40 miles.

Croan cottages are in the south of County Kilkenny and this lovely area is rich in places of interest to visit, including the Castlemorres Demesne (virtually next door), medieval Kilkenny City (15 miles) with its historic castle, and the beautiful monastic settlements of Jerpoint Abbey (3 miles) and Kells Priory (3 miles). There is a craft workshop trail to explore and Waterford Crystal is 20 miles away.

Croan House
The earliest parts of Croan House date from before 1743 when the house was extended and the facade was added by the Shirley family. Records show that it remained the residence of the Shirley family and their decendants from then until the 19th century when it passed to the Reade family.

The impressive entrance and driveway, with a broad bank of lawn to either side and avenue of mature Lime trees, lead to a gravel forecourt to the front of the house. A Duck pond, Boules court and games area are located between the House and the cottages for our guests' enjoyment.

Our smallholding describes how we are restoring the walled garden behind the house and are using the rest of our land to provide us with fruit, vegetables, eggs and meat.

Croan enjoys splendid surroundings with the Castle Morres demesne just next door. The estate is now a Forest Park of almost 2,000 acres. Both conifer and native broadleaf species can be found with some specimen trees dating back to the original estate gardens. A driven pheasant shoot takes place from November to January each year.

The woods are a wonderful place to walk or ride and we have prepared a guide to some of the trailsfor our guests.

Mount Juliet Hotel and Championship Golf Course is only 6 miles from the property. The picturesque villages of Inistioge, Thomastown, Graiguenamanagh, Gowran (and its horse racing) and Kells are all close by.

The beautiful Slieve Na Mon mountain is about a half hour's drive.
 
Croan House and Croan Cottages are accessed via a private avenue of mature Lime trees.

The self catering cottages enjoy a wonderful setting on the grounds of the old house with views over the old walled garden and the wooded estate next door.

Animals: 

We keep a number of animals at Croan Cottages, some to work, some as pets and many are of rare varieties.

At the moment we keep Large Black Pigs, Geese, Goats, Isle d'France sheep, Guinea Fowl, a variety of Hen species, Ducks and of course Bella our Black Lab.

The animals live in fenced paddocks just off the avenue although the Geese are encouraged to help themselves to the grass on the avenue - that means there's less for us to cut!
 
We feel that Croan cottages are an excellent base for a self-catering holiday in the Southeast of Ireland.  Croan Cottages are approx. 20 minutes to the South of Kilkenny City in Ireland's 'Sunny Southeast'. Our self catering cottages are easily accessed from the airports and sea ports of Dublin, Waterford, Cork and Limerick.

Golf, fishing, shooting, horse trekking and walks are all local to Croan Cottages and other water or adventure sports can be enjoyed on the Waterford coast (20 miles).

Local services are provided for guests in Croan Cottages in the villages of Knocktopher (3 miles) and Dunnamaggan (2 miles) in County Kilkenny.

We can help guests staying in our holiday homes arrange transport for trips to Kilkenny city, Mount Juliet Hotel and championship Golf Course and a selection of quality restaurants nearby.

Local pubs providing music, craic and serving quality food all day are located just a short distance away from the cottages.

The closest picnic areas are in Castle Morres Forest Park and alongside the river in Knocktopher.

If you would like to make a booking or if you have any enquires, please call our office on 06466-41170 (+353-646641170) or email info@dreamireland.com

Please note that availability is subject to change.