Temple House

Temple House is a classical Georgian mansion set in a private estate of over 1,000 acres, overlooking a 13th century lakeside castle of the Knights Templar. The Perceval family home since 1665, the present house was redesigned in 1864 and retains its old-world atmosphere, furnishings and some canopied beds. This is not a hotel, or just a bed & breakfast, but an historic home offering unique and elegant country house accommodation. There are also 2 self catering cottages on the estate.
You will find on-site boating, coarse fishing, birdwatching, terraced gardens and miles of woodland walks. Within easy reach are beautiful beaches, eagles flying, archaeological sites, riding schools, trout lakes and four championship golf courses. Traditional music and dancing sessions are often held nearby. Temple House is an ideal stopover between the west and north and a great base for exploring Sligo, Leitrim, Farmanagh, Mayo or South Donegal.

There are 6 fine double rooms, all with recently revamped private bathroom offering lots of high pressure hot water.  Some are big, some enormous, some with twin beds, some with double beds. They all overlook a castle, a lake, parkland, sheep, & woodland. Each room tells a story of its own.  All bathrooms were recently revamped too.

Facilities include:
• hair drier
• fancy soaps and shampoos
• Absolutely no tv!
• iron upon request
• thermostatically controlled heating - not bad for an old house
• WiFi hotspot in the Morning Room. Some bedrooms pick it up too
• a comfortable bed...

Sit back in the Morning Room in front of an open fire; watch the sun go down on the lake shore. Relax. Join the party at the magnificently huge mahogany dining table. Meals are thoughtfully prepared and can be described as country house style, with a modern Irish twist. The house is pleased to cater for vegetarians and other dietary requirements with advance notice.

A particular favorite at breakfast is the freshly stewed rhubarb or apple with homemade granola. Homemade breads, scones and the full Irish breakfast will be sure to set you up well for the rest of the day. Packed lunches are available for fishing parties by prior arrangement.

Dinner is an experience in itself. It is customary to gather in the morning room for a pre-dinner drink and an opportunity to meet the other guests. Discover what is on the menu that evening and select your wine. Guests dine together at a vast mahogany table and the atmosphere is that of a friendly house party. Unfortunately at the moment the house is only able to offer dinner infrequently. Please check directly with the house on which nights this is available.

The Italianate terraced gardens were laid out in 1863. There is a walled garden where some vegetables are grown for our kitchen - you can enjoy the results. It is beautifully sheltered with old varieties of apple trees, plums, pears and figs.
600 acres of old woods and the bogs in their natural state are preserved here at Temple House; they are an extension of the gardens for the house. There are acres of bluebells, rhododendrons, ferns, heathers or lichens and many different fungi, depending on the season.

The farm is stocked with 1,500 sheep, which are worked with border collies and an ATV. Crops are not grown– the climate is not suitable. The sheep are bred for their meat or breeding and the wool, which is clipped once a year, just about covers the cost of shearing. Lambing starts around the middle of March when one hopes there will be sufficient grass growth. The farm is in REPS (Rural Environment Protection) which means that the house endeavors to farm in an environmentally friendly manner.  There are miles of walks through the EU Special Area of Conservation surrounding the lake with rare wet woodlands, with many trees covered in stags horn and other lichens, honey suckle, thickets of wild raspberries or banks of red or white alpine strawberries in season. Further a field explore the ancient naturally sown Scots pine forests with bilberries, mountain ash, wood anemones & acres of blue bells and rhododendron etc. Wander through the colourful bogs looking for plants that eat flies or rub your hands through the seeds of bog myrtle for a wonderful natural scent.
Temple House Lake is about 200 acres in size, 1 mile long and pear shaped, it has a limestone substrate with many springs of fresh water. There are four boats on the lake which you may use to go fishing or to visit the crannogs and promontory fort.