You can pluck grapes from the vine as you breakfast in the conservatory of a guest-house on the edge of Carlow. Michael Parsons is impressed
Readers in Dublin who believe the city has a monopoly on traffic gridlock should try Carlow on a wet Friday afternoon. Come to think of it, many do.
The town, which lies directly in the path of the Dublin-Waterford road, virtually seizes up as voortrekking culchies head "home" for the weekend and second-homers discover that the "little cottage in Thomastown", or "apartment on the Copper Coast" is not quite the "quick spin away" promised by silver-tongued estate agents.
But there is good news at hand from the Government's secular St Christopher, Martin Cullen. The Minister for Transport recently launched a €200 million project to construct a 19kms dual-carriageway to bypass Carlow.
The locals were so pleased they have now put the shovel used for the sod-turning - the handle of which was signed by the Minister - on display at the local museum.
When the new road opens - early in 2008 - up to 9,000 vehicles a day will be removed from the town and residential areas, like the Kilkenny Road, will regain much of their tranquillity and elegance.
One of the best houses on this road is the 446sq m (4,800sq ft) Barrowville House on a half-acre site which will be sold at auction on June 22nd in the Mount Wolseley Hilton Hotel near Tullow.
The AMV is €1.5 million and the joint agents are Sherry FitzGerald McDermott, Carlow, and Douglas Newman Good, Dublin. It is as fine a townhouse as to be found anywhere in provincial Ireland.
The name evokes the lovely Barrow but, despite its tantalising proximity, there are, sadly, no river views from the house.
Compensation comes with a particularly fine, walled, semi-formal garden which is spacious enough for even the most genial host's alfresco parties or just as an oasis of calm at the edge of town.
The Georgian house has been fully renovated, re-roofed and is in excellent condition. Unusually, it has 10 bedrooms - all of them en suite - which, along with off-street car-parking for 10 cars, explains its current use as a guest-house.
An elegant drawingroom leads to a delightful conservatory with a 100-year-old vine trained on the ceiling so you can pluck fresh grapes from overhead as you enjoy breakfast.
And there are not too many houses in "rural" Ireland where you can enjoy such sybaritic indulgence. Downstairs, a Mrs Bridges kitchen is on a grand scale and is pleasantly bright. Barrowville has a discerning clientèle and is highly rated as one of the south-east's poshest B&Bs.
It possesses infinitely more charm, comfort and character than most of the vile rash of tax-incentive-driven "tree-star" hotels sprouting like poisonous mushrooms in every county town with their ghastly Sunday lunch "Kiddies' Menus" and "Treatment Rooms" (for beautification, apparently, and not, regrettably, electro-shock therapy).
Sadly, the owners are now retiring after 15 successful years. The new owners may carry on this business, of course, or Barrowville could also, subject to planning consent, be easily converted into very smart medical consulting rooms, chambers for a top-brass law firm, or offices for a classy accountancy practice.
But it is most likely to be bought as an elegant home for a large family and is just minutes' walk from the town centre, a range of good schools and the third-level institute of technology.
