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Sleep Here: Make friends with donkeys, lambs, ducks and geese on Meath's Kiltale Farm
If feeding hens and milking goats sounds like your kind of holiday activity, book a stay on Kiltale Farm.
I CAN IMAGINE no more glorious experience in my two toddlers’ eyes than landing on a farm for their holidays. If you have kids (or even adults!) who are similiarly enthusiastic about spending a few days and nights on a real working farm, you’re in luck.
At Kiltale Farm Holiday Homes, you’ll not only get to witness true farm life, you’ll also get to participate in it. While you might be envisioning a room adjacent to the horse stables, the accommodations at Kiltale Farm Holidays are much more tourist-ready than that.
The farm boasts six separate homes for rent, and additional spaces for different groups of varying sizes in Kiltale House itself. Sleeping up to eight guests each, the homes are close to the farm action; one property was once the milking parlour and has been turned into a cosy space for four guests.
Each summer, Kiltale Farm hosts a summer camp in July and August. What better excuse to book a whole family holiday and enjoy the peaceful, slow pace of life out on the farm while your child gets to milk the farm goat, feed the hens, ride the donkeys and ponies, and help bake farm treats? Many of these activities are available to any guests staying on the farm; if you want to try your hand at milking the farm goat, Nanny, that’s simply a perk of the accommodation.
Owner Mary Lydon explained that the farm has been welcoming guests since 1998, with guests coming from “all over the world.”
And those guests get to benefit from the farm’s on-site activities as well as the proximity to Dublin and the heritage town of Trim. Lydon recommended Jack Quinn’s local pub for what she reckons is “one of the best pints of Guinness in Ireland”. Those words alone demand a taste test.
She also pointed guests in the direction of James Griffin Pub, which has traditional Irish music three nights each week, perfect for unwinding after you’ve taken the excellent Trim Castle tour to the top of the castle ruin.
This year, Trim and other towns in the Boyne Valley are having the first ‘Puca Festival,’ with light installations and performers celebrating the seasons changing. If you don’t manage to book in for a summer farm retreat, the Halloween season will be equally thrilling.
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