The Old Rectory

Patrick Curran
The Old Rectory
Fenagh Glebe
Ballinamore
Co. Leitrim

Tel: 071 9644089
Email: info@theoldrectoryireland.com

Website: www.theoldrectoryireland.com

This elegant rectory, or ex-rectory, is now home to Julie and Patrick Curran, and their three children, four horses and a herd of cattle.  This is a fun and grand family home, with not only plenty of toys for the children, but also for the adults. For this rectory comes with canoes, a sauna, and a hot tub overlooking Fenagh's lake and the magnificent ruins of the Abbey. However, there is a bit more life in the Abbey Bar in Fenagh now, than in the ancient abbey itself. Here you will find a traditional music night every weekend, a very popular spot with local people.

The Currans offer bed and breakfast accommodation, all ingredients locally-sourced. The six bedrooms are furnished with an understated elegant style, boasting good old practical, rectory-esque mahogany, with no aspirations to grandeur. It is a delightful place to visit as a family, as there is such a warm welcome to babies and grandparents alike. Julie and Patrick came home from years of working in San Francisco to live in the Rectory. They say that their years in San Francisco gave them a good grounding in eco-awareness, and so it was a natural progression for them to 'go green' when they started their business fourteen years ago. It was not easy to find low-energy light bulbs in Ireland at that time, but they endeavoured.  Now with strict recycling and composting, use of only environmentally-friendly cleaning products, all electricity supplied by Airtricity, and almost half of their acreage recently replanted with deciduous and spruce trees, they are true proponents of the ecotourism movement.

Patrick is currently building three self-catering apartments in the remaining disused stables, and is carefully considering his renewable energy options for them, so that he can take these buildings closer to carbon neutral status. Between all that and running a busy working farm, the Currans have certainly injected new life into this fine building, which is now a warm and welcoming home.

Written by: Catherine Mack