Lapping up lakelands inFermanagh

Looking for a holiday that keeps the kids happy, doesn't require long travel times or airport hassle and can even teach you a thing or two about our natural surrounds? Try Northern Ireland, writes NEIL BRISCOE

AS SOON AS we turned into the gate and saw the bikes and go-karts spilling out of the shed, we knew we were in the right place.

It’s all too easy to forget that, whatever the political machinations and your personal feelings, there is, in Northern Ireland, another country right on our doorstep. One with different money, different road signs and different radio stations, and you only have to drive for a couple of hours to get there. Recreate the frisson of foreign travel but actually have no more travelling to do than you would on a long commute is a definite bonus when bringing the tiddlers.

So it was that we arrived for a stay at Blessingbourne House, about 20 minutes drive from Enniskillen, and into the welcoming arms of Colleen Lowry. She runs Blessingbourne with great warmth, and has taken the standard country house experience (lavish gardens, stately pile, nice views) and added to it a healthy helping of child-friendliness.

Blessingbourne is still very much a working farm – something you will notice just by stepping outside the door and breathing in – and the diversity of the landscape and wildlife within the grounds is staggering. It runs the gamut from workaday dairy cows and tree-lined country walks to goats, guinea-pigs and peacocks – not to mention stunning vistas out across the fishing lake.

You can walk, fish, try your hand at the new mountain bike trail, visit the carriage museum, play tennis, ride horses or, as my eldest son did, hurl yourself at the playground and the go-karts and refuse to come in for tea.

The accommodation, in refurbished apartments atop the original stable block, is simple and basic – in contrast to the grandeur of Blessingbourne House – but very comfortable and spotlessly clean.

My kids loved the bunk beds in the second bedroom, and the fact that there’s a decent TV makes a massive difference on rainy afternoons. Yes, we should have been out there stamping around in the puddles, but hey, it was very wet. Cots and high chairs can be provided if you ask.

RIGHT, THAT’S ENOUGH TV and relaxing, let’s get out and about. With Enniskillen just up the road for shopping, and the sprawling lakelands of Fermanagh and Tyrone for gazing at, you would think that we were spoiled for choice locally. But even given that, we headed out the road and trekked to Orchard Acre Farm, near Irvinestown.

As its name suggests, Orchard Acre farm occupies one acre, and Teresa O’Hare, who runs it, uses that smallness to demonstrate how much can be gleaned from such a parcel of land.

Apart from the large barn where tea is served and lessons in organic food growing, basket weaving, jam making and much more are given – while not forgetting its towering native American-style tepee in which you can shelter from passing showers – what Orchard Acre has is plants. Lots and lots of plants. From massive cabbages to beetroot, onions, runner beans and tomatoes, what O’Hare has done with some raised beds, poly-tunnel and not a lot of space is remarkable. It makes Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall look like a land-ravaging corporate stooge.

Laden down with jams, preserves and tomatoes we decided to stop off for lunch on the way back. Lusty Beg Island is the location for the BBC's food and nutrition series Slim Chance: Fix My Family, but we loved it best for the ferry. To get to the island, just off the A47, you have to take a small ferry which pulls itself back and forth on a wire. The ferry's (just two cars at a time) resemblance to a second World War landing craft was amplified by the fact that we were driving a Jeep. All very Saving Private Ryan, but the local food was far better than army rations – steak and Guinness pie with local veg, and a steaming sticky toffee pudding to follow.

WE FOLLOWED THAT up the next day with a trip to Belleek Pottery (which you would assume is touristy but is actually very friendly, and terrific for the kids with an enjoyable tour), and dinner at Cafe Merlot in Enniskillen which, in spite of having to lug the buggy up and down some steps, was very welcoming to the kids and knew well enough to bring them their food first, allowing us grown-ups to enjoy ours (try the pork belly) in relative peace.

This is a holiday that keeps the kids happy, doesn’t require massively long travel times or airport hassle and can even teach you something about caring better for the environment.

The whole concept of a stay-cation has never looked so good, or so green.

Northern lights

Blessingbourne Houseis just north of Fivemiletown, Co Tyrone – about 20 minutes drive from Enniskillen. Rates in the Stables apartments, which sleep up to five, are from £170 (€198) for a two-night low season stay to £450 (€524) for a week in high season. 048-89521188, blessingbourne.com.

Lusty Beg Islandis reached by ferry from Boa Island, Co Fermanagh. A five-course Sunday carvery lunch on this private island resort costs £17 (€19.80) for adults and £10 (€11.65) for kids. lustybegisland.com, 048-68633300.

Cafe Merlot, 6 Church St Enniskillen: dinner for two adults and two kids, including half a carafe of wine, cost us around £50 (€58). 048-66320918.

Belleek Pottery, Belleek, Co Fermanagh: €5 for adults and €3 for senior citizens or students for the tour of the factory (kids under 12 go free). 048-68658501, belleek.ie.

Website: for information on places to stay and things to see in Northern Ireland check out the free booking and advice service on callsave 1850-230230, visit NITB's offices on Suffolk Street, Dublin 2 or discovernorthernireland.com.

Eco-breaksfrom Donegal to west Cork and Waterford

Donegal

Creevy District Community Co-Op, Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal: beside the Atlantic coast, Creevy Co-Op is a place to stay and learn. Staying in stone cottages, which are comfortable, convenient and gorgeous, you can take sea and fishing trips, dive, snorkel, go on long coastal walks or relax by the fire. The cottages are all original homes which have been restored.

Visitors can be taught eco-friendly techniques, such as rainwater harvesting, composting and kitchen gardening. Most of the cleaning products in use are made of lemon and vinegar, and if you take a fishing trip with An Dúanaí Mara Charters, it’s strictly catch and release.

Creevy is also a place of archaeological significance, with the 17th century Wardtown Castle nearby and the beach where the famed Lady Of The Sands, the remains of a 6th century woman, one of Ireland’s first Christian burials, was found.

Contact:rates range from €699 for a cottage sleeping six for a week to €144 for two nights. Call 071-9852896 or creevyexperience.com.

West Cork

This region has become a byword for summer overcrowding and rowdy nights in the pub, but if you avoid the major weeks of the high season, then there’s still much to see and do that will bring you back to nature. How about hiking up Mount Gabriel, which towers above the villages of Schull and Ballydehob, to take in the views over Roaring Water Bay.

You could then head for the wonderful Blairscove restaurant, near Durrus, where the food is as glorious as the views.

And then head up the main road to Cork city and pop into the famed English Market where you’ll find more locally-grown and reared produce than you can shake an organically-grown stick at.

Contact:for eco-friendly accommodation, try Ballyhoo Cottages in Baltimore, which will give you a free tree to take home and plant. Rates range from €300 a week depending on the season. Tel: 028-20527 or see ballyhoocottages.com.

Waterford

In Tramore you can take surfing lessons that will really put you in touch with the marine life of these islands and, when you’ve worked up an appetite, head for La Palma on The Mall, which is one of the finest Italian restaurants in the country, and one which makes great use of local suppliers and produce.

For somewhere to stay, try eco accommodation at Glenribbeen Lodge in Lismore. A winner of an EU Flower (green) award in 2009, Glenribbeen encourages as much eco-friendly holidaying as possible. It has home-grown veg all year round, a dammed stream for electricity generation, timber and waste paper for heating, and chickens on the grounds for fresh eggs.

Contact:accommodation at Glenribben costs from €70 for a double room per night or €360-€400 a week for an apartment that sleeps five. See glenribbeen.com or call 058-54499.