Is this the perfect Irish country house?

Mamree Lodge near Inistioge, Co Kilkenny, has paddocks for ponies and terraced gardens running down to the River Nore – and it's been completely restored, writes MICHAEL PARSONS

KILKENNY “with its sensuous hills, its trees, its river-valleys and the blue mist that rises from them . . . is the loveliest of Irish counties. It is still thirteenth-century country which you can imagine as the setting for the Canterbury Tales”. Not much has changed in the 60 years since short story writer Frank O’Connor wrote that description. And there’s no lovelier place in the county than Inistioge on the River Nore.

Despite its beauty, the village – though not quite undiscovered – remains largely unspoiled and pleasingly authentic. Inistioge is 80 miles from Dublin – close enough to be accessible; far enough away to be heavenly.

There’s still, thankfully, a post office, primary school, a good general provisions shop, some atmospheric pubs and two restaurants.

The nearest supermarkets, Thomastown railway station, golf at Mount Juliet and access to the M9 Dublin-Waterford motorway (scheduled to open next year) are just a few miles drive away.

On a hill overlooking the village is Woodstock, one of the great Anglo-Irish estates, and formerly home to the aristocratic Tighe family. The house was burnt down during the War of Independence but the wonderful gardens have now been restored and provide a serenely idyllic destination for locals and tourists alike.

Hubert Butler, the essayist who lived upriver at Bennettsbridge, claimed “there is scarcely in all Ireland a more charming walk” than the banks of the Nore below Woodstock with “on one side the river with its swans and water lilies, on the other the wooded cliffs and mossy glades sprinkled with ferns and frochans and foxgloves”.

A mile from the village is the most stylish rural property to come on the market in this year of moribund country house sales. Mamree Lodge is a gorgeously restored Georgian house on 4.5 acres with sublime, elevated views over the River Nore.

This wonderfully-located 353sq m (3,800sq ft) house is for sale by private treaty through Colliers Jackson-Stops, asking €1.9 million.

The house, originally built in 1750, once belonged to John Rothe, the “middleman” who collected rents for the Woodstock estate.

It’s set at the end of a tree-lined avenue which accounts for three-quarters of an acre of the grounds and lends great privacy to the property.

Inside, the house is in excellent condition having been extensively and handsomely restored, re-roofed and re-wired in recent years.

There are new hardwood sash shuttered windows throughout and polished solid French oak flooring. Ceilings featuring ornate plasterwork drip with antique French chandeliers.

The ground floor has three extensive reception rooms, a Clive Christian-designed kitchen (with marble and mahogany worktops) and that rustic essential, a boot room.

Upstairs, a spacious, galleried landing leads to five generously-sized bedrooms, two of which have en suite bathrooms – one a large dual aspect room with an antique bath taking pride of place.

Outbuildings adjoin two railed paddocks ideal for ponies or a hunter or two. The property benefits from river frontage and its own fishing rights on the Nore, which is traditionally famed for salmon.

Terraced gardens feature a most unexpected delight: a very rare, Edwardian “revolving” summer house, built by Boulton Paul Ltd of Norwich in 1905, which was imported from England and reassembled.

According to the owners, "the concept is ideal for the Irish climate; the building revolves to follow the sun while protecting the occupants from prevailing winds". A secluded spot, sheltered by trees, is devoted to a pet cemetery where Lilliputian tombstones mark the graves of faithful old hounds. An ivy-clad, ruined dovecote could have been transplanted from the heart of la France profonde.

The vendors are part of a family that has owned Mamree since 1952. They are now relocating to southern Europe. For those of us destined to remain, Mamree Lodge is as close to perfection as it’s possible to find in Ireland.

This house would make a superlative permanent family home or alternatively provide the most magical weekend bolthole for city dwellers.