Kiltanon Court, Tulla, County Clare, Ireland

 Kiltanon is a lovely bucolic spot in Ireland much like most of Ireland.

We arrived late at night at our accommodations which I had purchased off of Getaways through Interval International as a timeshare owner.  To be honest this place is almost impossible to find because our GPS was having major difficulties finding it and the directions that were provided through Interval were quite hysterical.  There was a large paragraph of almost indiscernible directions to Kiltanon.  We were expecting to find a sign for Kiltanon Court but it's actually called Kiltanon Farm Resort.

This was our unit number 5 front door, which was so quaint.

This is the front of the Manor House of Kiltanon.  We stayed in the low area to the left of this photo.  Often paddocks or barns were attached to the home.

Kiltanon is very isolated and remote but beautiful.   I was sent an email from the owner that the key would be left in the door.  This was very refreshing to see that the key still was in the door when we arrived.

This was a very pretty 2 bedroom/ 2 bathroom unit and located in an old Manor house.  I believe the section that we were in was the old paddock or barn section restored for holiday rentals.   The windows were so low and there were originally grates in the windows, most likely to provide air for the animals but no glass would have been originally in these beautiful old window sills. 

 

Whoever decorated this is a master, it was beautifully decorated, unlike anything I have ever stayed in before that is timesheet related.  There were copious amounts of vases with silk flowers, different eclectic paintings of African and Asian art and some religious paintings on the walls. The unit had numerous antiques throughout the unit which I appreciated seeing.  The TV in this unit was actually an Apple TV which allowed us to watch Netflix, Prime and Apple TV.  

The beds were comfortable and they were well kitted out.  The bathrooms were tiny but worked well and we had lots of hot water.  The kitchen was quite beautiful and large with lots of granite counter space.  Unfortunately, there was a boil water advisory for that particular place and so it was like being in rural Mexico where you have to brush your teeth with bottled water. 

 The buildings were constructed with approximately 18-inch thick walls which you can't obviously move during renovation and nor would you want to because you would destroy the historical integrity of the building.  Due to this fact, the bathroom doors did not fully open, they would just bang against the bed.  

The laundry was right next door to our unit and it was free and we could use it in the evening, which was perfect.  There were 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. Having free and on-property laundry is a bonus to have when you're travelling for many months.  

There are only 6 units in Kiltanon Court and many were full with permanent renters.

We got up the next morning and we walked to Tulla which is the closest town, 4.6 kilometres away.  There are no sidewalks, so you're walking on the road and it's very narrow with low traffic. The walk was nice and it gave you a good lay of the land.  You can see the beautiful old stone walls which are everywhere in Ireland and the gorgeous greenery of Ireland.  The animals are everywhere on the walk to Tulla.

The old stone walls in Ireland are on most roads and most are centuries old and covered with green vegetation almost hiding these ancient walls like the one below.

The village of Tulla is quite small but it does have a wonderful supermarket called SuperValu with good prices and good ready-made meals that you can just pop in the oven.  A couple doors down from the SuperValu is a bakery called Holly Tree with fabulous baking.  I discovered a few treats there that were absolutely delicious but my favorite was the Mars bar, which is funny because I don't like the chocolate bar called Mars bar but it was nothing like it.  It was one of the best treats I've ever had and tasted homemade like something I would make.

To the left is a picture of some toadstools just outside our door at Kiltanon Court.  I thought they were lovely looking.

In the village of Tulla, there are ruins of a church which is worth the walk up to it.  You can explore the old gravestones and the views from the church are incredible.  

The views are incredible from the Church ruins up on the hill in Tulla

There are no restaurants open anymore in the town of Tulla.  I believe this probably is an after-effect of Covid.  There are a few places though that provide takeout.  There are 3 pubs open which are a mainstay in small Irish villages.  The pubs don't open until 6 p.m. and do not have music playing nightly, which was unfortunate, otherwise, we would have gone.  However, there are a hundred villages close by that you can drive to and find yourself a Ceilidhs.