Sheedy's Hotel & Restaurant

Sheedy's is a house that has stayed in one family since the early 1700s. John's grandmother Alice opened it to guests in the 1930s, and John and Martina now run it as a small hotel and restaurant on the edge of the Burren. The building keeps its old bones: bedrooms are furnished in a classic Irish style suited to the house's age, and the residents' bar, the oldest room on site, still centres on an open fire and a long list of whiskeys. There is no lift, so upper rooms are reached by stairs. The restaurant, which holds two AA Rosettes, draws on produce from Burren farms and producers, and chef John Sheedy's roast rack of Burren lamb is a fixture of the menu. Breakfast runs to organic porridge with Baileys and a full Irish made with farm eggs and local sausages. Lisdoonvarna itself is a two-minute walk away, its pubs given over most summer evenings to informal music sessions. The Cliffs of Moher are ten kilometres off, Doolin about eight, and the Burren's limestone trails start almost at the door. Shannon Airport is a 45-minute drive. Check-in runs from 3pm to 6pm, and the hotel closes for the season each autumn.