At the foot of the Slieve Blooms

By Yvonne Kerr

When Rosemarie and Frank Kennan bought Roundwood House 25 years ago, they were determined never to do B&B or catering. But, a quarter of a century later, they've turned the Georgian manor into the best-kept secret in Co Laois.

It all started with an argument about how to restore old Irish houses. Months later, Frank Kennan and his wife Rosemarie and their four kids had swapped their Dublin home for a 300-year-old plus Georgian mansion in the middle of Laois, laced with dry rot, with a falling-down roof, hens pecking around their feet and plaster and paint peeling off inside and outside walls.

This was a house swap from hell, with no get-out clause. The 110% mortgage for £62,000 Irish punts had been agreed, and the property had been officially (and happily) handed over by the Irish Georgian Society. It was 1983.

"It was a mad thing to do," says Frank who had no idea where Mountrath was at first.

"When they told me it was in Laois, I replied, 'You must be joking, that little flat place on the way to Limerick?' But we came and that was it."

"And it's not flat either," Rosemarie adds.

The one thing the couple agreed they would never do was to run a B&B, or do catering.

Things change. Rosemarie's signature cooking earned her number 42 in a line-up of the world's top 50 restaurants in 2002 (by London's Restaurant magazine) - a stunning accolade for someone whose husband only found out she could cook after 10 years of marriage.

Nor would you ever guess that Rosemarie has a fatal allergic reaction to eggs - something she cooks with every day (she wears gloves and a mask).

Creating Magic

Frank and Rosemarie's biggest secret, however, is that they've been quietly and successfully running one of the best-kept secrets in Laois for more than 25 years.

Time stops when you drive up the leafy, winding drive and a charming, pale grey stone Georgian mansion emerges from the trees in front of you.

Located near Mountrath, at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, Roundwood House was originally a Quaker property that dates back to the 17th century.

Stone steps and a wooden door lead to an impressive hallway that opens onto three lavishly-decorated rooms. Old paintings and rows of faded, hard-backed books line the walls, while wooden, rustic furnishings wear lots of red velour.

A beautiful wooden, winding staircase invites you up to the second floor. Ten en suite bedrooms have garden views, each individually decorated in bold colours - the green room, the blue room, and so on - and filled with quirky touches, paintings and books. Rosemarie and Frank currently live on the top floor.

There are no hens to be seen, as Rosemarie eventually won the fight to extradite them outside. It wasn't easy, she remembers: "Guests would see a hen walking up the front stairs and a peacock walking up the back stairs, and ask, 'Is this normal?'"

And that's just the main house. There's the cobbled courtyard out the back, full of herbs and flowers, with four more bedrooms in a cute stone outhouse with stable-like doors.

Dublin-born Rosemarie and Frank, originally from Galway, adopted a no-fuss approach over the years, raising two more kids here (six in all) and nurturing a comfortable home, where guests have no choice but to kick back.

A unique touch is that you won't find any televisions here, which comes as a shock to some guests at first. "Some of them sit there twiddling their fingers," Rosemarie says. "But then they get into conversation; it's wonderful. Lots of people leave swapping addresses."

One couple met at the guest house and returned six months later as a couple, later marrying in a local church in Laois, and holding their wedding reception at Roundwood.

Frank says they admired the Quakers who originally owned the house, and have stuck to a few of their principles. Charging a "fair price" is one of them, and staying loyal to their staff is another - some of the workers have worked at Roundwood for 20 years.

New beginnings

History will repeat itself when daughter Hannah takes over the business next January with her Canadian muso husband Paddy and their newborn daughter Amelie.

Her grandparents won't be far away, though. They'll soon be living in a renovated barn out the back and on call but "they'll have to beg, and book us well in advance," Frank laughs. "We have enough to do."

The couple don't look at this as retirement. Frank will be busy working on his already impressive library of rare books, and Rosemarie will continue to cook in some facet.

As for changes, future new owners Hannah and Paddy agree that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

It's a fresh start for Roundwood, but the foundations are the same. Even the lone peacock wanders freely around the gardens, as he always has.

Many pen hens have been offered to the peacock for company over the years, I'm told, but none have been accepted. And who'd blame him? I wouldn't want to share this elegant country home with any old bird either.