This is a beach house in the plushest sense, with a hot tub overlooking the bay for warming up after dips in the crystal-clear sea (Dog’s Bay is a two-minute drive), and cozy robes, fluffy towels, and slippers provided by the hosts. Dogs are made to feel very welcome—there’s a dog hook and bowl in the entrance hall, and a bed set up by the large stone fireplace; plus lots of doggie portraits on the walls. A soaring 100-foot wall of glass frames the view from the pitch-roofed living/dining space and two primary bedrooms, each of which has a walk-in wardrobe and a large bathroom with a tub from where you can look out to the sea. With a fully kitted-out kitchen and a table that seats 10, this is a spot to book with family or friends and cook up big feasts that ramble on for hours. The kids’ room can sleep four, with a bunk bed that fits three and another bed reached by a little ladder, plus toys and books to keep mini visitors entertained. For those inevitable rainy days, there’s a home-theater-style art TV (set up with Netflix) and an electric Yamaha piano that calls out for sing-alongs.
Also called Brandy & Soda House—named after the lane that thirsty locals would walk on their way to the pub in Roundstone—is the work of Galway-born Damien McKeon and his Melburnian wife, Sarah Lucas. They spotted an old tumbledown cottage for sale online and couldn’t believe the view through its broken windows; when they came to view it, they had to “bush bash” through the overgrown foliage. Now, the Aussie influence is clear in the light and bright interiors of their contemporary renovation, with large photographs of Connemara land and seascapes rooting things back to the west of Ireland. No need to head into town for a tipple—a warming brandy in bespoke glasses is part of the generous welcome hamper, alongside traditional soda bread, local cheeses, umami-packed seaweed salt, and jam made by the nuns of nearby Kylemore Abbey. Although on nights when no one feels like cooking, it’s worth the trip for creamy pints of Guinness in O’Dowd’s on the edge of the harbor, followed by Killary mussels and garlicky crab claws up the street in Vaughan’s.
