Article from The Skerries News (February 2010) (return to Press page by clicking here)
“LET them stay in a B&B,” said my husband when he heard that two of my sisters and families were about to descend without notice
and render us roomless. As said sisters are always falling out, I didn’t take offence - but it gave me an idea. “Why don’t we stay
at a B&B and let them fight it out here?”
We flipped through our little book of Skerries and decided on The White Cottages on Balbriggan Road. They had room on the night
though they were quite busy.
Owner Jackie welcomed us in where her husband and adorable dog gave us an equally warm welcome. She explained everything we needed to know and even suggested places for us to visit and eat (we hadn’t the heart to tell her the real reason we were staying, sure we’d be rendered ‘the odd couple’) then furnished us with keys and said ‘follow me’. We headed behind the next house to a side door.
HEAVENLY
Passing through was like a trip into Alice In Wonderland. The wood-burning stove glowed heavenly on this bitter cold afternoon.
Once inside, Jackie explained how everything worked and where our room was and then left us to ourselves. We felt just like we were
at home.
The stove was surrounded by easy chairs and amazing artwork (painted by Jackie, we later discovered). A beautiful antique sideboard
against one wall had a huge bowl of flowers and a little bowl of treats. In the same room was a well-equipped kitchen area where we
gladly made ourselves a cup of tea.
We’d come well prepared with tea and milk, though I’ve no doubt Jackie would have been happy to supply us as nothing seemed too
much trouble. Tea in hand, we stepped out onto a patio with amazing views of Skerries harbour where now sparkling lights twinkled.
We could hear waves lashing the rocks and could smell sweet burning turf as we reflected on the mayhem that was no doubt ensuing
minutes away at home. This was surely my best brainwave yet.
Our bedroom was delightful - big comfortable bed with crisp cotton linen. The room had a decided seaside theme with touches to
remind us of our lovely location - seabirds, fish, boats and sails throughout. The bathroom was well-stocked with shampoos, soap
and bath products and all was spotless and shiny.
Succumbing to the bed was like slipping into a big marshmallow.
After a peaceful nights sleep, we headed back to the kitchen to find Jackie already smiling and working away cracking eggs and
preparing breakfast for the other guests. The table was set with lovely linen, white cups and saucers and pots of preserves. Before
we sat, Jackie offered slices of fresh fruit. Perfect.
The night before, we’d filled in little slips on what we’d like for breakfast. Needless to say, you could have whatever you liked
and any dietary needs would be met. We opted for Irish smoked salmon with eggs and brown Getting it White bread. It was a difficult
choice as everything on the way to other guests looked wonderful. Breakfast was perfection. The salmon was fresh and tasty, eggs
softly scrambled and brown bread and butter soon on a one way trip to the hips.
Jackie was the perfect hostess. She chatted to those who wanted and quietly worked around those that didn’t. When, task completed,
she moved to leave, we felt as if we should have stood and applauded her.
White Cottages are open year round and offer a self catering option which we thought would be great for our overflow of guests in
future. The whole experience was excellent value - double room approximately €90 and single €60-€70. I say ‘approximately’ as
Jackie is happy to negotiate depending on number of room bookings, time of year and so on.
Did we find any problems? Just one. We didn’t want to leave.
