Fun on an Irish farm

Author: By John F. Lauerman, Globe Correspondent

Date: SUNDAY, April 5, 1998

Page: M1

Section: Travel

It was totally by chance that we got the inspiration that gave the whole project some semblance of rationality. At a dinner party, a friend who had recently returned from Ireland suggested that we take advantage of the country's farm bed-and-breakfasts.

I had never heard of these establishments before, but farm B &Bs, as it turns out, have been a staple of Irish hospitality for decades. At one time, they were a way for Irish farm wives to make a few extra pounds on top of the farm income. Accommodations were often no more than an unoccupied bedroom, and meals were often taken with the host family.

Since then, however, the Irish farm B & Bs have developed into a widely used option for Ireland's tourists, and they now provide the principal source of income for many farm families. The farm B &B s even have a national association that publishes a beautiful catalog with color pictures of each establishment, as well as some pretty good maps of what passes for a system of roads in Ireland. The association also provides taining, standards, and inspections of all establishments nationwide. For example, all beds are required to be made with Irish linen sheets, said Mary Devane, the proprietor of a farm in Knockavrogeen, and proprietors who fail to comply risk having their membership revoked.

Today, few if any farm B & Bs are of the ``spare room'' variety. Most are as comfortable as any hotel room and, as we were to find out, many are adding new bathrooms, rooms, and wings to their houses to attract and accommodate additional tourists. We stayed at one beautiful farm B & B in Arklow featuring an indoor heated swimming pool and exercise room.

Surprisingly, we also found that some farm B & Bs function more or less as motels. We discovered this in the outskirts of Galway -- Europe's fastest-growing city -- where we stayed at a farm B & B only yards from a busy main road, one of the many signs of Ireland's bursting economy. Although clean and friendly, the place offered very little for children to do or see, and we realized that we should have asked more questions of the proprietor before coming.

But the vast majority of farm B & Bs are just as you would expect: quiet, rural, and homelike. There is almost always a parlor where you can sit by the fire and read while your children go to sleep (or, as happens more often, wake up). And the food at farm B & Bs can be fantastic, particularly the inexhaustible Irish breakfast that offers a refrigerator full of food: sausage, ham, eggs, white toast, brown bread, scones, jam, marmalade, cereal, yogurt, tea, coffee, juice, and whatever else you happen to think of. That meal alone was probably worth the $60 or so we typically paid for our rooms.

And, of course, farm B & Bs are usually chock-full of animals. Like most youngsters, our children love cows, sheep, and horses, particularly those close to their own size, and traveling in mid-March as we were, we hit Ireland in prime time for baby animals. Every farm B & B we stayed at had its share of lambs, calves, and chicks, and as we drove along Ireland's highways, there were foals and colts in every direction.

Southwest Ireland is graced with many beautiful farm B & Bs. The countryside is dominated by farms, and as you approach the less-populated regions of Dingle and Kerry, the possibility grows for close encounters of the farm animal kind. So, from Shannon, we quickly set off for the dairy farm of Breda Mann in Adare, where we kept the youngsters awake as late as possible in an effort to counteract jet lag. The next morning, our first in Ireland, we were able to see cows milked before breakfast. Then, Brian, the farmhand, took Hanna and James into the barn to see a dozen calves who were less than two weeks old.

Hanna and James couldn't have been happier. Ireland is a country of farms, and even as we were landing in Shannon, 5-year-old Hanna looked from the jet window and murmured that ``Ireland is green, green, green.'' One would never know that Ireland's economy has been the fastest-growing in Europe for the last five years, with a growth rate of 5.25 percent, mainly due to exports of electronics products and computers.

But farming remains an important part of the landscape, economy, and culture. Nowhere is Ireland's history of farming more visibly etched into the land than in the southwest. We went from Adare to the Dingle peninsula, where stone walls and hedgerows stretch straight up and over the mountains, demonstrating how centuries of farming have brought every available inch of land into play. I was reminded of a friend who told me that Irishmen can't stand the sight of all our fallow farmland in New England. ``It drives you wild to see all that land go to waste,'' he said.

Sheep are everywhere in Dingle: on the mountainsides, in the fields, and in front of your car. And while they're almost always too skittish to be petted or even approached closely, a bored child can often be charmed by the idea of getting out of the car just to see a sheep, a cow, or a donkey walking by the side of the road.

Perhaps what makes touring Ireland so attractive is that the Irish, who can be so generous and flexible to start with, become even more so when it comes to children. Everywhere we went, total strangers plied Hanna and James with candy, cakes, and other favors. Driving from Adare toward Tralee, we got off the main road and stopped the car when we saw two donkeys in a field. A few minutes later, the donkeys' owner popped out of his house to chat, and soon the children were taking donkey rides. When the farmer's wife heard that we were planning a picnic lunch, she ran into the house to retrieve some freshly baked brown bread and a lump of fresh butter.

``I don't need the plate back,'' she assured us.

Just a few minutes with a baby animal will often keep children talking for hours afterward. One morning in Knockavrogeen we were taking the kids for a tramp behind our farm B & B when we saw a young boy striding by with a small, mottled object in each hand. These turned out to be lambs, less than two hours old, we were informed. The boy was fetching them back from the fields to the barn, to protect them from foxes.

It was like a real-life scene from ``Babe''; several sheepdogs gathered curiously around us, and the ewe angrily bleated and stamped her feet toward them. In the meantime, the little coal-tipped lambs stumbled around as Hanna and James stood rapt.

Perhaps the most beautiful farm B & B we stayed at was Blackstone House on the Iveragh Peninsula, the site of the well-known 90-mile drive known as the Ring of Kerry. This is some of Ireland's most spectacular scenery, and during the high tourist season, sightseeing coaches circle the region as tightly as a group of Conestoga wagons.

Farm life and surroundings suit children for so many reasons. At Blackstone House, Hanna and James donned their boots and ran outside to play by an inviting river running nearby. Sammy, the owner's seemingly ubiquitous Jack Russell terrier, joined in the fun and chased the children, who were still clothed only in their pajamas. After everyone dressed, we ventured out for a walk. About 100 yards down the main road, we found ourselves being quietly followed at a few paces by a procession of gargantuan cows. Alarmed, I assumed they had escaped from their pen. It was only after a few minutes I realized that this was business as usual, at least in this part of Ireland.

But for Hanna and James, spending time on Irish farms was a welcome break from the ordinary. Hanna has already suggested that we nip back for a weekend sometime. If she's crazy enough to ask, I just might be crazy enough to take her up on it.

For more information, write to the Irish Tourist Board, 757 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017; or call 212-418-0800.