Woodbrook House, between Killanne and Kiltealy in the north of County Wexford, was originally built in the 1770s but was largely rebuilt after it was badly damaged in the 1798 Rebellion. It is now a spacious and welcoming Regency house with huge Wyatt windows, high ceilings, an unusually large drawing room and a spectacular and elegant early 19th century 'flying' spiral staircase. Unusually, it is not built around a central column but rises to the first floor in a great open swirl and bounces very slightly when trodden upon, a tour-de-force of the carpenter's craft.

Woodbrook House has a fine demesne with the Blackstairs Mountains as a backdrop. A visitor from England writing in 1920 remembered Woodbrook as 'a large, square house, very comfortable, very solid, very unpretentious, with an undulating park, covered with fine old trees and beside it rise up the mountains as if in protection'.

The FitzHerberts and their four children have lived at Woodbrook House since 1998, seeking to restore both house and grounds to their former glory and adding bathrooms and central heating. More recently, they have opened the house to provide country house accommodation. Giles is a former ambassador and Alexandra is of Anglo-Italian-Irish-Chilean extraction, so they are both accustomed to entertaining guests from all over the world. Alexandra is an excellent cook; the walled garden provides her with fresh seasonal vegetables and the hens with fresh eggs every day.

Guests can wander in the woods or play on the newly re-sown grass tennis court beside the house; there are wonderful mountain walks in the Blackstairs, Slieve Ban, and along Mount Leinster; there is salmon fishing on the River Slaney at nearby Bunclody and trout fishing in several local streams.  Each summer there is usually a first class opera production, either in the garden at Woodbrook House or in one of the other country houses in the neighbourhood.


Directions:
From Kiltealy take the R379 towards Rathnure & New Ross. After 2 miles, turn left at a small crossroads amid tall beech trees – the gate is on left after 200 yards.