A brief history of Bayfield:
Bayfield was built by our Great Great Grandparents almost two hundred years ago using local limestone from the fields around the house. You will see the age of the house in the thickness of the walls with some almost 2 meters thick. Bayfield was a farm for many years and is now our home-away-from-home with gardens all around and the front field used for grazing cattle.
Like much of the Irish population many in our family moved to Britain for work throughout the last century while some remained in Ireland. Of those that stayed some remained in the Burren Area and some up in Connemara. The two sides of the family from Connemara and the Burren originally met in the middle at the Galway Races. Our Grandparents were among the ones who moved to Britain and our little branch of the family has been raised in London. Our Mother and her sister Valerie lived in Bayfield during the 2nd World War when her Mother (our Grandmother) bought her and her sister Valerie back to Ireland to escape the bombing. Meanwhile our Grandfather skippered merchant ships transporting supplies across the Atlantic. They and their sister Geraldine have great childhood memories of the house.
When my mother took over Bayfield in the 1980s it had fallen into disrepair (see pictures below). The thatched roof had all but collapsed and had to be removed to stop it damaging the stonework and pulling down the house. Cows used the main house for shelter and wondered in and out the front door. We used to climb around on the collapsed roof; that’s how it was for most of our young childhoods. The orchard was completely overgrown and we used to love pushing through the long grass to play in the ancient apple trees. We lived and slept in the studio at the back of the house which still had a tin roof. It was very simple living and we would cook on open fires and wash in the sea. We spent much of our childhood holidays at Bayfield. Renovating the house was always a dream that we assumed would never happen.
Slowly my mother started to renovate the house. First the roof (which we would have loved to keep as thatch but finance didn’t allow) and then the rest of the house. After her work the renovations continued and still do now with any money that Bayfield earns going back into maintaining and improving it. We have tried to keep as much of the old house as we possibly could while making it a lovely and relaxed place to stay. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
A labour of Love: The renovation of Bayfield House; from a ruin in 1988 through to today.
Uncle Edward: Of note is our Great Uncle Edward who lived in Bayfield until the early 80’s. He was an amazing and fairly renowned artist. You will see some prints of his cartoons around the house as well as on mugs! We also have some of his paintings although, to be fair to him, he sold all of the good ones so we mainly have the left overs - you will see some around the house. The Studio Room is called so because that is where Uncle Edward used to paint. If you want to see more of his paintings there are loads up in Durty Nelly’s Pub by Bunratty Castle. The famous Pub and the castle are well worth a day out to see. The Castle is great to visit for all ages and the pub does great food and a great pint. Be sure to look out for Edward’s paintings in there - signed “Hynes”.
A brief Summary of us:
We are Max & Beatrice and our daughters Aurelia & Azzurra - we are based in South London. We met on a sailing regatta in 2010 round the Isle of Wight and married soon after that. Beatrice is from Rome and we now juggle between holiday time in Italy and Ireland. We love the outdoors and travelling. We are keen sailors and have taken part in regattas all over the world - some of the most beautiful sailing we’ve done has been around Galway Bay racing between the various coastal villages competing for the “King of the Bay” Cup and also the annual race around the Aran Islands. When at Bayfield we love to do the coastal loop walk almost every day and as many of the other walks around the area as we can fit in. We are very amateur gardeners and have tried to keep the garden beautifully simple in a low maintenance sort of way. Michael and Carmel look after the place for us and are brilliant. The picture below is of us body boarding at Fanore Beach with my sister, our Nieces and neighbors.
