Guests' happiness is paramount for host John Edward Joyce at his characterful, eclectically furnished country house with charming bedrooms and exquisite but unstuffy fine dining in the Mustard Seed restaurant.

Verity Butterfield clearly loves to welcome guests to her loch-side Georgian house, with blazing fires, comfy sofas, good artworks, excellent breakfasts, and dinner by arrangement.

In a conservation village on the shores of Strangford Lough, this friendly family-run gastropub is a popular social hub, with locals bar, restaurant, attractive bedrooms and a menu strong on fish and seafood.

On the Coastal Causeway Route, overlooking Ballygally Bay, this traditional hotel, occupying a much-extended 16th-century castle, is a welcoming, comfortable base from which to tour Game of Thrones countryside.

There is a house-party ambience at Justin and Jenny Green’s Georgian country house, filled with treasures passed down through generations, where produce from the kitchen garden and estate feature on the set dinner menu, and everything from bread and preserves to gin infusions is made in house.

In 30 acres of private gardens, this pink-washed Georgian manor house overlooking Ballinakill Bay has the warmth and ambience of a much-loved home, its traditional interiors filled with artworks, antiques and curios. An eclectic, daily-changing menu of locally sourced dishes is served in the dining room.

Set on a 300-acre working farm, this legendary country-house hotel began life in 1964 as a restaurant run by farmer's wife Myrtle Allen, using produce from the farm and walled kitchen garden, and has grown into a thriving business, with cookery school, café and arts venue ,while keeping faith with its founding principles.

Solitary Nephin, Ireland's highest stand-alone mountain, provides a dramatic backdrop to this classic, pink-washed Georgian country house in wooded grounds on Lough Conn.

There are no TVs or minibars at the Leslies' ancestral country house on an estate with lakes and woodlands, but interiors are a trove of Grand Tour treasures, every house bedroom comes with some extraordinary tale, and estate-to-plate dishes are served in the restaurant.

It may not be a castle but this rambling 18th-century manor house, wrapped in gardens and with views over the otherworldly karst landscape of the Burren, has its own romantic charm, a fine-dining restaurant,, modern comforts and an ambience of calm.

Floor-to-ceiling windows make the most of stunning panoramic view over the harbour and Dingle Peninsula at this super-duper contemporary B&B on the Wild Atlantic Way, with a lounge menu served on the sea-facing terrace when the sun shines, and an exceptionally imaginative breakfast menu.

A short hop from Belfast International Airport, this spa hotel and wedding venue has a lakeside heated sand beach, characterful bedrooms, some with a courtyard, outdoor bath and wood burner, and an eclectic menu to cater to all preferences.