LACKAN COTTAGE FARM
Home of Birch Cottage and the Off Grid Horsebox
Tranquil self catering in the Mournes
You can wake to a view of the beautiful birch woods outside your window, and enjoy the peace and quiet. Here you are surrounded by birdsong, clean air, and wonderful views. Walk in the woods, feed the hens, and enjoy fresh produce from our gardens. Set in the Mournes, Birch Cottage offers luxury self catering with wonderful views of the mountains and woodland.
Some of the most stunning countryside in Northern Ireland is on your doorstep, as is the seaside town of Newcastle. The Mourne Mountains, Tollymore and Castlewellan forest parks, Newcastle beach and stunning Silent Valley are just a short drive away.
Come and stay in Northern Ireland’s only off-grid self catering cottage and upcycled horse truck. Visitors can sample life on our pioneering Green Tourism gold rated smallholding.
The good life experience
We are pioneers of the growing ecotourism and green tourism movement here in the Mournes, Northern Ireland. Consequently, sharing our lifestyle, fresh produce, and experiences with visitors is all part of the unique visitor experience.
The Off Grid Horsebox has an amazing upcycled interior, and also offers a cosy hideaway where you can unplug from the outside world completely.
Birch Cottage is off grid accommodation without compromise – hand crafted, comfortable, and it has wonderful views. It really is the greenest self catering holiday cottage in Northern Ireland.
Birch Cottage self catering
You can unwind and escape to another world here at Birch Cottage. Tucked away near the Mournes, it’s unique, cosy atmosphere is a result of the hand crafted interior. Here, everything has a story and above all is chosen to be natural, which gives the cottage it’s homely feel. If you want a base to explore the Mournes, our self catering cottage has a hand crafted interior and is perfect for a relaxing retreat.
Book direct here on the website to get the best rates
Off Grid Horse box self catering
Surely the most unusual self catering accommodation in Co Down. This is a converted horse truck with a view of the Mournes. You’ll feel at home here because we made it a place that we would want to escape to ourselves. The quirky, cosy interior is a result of using upcycled and natural materials. Watch the stars from the comfort of the box bed, play the guitar, or chill out by the woodburning stove. Maybe you’ll just sit on the deck and look at the mountains – this is an especially peaceful corner of Lackan Cottage Farm.
Book direct here on the website to get the best rates
Our story
We are fortunate to have this opportunity and as a result be able to live the way we do. It is becoming increasingly apparent that as a society, we can’t go on the way we have been.Consequently something has to give. As we talk to people, their frustration at inequality and instability is obvious. Furthermore, environmental and economic worries serve to highlight the need for alternative solutions.
Lackan Cottage Farm is our response to that. Consequently, as well as upskilling ourselves to be better able to cope, we are empowering others to do the same. Likewise, we provide self catering accommodation so that they can come and experience it for themselves here in the Mournes. Therefore everything we offer here comes from our own experience and is created to be really special, whether it be a day of winemaking, or the interior of the horsebox. We hope you will love it as much as we do.
Steve & Claire Golemboski-Byrne
News and events from Lackan
Autumn wines
So far this year we've made wine from elderflowers, gorse, blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries, and rhubarb. Now that autumn is here, we have a new selection of crops from which to conjure wines. Although most of our peaches were made into jam, enough were saved...
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Limewashing and a barn repair
October was a busy month at Lackan, tackling all the regular jobs that we've been putting off too long. The cottages have been limewashed, repairs made to flashings and everything made generally weatherproof. Three years after we bought the lime-hemp plaster, the last...
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Reflections on the permaculture design course
Although I’ve been involved with permaculture for nearly a decade now, and on site here at Lackan for six years, practising permaculture on a daily basis, I had never done my PDC (Permaculture Design Certificate). When I was offered the chance to do a PDC at Carraig Dulra in Wicklow, led by friends Suzie Cahn and Hannah Mole, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
read moreCome and learn
Ever wanted to make your own wine? Grow your own food? How about making your own basket, or a wooden stool? These are the kinds of practical opportunities that we offer on our regular self sufficiency courses, taught by people we respect and who are expert at what they do. In addition we run broader courses in subjects such as Off Grid and ‘DIY’ living, Permaculture and Natural Building where you can discover more about ways to be more self sufficient.
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