SOME folk have a style of genius in their greeting, a style which makes the hungry traveller cast off every care and concern, a style which sets you in just the right frame of mind to abandon all responsibility for a few, sinfully lazy days.
It can be discreetly concerned "Had you a good journey?" or happily effusive "Nice to see you again" But of all the greetings in all the places in all the country, I think the one I would like to hear most is the one with which Harry Jordan greeted a Friday night customer in Jordan's Restaurant, in Carlingford, Co Louth.
Shaking the man by the hand, Mr Jordan said simply. "You're as welcome as a fresh egg".
Now isn't that just the sort of thing to put you in the right frame of mind for a month of May holiday break? And so, the following places have been chosen as houses where you will feel as welcome as a fresh egg, perfect nests to get away from it all, to check out for a weekend or so.
So let's start with Harry and Marian Jordan.
Jordan's Restaurant and Townhouse, Carlingford, Co Louth
The Jordans call their style of cooking "parochial", but don't imagine this means something cautious and dated, something parish pumpish. Parochial, here, does however mean cooking which reflects the strength of the parish local oysters and mushrooms, local fish and meats.
A recent Friday evening dinner produced excellent crab claws with garlic butter and a fish stock vinaigrette, also a thumpingly fine array of oysters. Then a truly marvellous bowl of curried parsnip soup which was a definition of the soupmaker's art, before main courses of meltingly tender shank of mountain lamb and excellent darne of cod which had been marinated in gremolata and then oven baked.
It is simple cooking, but so well understood, so intuitively appreciative of the flavours enjoyed by the food itself, that it was completely delightful. Although they have been hard at work for a dozen years now, the Jordans have an energy and raucousness in their work which is inspiring.
Partly this may be explained by the fact that they alternate in the kitchen Harry cooks one night, Marian the next But it is also explained by the fact that they are proud of their place and their village, a pride which has led them to create a fine townhouse out of an old potato shed just behind of the restaurant. The rooms are subtle and spacious, views are splendid, and it is just the sort of little hideaway which, combined with the romantic, relaxing character of the restaurant and this engaging village, make for a smashing escape.
Also in the area do check out the interesting cooking by Shiela Keiro in McGee's.
Prices £30 per person sharing for B&B. Weekend rate of two nights and one dinner £75 per person sharing. Set dinner £21. Tel (042) 73223.
Clifden Kille House, Clifden, Co Galway
The only problem with Clifden, way out there in Connemara, is deciding firstly where to stay and, secondly, where to eat. We have described on these pages the entrancing guest house of Paddy and Julia Foyle, the Quay House and its funky sister ship restaurant, Destry's, and rhapsodised over the cooking of Stefan Matzin Erriseaske House, in Ballyconneely, just a few miles down the road.
But don't overlook the fine cooking in the Ardagh Hotel, by Monique Bauvet, the lovely informality of Hugh and Eileen Griffin's High Moors restaurant, and the ever reliable, welcoming food in the O'Grady family's restaurant.
With so much to enjoy, you" need a base which is cosy and light on the pocket. Anya Vermoolen's Kille House is the place you want. An old vicarage a few miles out of town on the Sky Road, it is famous not only as a house of immaculate elegance, but also as the former home of a cleric who had a passion playing the piano in the nude.
Also in the area make sure to stop off in Oughterard, when heading back east, at Eamonn McGeough's butcher's shop, just down on the Lake Road.
Prices Kille House, B&B £20-£25 per person sharing. Dinner £17. Tel (095)21849.
Temple House, Ballymoate, Co Sligo
Temple, Moate, Co Westmeath
For many people, Sandy and Deb Perceval's Temple House is the ultimate country house. It is grand, yet welcoming and swaddling, the rooms splendidly eccentric.
Deb Perceval's astute cooking exploits perfectly the produce of their organic walled garden, and her food makes for the kind of communal dinners where everyone seems to wind up as friends.
Temple, meantime, is smaller, considerably less grand, but Declan and Bernadette Fagan's house is one of the best places I know for checking in and immediately switching off. The house is only a stone's throw from the main Dublin Galway road, but once you turn up the lane, you enter another world.
The spell is composed of comfy rooms and fine cooking. Mrs Fagan's meat cookery, using produce from James Tormey of Oliver Plunkett Street, Mullingar, is especially excellent, while her vegetarian cookery is also enjoyable and imaginative. Special "relaxation weekends", which include massage and relaxation therapy, have one transported to blissville in seconds.
Also in the area in Sligo try the perfect pizzas in Truffles, Bernadette O'Shea's groovy restaurant. In Westmeath check out Ray Byrne and Jane English's highly regarded Wineport Restaurant, down on the water in Glasson.
Prices Temple House £40 B&B per person sharing dinner £17. Tel (071) 83329.
Temple B&B £25, dinner £16. Weekend special two nights B&B and one dinner £66. Tel. (0506) 35118
Castlemurray House, Dunkineely, Bruckless, Co Donegal
While we have begun to cotton on to the idea of a restaurant with rooms in recent years, there is no more classic definition of this French idea than Thierry and Claire Delcros's Castlemurray House.
The rooms are simple and affordable. Northerners, in particular, flock here at the weekends.
But the restaurant is the focus of Castlemurray, and rightly so Mr Delcros is a fine cook, whose French background has somehow perfectly married with the temperament of Irish ingredients. No other Frenchman can cook such a splendid Irish breakfast, and dinner allows his well controlled flair to be enjoyed at its best. The views from the dining room are heartbreakingly beautiful Sunday lunch lasts all day.
Also in the area check out Kealy's simple lovable little seafood bar in Greencastle, a cult favourite.
Prices Castlemurray House B&B £22 per person sharing dinner £20-£2.
Echo Lodge, Ballhgarry, Co Limerick
Everyone knows of The Mustard Seed, and everyone knows of Dan Mullane, and everyone will soon know that The Mustard Seed has moved, with Dan Mullane, a few miles from the village of Adare, to Ballingarry, where it is now house fin Echo Lodge.
Surrounded by seven acres, it is, bust the right place to allow Mr Mullane to indulge his generous hospitality. His new chef, David Norris, is continuing the modern Irish style of cooking which Mr Mullane perfected in the original "Mustard Seed grilled goat's cheese with a roasted beet root dressing pork filet with a fennel seed crust escalope of salmon with a lemon and chive beurre blanc.
Also in the area do try the new guise of the original Mustard Seed, now known as The Wild Geese, and run by Lorcan Roche and Serge Coustrain.
Prices Echo Lodge, B&B £60-£75 per person sharing, dinner £28. Tel. (069) 68508.
Hanora's Cottage, Clonmel, Co Waterford
Carrigahilla House, Stradbally, Co Waterford
Rather quickly and rather quietly, Waterford has become a place to eat well. Within the city, there is fine cooking from Martin Dwyer and Paul McCluskey and Paula Prendiville, in their eponymous restaurants, and wine buffs will drool over David Dennison's Wine Vault, as described in these pages last week by Mary Dowey.
But there are also fine foods to be found in the Blackwater Valley, and no trip to Lismore can now be complete without heading the few miles east to Glencairn, where Ken and Cathleen Buggy who formerly owned the Old Presbytery, in Kinsale have opened a delightful pub. Of course, you shouldn't miss the splendid McAlpin's Suir Inn, in Checkpoint or the buzz of The Ship, in Dunmore East.
So where do you stay? Well, if you are a sporty, hill walking type, then Seamus and Mary Wall's Hanora's Cottage, in the Nire valley near to Clonmel, suggests itself, though you may trade in the sporty bit and abandon yourself to Fain Wall's careful cooking. Or, if you are a gardening buff, then consider Carrigahilla House, in Stradbally, where Vincent and Margaret Morrissey run a charming house with good food and understated charm.
Also in the area make sure to bring home some of the fine, simple breads from Barron's Bakery, in Cappoquin.
Prices Hanora's Cottage, £22.50 B&B, £17.50 dinner. TUB (052) 36134.
Carrigahilla House, B&B £20 £25 per person sharing, dinner £22.50. Tel (051) 293127.
Liss Ard Lake Lodge, Skibbereen, Co Cork
If West Cork is another country, then Liss, Ard Lake Lodge, just outside Skibbereen, is the luxurious country house hotel from another planet. Claudia Meister and Delvyn Klevenow have re-invented the concept of country house style and country house cooking. The house is dazzlingly, daringly minimalist, and the cooking is so completely resolved and rethought that it stands among the best in the country.
Also in the area when you make your pilgrimage to nearby Clonakilty to buy black pudding, check out the smashing cured fish in Kicki's Cabin, and also the fun, friendly food in Fionnuala's.
Prices Liss Ard Lake Lodge, £110-£130 per person sharing Dinner £29. Tel (028) 22365.