If you’re looking for somewhere to bring the children this Sunday they would really enjoy a visit to Frank’s Country Cottage where Frank Godfrey is having an open day to mark his 40th anniversary of living there.
Frank is probably the best known personality in the Boyne Valley region and, without any expensive international advertising budget he has enticed thousands of people to visit his traditional farmhouse cottage.
Most of Frank’s visitors are ordinary people interested in a bit of folk history and culture but over the years there have been many dignitaries from the worlds of politics and show biz stopping by. Judging by the photographs in the cottage anyone who is anyone has enjoyed time there. Frank does like photographs.
Credit where credit is due though, Frank has managed to create a really enjoyable visitor centre to which he has recently added a small museum and he is justifiably proud of the result.
“Back in the 1980’s it was my ambition to establish a tourist project in the Historic Boyne Valley with storytelling, music and singing and I am really proud of the result” Frank said.
“I consider the Cottage to be my greatest achievement” he said. “When I look back on the last 40 years and recall all the friends I’ve made and the banter I’ve enjoyed with visitors from all over the world including many VIPs, it makes me very proud that my little whitewashed cottage can hold its place in Irish history which I have shared with thousands of people over the past four decades.”
Some of the VIPs to have visited Frank’s Country Cottage include Nobel prize winner and MEP John Hume, singers Daniel O’Donnell and Mary Duff, the Von Trapp family of Sound of Music fame, John Taylor MP, lan Paisley and comedian Norman Wisdom.
Young and old enjoy, famous or not, the stories and antics of the ever –colourful Frank are always good fun and Sunday’s 40th anniversary celebrations have the makings of a memorable day and all are welcome, especially musicians and storytellers.
Step back in time and enjoy the old-world charm of the Boyne Valley Cottage with its thatched roof, traditional farmyard, old farm machinery and original outhouses which once housed cattle, horses, chickens and pigs.
Children will love Frank’s many colourful stories such as Grumpy the pig who was recorded as Ireland’s oldest pig in the 1980s and once gave birth to 17 piglets!
Or Henrietta the hen who made her nest in the apple tree where she hatched her brood of chicks!
Bizarrely, the stuffed head of the 1947 Grand National winner, Caughoo, hangs proudly on the wall of the Céilí House. Jockey Eddie Dempsey called to the cottage in 1986 and was reunited with his former mount!
Frank has a warm welcome for one and all and his unique sense of fun is infectious.
