For more than a decade we've made periodic buying trips to England. At first we traveled annually; we're now making two visits each year: one in the Spring, another in the Fall.

When our schedules permitted--and we made sure that they usually did--we gave ourselves vacation time in England, Scotland, and Wales while our shipment was being packed for its journey to Conway. A few years ago it finally occurred to us that, once in Europe, not only Britain, but also the entire Continent was easily accessible by plane or rail, meaning that we could visit countries we've always wished to see without the tedium and expense of another trans-Atlantic flight. Since then, by extending our buying trip by a few days, we've visited Italy (three times!), France, and the Netherlands. During our latest trip we visited--for the first time--the other British Isle: Ireland.

Though our pied-à-terre was to be near Rosslare, a port of entry by ferry from Wales, we elected to fly to Dublin, saving a half a day in each direction as well as a fair amount of money. We rented a car in Dublin and drove down the eastern coast to County Wexford, a drive of about 100 miles which, because of Easter holiday traffic, road construction, and many small, downtown traffic jams, took nearly six hours!

We arrived at our accommodation, one of two wings of a 17th century manor house, Ballytrent, for several generations a working farm whose pastures and grazing lands border the sea.

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