Ashford Castle Saturday 14th

Plans scuttered !!

Looking out of the bedroom room there was a mist so heavy that the islands in the lake weren’t visible!!  

The forecast was for rain! No golf, no falconry and no cruise on Lough Corrib!  There are numerous recreational pursuits available at  the Castle

Luckily, on arrival yesterday evening, we had walked much of the estate. 

The rain lifted around noon, so we set off for the Guinness Tower. 

The walk took us through a densely forested area, past the Equestrian Centre and finally arrived at the Tower - 164 steps later, I reached the top of the tower, disappointed to find merely  a view of  the tree tops, though the literature promised a view over the estate.  The Tower was built by Sir Benjamin Guinness and stands 29 metres in height. We had just returned to the Castle when the rain tumbled down again. 

On arrival in Cong, the nearby village, dedicated to The Quiet Man filmed in 1951, starring John Wayne, Maureen O’ Hara and Mickey Rooney and directed by John Ford. We had noted 

that there was a museum, so we drove to the village to visit it. 

There is a shop full of the film’s paraphernalia. The museum is a replica of the cottage in the film - the original dilapidated - few in the 1950s probably saw its tourist potential. 

Quite a sanctimonious article!!!

Dick Farrelly the composer of the film’s theme tune. 

Tomorrow, Mayo will play Dublin in the GAA football semi final. It is 70 years since Mayo won the title, denied victory multiple times by Dublin but Mayo is prepared 

Tommy Conroy, from nearby Neale, is a member of the Mayo team. 

We returned to the Castle to prepare for dinner. The dining room is beautiful and the glass that covers the ceiling and partially the walls is antique and reflects a portion of the tables

An aperitif and then we adjourned to the dining room for dinner. The sommelier arrived with an extensive wine list on an I-pad with bottles costing into the €1,000s   

We ordered our meal but it is a long time coming - even the amuse bouche!! The meal was delicious - starter, fish course, main course then game. All delicious but the desserts were outstanding and a work of art! 

And 

Coffee and petit fours followed. 

As the meal was delayed, we retired immediately. Covid restrictions demanded that the facilities close at 23:30 

Ashford Castle

Yet another Covid break! 

Friday 13th (unlucky for some) and we finally arrived at Ashford Castle. We had been trying for months to visit but multiple lockdowns in Dublin prevented us travelling outside the county! 

Ashford Castle Hotel were  most accommodating and booked us in at short notice - success on the 4th attempt!! 

We arrived and our reservation was checked at the gate and the bridge!! Valet parking, an efficient check-in at reception and we were escorted on a tour of the Castle 

                  The Minstrel Gallery

 


                   Afternoon Tea Lounge

as we wound our way to our room. Our bags arrived shortly thereafter. 

The room

had three windows with views of the magnificent gardens and Lough Corrib. 

The room is very luxurious with silk wallpaper and curtains. If I were to make one criticism it is that the room is a little small. 

The history of the Castle is most interesting. It spans 8 centuries since its foundation in 1228.  It was built by the Anglo Norman family, the De Burgos, who

ousted the native O’ Connors of Connaught. Each subsequent owner added to the Castle so its varied architectural styles reflects its history. 

In 1589, the De Burgos, were defeated by a force sent  by Elizabeth 1 and subsequently the Castle was used as a British fortress, with fortified enclaves added. 

In 1715 the Ashford Estate was acquired by the Oranmore and Browne families They built a house modelled on the style of a French chateau, which is now the centre of the Castle. It was used as a shooting lodge and holiday residence. 

The Castle later fell into disrepair until it was purchased by the Guinness family in1852. The estate was enlarged to encompass 26,000 acres. Two extensions were added and in addition the land was cultivated to give local  employment in the years after the Great Famine 1845-1848, as the Guinness family were anxious to alleviate the resultant poverty. 

In 1868, the Castle was bequeathed to Lord Ardilaun, son of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, who had originally purchased the estate. Lord and Lady Ardilaun planted almost 1 million trees to line walks and avenues and unify the estate. Their most notable additions were the George V restaurant

( built to honour the visit to the Castle of the King) and the West wing of the Castle. Gates and lodges were also constructed 

In 1939, it is acquired by Noel Huggard and becomes a first class hotel. Purchasing the contents enabled the early establishment of the hotel. The dinner Ardilaun  gold service dishes and  cutlery are on display in the Castle today. 

In 1951 with the filming of The Quiet Man, the  hotel hosted many of the cast, where many of the film’s scenes were located in the Castle grounds. 

John A. Mulcahy bought the Castle in 1971and further extended the Castle, purchasing 11 identical chandeliers at a cost of €11,000 purchased from Waterford Glass 

1975 saw the Chuck  Feeney and the Tony O’Reilly consortium buy the Castle. 

In 2008, it was purchased by a Galway developer until in 2013, it came into the hands of  Mr and Mrs Stanley and Mrs Tallman, who reputedly spent €47 million upgrading it to make it one of the most luxurious resorts now trading as The Red Carnation Hotel Collection 

Quitting the hotel, we adjourned to Mrs Tea’s  Boutique and Bakery on the Castle grounds., where we had a light lunch. Afterwards, we commenced with a walk along the terraced gardens 

passing the Carpet Garden  with  tennis courts to the rear. 

From thence to the Tallman fountain 

On to the Walled Garden, the. Irish School of Falconry and the Quiet Man House

and from there to the Ashford School House 

We returned to the Castle by the shores of Lough Corrib. 

Luckily the rain held off though once or twice, it threatened!!! 

We had chosen Cullen’s at the Cottage for dinner tonight. There are four restaurants and it’s grounds - one closed as it is too small to enable social distancing - the George V, the Dungeon and in the Castle grounds tonight’s choice. 

The restaurant was quiet as is the hotel.  I suspect that the hotel isn’t fully open as two thirds of their tourists normally come from North America and there are very few Americans here st present. Most of the guests are from the Republic with a small number from UK and N. Ireland. 

We dined on oysters, scallops and Tomahawk lamb chops. I had never before seen such an unusual presentation

dessert  and coffee served with Valrhona chocolates - delicious !! 

A very packed schedule from our arrival at 15:00 hrs until we retired at 23:30, closing time at the Castle due to Covid restrictions!! 

Day 4

Today, we decided to visit Seamus Heaney’s Home Place at Bellaghy, Co. Derry. It was a most impressive structure mainly funded by NI with some aid from the EU. 

The Exhibition was very instructive and we had the museum almost to ourselves. Covid, we were advised,  had substantially reduced visitor numbers. It traced his young life, his time St Columb’s College Derry, to which he won a scholarship from the 11+ examination.   On his departure, his parents presented him with a gift of a pen with a gold nib  - a very expensive gift for an eleven year old! They must have foreseen what was to come, his time at Queen’s, later his professional career as a lecturer there and his time at Harvard and the award of the Nobel prize for literature. 

The exhibition is interactive and one can hear the poet reading his poems - his favourite poem was, he acknowledged, from Clearances 

There is a café on the premises, which serves light meals. It appears that it must be patronised  by the locals as the number of diners greatly exceeded the number of museum visitors! 

We quitted Bellaghy and drove to nearby Toome. 

A canal walk has recently been opened there. 

We set off on the walk along the canal, bathed in the warm afternoon sunshine. 

to Lough Neagh 

Ireland’s largest fresh water lake. 

We returned to the car, en route we sought some refreshments at the lock keeper’s cottage and heritage centre 

We returned to Ardtara and sat on the lawn in the warm evening sunshine imbibing an aperitif as we awaited dinner - a very satisfying day. 

Today, we departed Ardtara, having first had a walk around the perimeter of the estate. On our walk, we came across the remnants of the linen industry associated with Ardtara.  We first saw a dilapidated  building, dated 1929, once used in the industry 

in addition to a number of ruins of stone buildings adjacent to the nearby stream 

and finally evidence that the tradition of linen manufacturing continues in Upperlands 

The present premises 

to this day in the hands of the Clark family. 

All in all in all a great break. 

Day 3

Yesterday, we departed Glenties. The weather has now improved so I decided to have a swim in the Atlantic ( it’s waters are much warmer than the waters of the East coast, as a consequence of the North Atlantic Drift). The nearest beach, we were advised was Narin. We had to traverse some of the same route we had taken to Burtonport the previous day and arrived at a sunny, fine sand beach. 

I togged out and ventured in -  the water felt icy at first but once submerged, it was so refreshing !! The beach was full of holiday makers enjoying the glorious sunshine 

The area had an association with St Conall, whose island retreat is accessible on foot at low tide. 

Afterwards, departed for Ardtara House, adjacent to Maghera, Co Derry. We drove through the scenic Sperrin Mountains and arrived in the late afternoon. It is a beautiful house, built 1895 by linen magnates. 

The property had been sympathetically restored and the gardens and are a wonder to behold.

We were allotted  one of the best rooms in the house with views of the garden and woodland to the front 

Friends joined us on the lawn for drinks as we soaked up the sunshine - in fact we had to retreat to the shade after a time. 

Aperitifs in the drawing room followed by a sumptuous dinner, in what was formerly the games room, was a gastronomic pleasure. After a digestif, we repaired to our rooms. 

A very pleasurable evening.