When in Ireland, Mind Your Manors

Story and photography by
Teresa & Michael Anderson 

Ireland is unique in its people, its place and its passionate pursuit of life. While steeped in history it embraces the 21st century with arms wide open. Ireland offers a unique manner to see and stay throughout the country – the Manor house. Broadly defined, a Manor House is a former country home of the wealthy, the privileged or the politicians. Today, many have been converted to lodges in order to save them from ruin or to preserve their place in time. Once settled, you rarely have to leave the property with its expansive grounds, its own top notch restaurant and if fortunate, its own cellar pub.

The continuing expansion of the European Union has brought with it an explosion of young European immigrants to Ireland – especially in the service sector at hotels and restaurants. This is still the case even as Ireland suffers, like Greece and Spain, with the current economy. It is still hard sometimes to find an Irish brogue among the numerous eastern European accents. But try.

Specifically, Dublin is a city in transition: trying to maintain its history while modernizing at an amazing pace. The skyline is filled with church steeples and construction cranes. Temple Bar is the pub area where tourists and locals alike seek out a pint of the national treasure – Guinness.  It’s time well spent to tour the brewery; the reward being the freshest beer you may ever taste – all in a glass enclosed room at the top of the tower. If you are interested in shopping, Grafton Street with its boutiques and bistros is Dublin’s version of Rodeo Drive but with a distinctive 19th century Irish flair.

Explore Ireland and you will be rewarded again and again. About two hours south of Dublin (the roads can be small and tight) is the town of Faithlegg, in County Waterford. The Faithlegg House Hotel is a modern representation of the country estate. Although opened as a hotel and golf resort in 1999, the original house and its sprawling grounds were established in 1783.

As you head West along the Southern coast of Ireland, you will encounter the city of Waterford known now for its crystal, and the town of Cobh known for the launching site of a flood of Irish fleeing the famine and economic despair of the potato blight in the 1840s. If you are of Irish decent, your heritage likely traveled through the gates of Cobh.

Continue west and you will come to the village of Kinsale, one of the most beautiful seaside villages in all of Ireland.  The streets are cobblestone and wander past pubs, shops and great local restaurants. It is one of the oldest fishing villages in all Ireland. The people are friendly and the town’s like a postcard. If you are seeking modern amenities with a waterfront view, the Trident Hotel was extensively remodeled in 2007 and is appropriately located at “Worlds End” right on the harbor.  Just South of Kinsale is Old Head; a golf course with every bit the splendor and history of our Pebble Beach.

On the West coast of Ireland you encounter its rugged and raw beauty with its hills, mountains and seaside cliffs. The traditional town of Killarney serves as the gateway of a one hundred mile loop called the Ring of Kerry. To the North is the Dingle Peninsula and further North still is the Connemara region with its numerous rivers and lakes (loughs), Iron Age forts and religious monasteries; particularly Kylemore Abbey. Originally built as a castle home, similar to Hearst Castle in the United States, it today functions as a Benedictine monastery and a boarding and day school. Carved by the last ice age 10,000 years ago, the West of Ireland is fierce and unspoiled by time.

On the outskirts of Killarney is the Cahernane House Hotel. It was formerly the residence of the Earls of Pembroke in England and supported by the rents of Irish peasants but the freedoms granted the people by the Land Act of 1881 signaled the impending doom of the country manors. The 1877 Manor house is flanked by a more modern wing. Make sure you explore the basement as the Celler Bar, in what was once the estate’s wine cellar, is a wonderful and comforting place to catch up with friends or make new ones.

Another traditional town is Kilkenny. In Ireland you will find numerous towns that start with the word Kil(l), which comes from the Irish Cill: essentially referring or relating to a church. Kilkenny’s streets are winding and beautifully bordered by two and three story shops and apartments. Rivers and bridges crisscross and dissect the town. Alongside the main town bridge and right on the river Nore is the Kilkenny River Court Hotel. Have a pint in the aptly named Riverside Bar and retreat to your room – request one with a view across the river of the 13th century Kilkenny Castle.

But why settle for just a view of a castle? The ultimate Manor house, of course, is the castle; none more famous than Ashford Castle about 30 miles North of the city of Galway. Originally built in the early 1200’s, it was repeatedly expanded as it changed hands, most notably by the Guinness family in the mid 1800’s. Those of you who are John Wayne fans will recognize the village of Cong as the backdrop for one of his best movies, The Quiet Man. The castle offers impeccable luxury and relaxation but, for the more active guests, golf, fishing and falconry throughout its massive but manicured grounds. While Ireland is slowly becoming known as a food destination, no need to leave the castle grounds as their George V restaurant was our best meal of the trip.

Be sure to spend a day or two in Galway. It’s the most livable and friendly of Ireland’s larger cities.  The cobblestone streets meander with apparently no destination in mind. But no matter where they lead, you will find a traditional pub or local shop or restaurant filled with nearby college students, fifth generation Irish or faraway foreigners. The pace is more relaxed than Dublin, the population and attitudes more diverse.

Eventually you have to leave Ireland and head home to tell your friends and family of your travels.  Before you go, stop by and kiss The Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle, Co Cork. After all it may give you a little help expressing the pure joy of Ireland.