Irish Daily Mail Gaeltacht Visit June 2018
It’s that time of year when teenagers make their annual pilgrimage to the far flung corners of Ireland to the Gaeltacht. My daughter is no exception and will be immersed in the Irish language, culture and most importantly be making new friends. The three weeks away provides much needed respite for weary parents and there’s the added bonus of turning the ubiquitous Sunday visit into a mini-staycation. Having treadthis path to the west before to visit my son I’m turning thisexcursion into a road trip. My daughter, Nicole, has assured me in her nightly phonecalls that the food is delicious and she’s had no end of requests for dances at the nightly Ceilidh.”It’s warmer than Portugal mum,” she says and indeed she is correct and when the sun shines in the west of Ireland there is no place more beautiful on earth.
But my route starts out with a stop in the heartland just outside Athlone at the picturesque Wineport Lodge. Basked in sunshine the property is located in a sweet spot on the edge of Lough Rea, with only a few meters of reeds between the deck outside my room and the water. The Wineport Lodge is a unique boutique hotel where rooms are given names of wine types rather than numbers. I check into Bordeaux and am blown away by my view of waterskiiers and sailors enjoying the bounties of the inland waterway. My first stop is at the small but perfectly formed spa where therapist, Nicola, isready with the hot stones. She uses voya products, made from seaweed. I first came across this brand at the Ice House in Ballina, which is not surprisingly also owned by Ray Byrne and his wife, Jane who own Wineport. The makers of Voyahave an interesting story too, having left hectic city life in New York where the founder was a lawyer and returned to Sligo to make a natural beauty product that is taking the best spas around the world by storm.
My visit coincides with World Gin Day and the menu has a colourful selection of gin cocktails to choose from with no less than seven speciality tonic waters. I realise after dining al fresco at the lakeside on a platter of delicious fish, that I didn’t plan this trip properly because one night isn’t enough.
It’s Sunday morning and the next leg involves taking the long and winding road along the coast of south Connemara and across the three bridges to Lettermore where Nicole is waiting for her visit. Some parents take the option to have a leisurely lunch locally and I recommend booking a restaurant if this is the case and you have the entire family travelling as the areafills up on visiting Sunday. My girl wants to go shopping and Galway is a great city to do just that with all the familiar stores that teenagers love. The city gets very busy this time of year but room can be found even on Quay Street.
Buskers and dancers fill the main shopping streets and with a new dress for the weekly disco Nicole is already asking if she can go back to the Bean an Ti because she has to wash her hair and fix the fake tan. The R336 on the Wild Atlantic Way is bumper to bumper with frustrated parents in cars and busy as a Friday afternoon on Burgh Quay. I’m doubly glad I’ve made my reservation to stay in Cashel away from the convoy heading across the country home. Nicole seems pleased to be back on time and less than an hour later I arrive at CashelHouse Hotel. Celebrating its fiftieth year in business this May, it opened in a flurry of excitement in 1969 with a stay by the French president Charles de Gaulle. What followed was years of popularity with French guests, Frank McEvilly has seen many guests from the USA and Europe pass through thedoors, along with his mother Kay who passed away sadly and suddenly in June. Frank values the home market business and like Wineport is also a property in Ireland’s Blue Book. I take a stroll through the carefully tended gardens and follow a path on to the small beach opposite the hotel after dinner. It is still light until 11.20 and the calm and peace in this corner of Ireland is like no other. I sleep soundly in cosy comfort tended by years of personal care that won’t be found in a branded hotel.
Next morning the Twelve Bens nod their heads in shades of duck-egg-blue and abandoned cottages filled with untold tales pop up in the sweeping bends. The patchwork fields lined with stone grey walls hide bleating sheep as the cuckoo and songbirds fill the silence. I drive the long road and stop off in Roundstone, where I’m charmed by shop-owner David Bruno,originally from Boston. His mother hailed from Causeway in Kerry, she married an Italian but David has spent 25 years in Ireland and 19 as the proprietor of his antique second-hand-store The Matchmaker. You can find a 100 year-old-dresser or Chinese-patterned-plate − I left the store with a fake-fur jacket. Craft shops and pubs provide things to do and just outside the town is the silver strand at Dogs Bay. There I paddle in the icy-clear-water that twinkles with a Caribbean turquoise when the sun shines. It’s easy to see why my daughter has fallen in love with this part of south Connemara as I did when I went to Irish college decades ago.
Around the corner and just off the R341 to Clifden on the Wild Atlantic Way, is the site where the pioneering pilots Alcock and Brown succeeded in landing the first transatlantic flight 99 years ago. Celebrations are getting under way for the centenary but already a landmark of an aircraft wing marks the spot on the hill looking down on the moss covered bog at Derrygimla. A bike route makes the site now accessible to visitors.
I’ve an hour to drive for my next night’s lodging at Currarevagh House on the banks of Lough Corrib, a few miles outside Oughterard and along the Western Way which has become a popular trek for walkers. This house has been in the Hodgson family since 1842 and the warmth and hospitality has remained a steady part of the heritage of the building. I’m intrigued by the faded tiger skin hanging next to the staircase − a relic of a time long since past. “My great-great-uncle sent that from India,” Henry Hodgson informs me and like everything else in the house there is an air of absolute authenticity. He throws in the fact that the wallpaper is printed on silk and 180 years old.” Henry’s wife, Lucy, is the cook, and at dinner I’m wooed with the delicious duck and scallops.There are no choices on the menu but with food like this none are needed. Croquet on the lawn and fishing-boats and equipment are all facilities for patrons use in this family home. As generic hotels take over the cities it’s wonderful to find unique properties like these, ensuring that the traditions of Irish hospitality remain intact like the Irish culture that my daughter is experiencing at the Gaeltacht.
Factbox
www.irelands-blue-book.com1. Wineport Lodge, Co Westmeath
Rooms from €75 per person sharing
Suites from €99 per person sharing
Overnight, Dine and Delight at Wineport Lodge, Co. Westmeath (1 night B&B with dinner)
Escape to Wineport Lodge – the home of ‘The Restaurant’ show. Leave the world at the lodge door and enjoy bold rustic flavours over dinner before relaxing while the lapping waters lull you to sleep. When you wake, spoil yourself a little more with breakfast in bed and the morning paper. Includes: Table D’Hotedinner, overnight accommodation, breakfast in bed and morning paper.
Valid From: 01.03.2018 To: 31.12.2018
From: €120 Per Person Sharing2. Cashel House Co. Galway
Bed & Breakfast from €75 – €95 per person sharing
July & August Enticing 2 night break at Cashel House, Co Galway (2 nights B&B with dinner on one night)
This July & August give yourself some peace and quiet by heading as far west as you can go. Cashel House nestles in 50 acres of flowering gardens and woodland walks and here you can breathe in pure unpolluted air and look up and see the stars in a velvety sky. Activities are laid back and include walking, riding, or perhaps golf in Ballyconneely for the more energetic. If you fancy yourself as an artist bring your paints and easel with you. Enjoy 2 nights’ accommodation & breakfast dinner on one evening & a complimentary Irish Coffee after Dinner in this little bit of paradise.
Valid From: 01.07.2018 To: 30.08.2018
From: €245 per person sharing3. Currarevagh House, Co Galway
Bed & Breakfast from €70 – €90
Terrific Two Nights Bed & Breakfast, with 1 Dinner at Currarevagh House, Co. Galway. (2 nights B&B with dinner on one night)
Stay for a unique two nights with us at Currarevagh House in beautiful Connemara. The private 180 acre lake shore estate allows you to escape the world, yet we are perfectly situated for touring the area and indeed only 30 minutes from the ferry port for the Aran Islands. This rate includes 2 nights stay with delicious Full Irish Breakfast each morning, Afternoon Tea on both days served in the drawing rooms, and dinner on one of the evenings. Dinner at Currarevagh is not to be missed – Lucy cooks with originality, expertise and pride; you will be looked after by our long serving local staff; everything adds up to a most memorable experience.
Valid From: 09.03.2018 To: 28.10.2018
From: €205.00 Per Room Per Night
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