Cupid Castle Cures – Dromoland Castle, Ireland
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When touring Ireland you can stay in a farmhouse, guesthouse, villa, secret hunting lodge, abbey, palace, or country manor house. But for romance you must stay in a traditional and authentic Celtic castle!
The first castles were built in England by the Normans, made of wood and earth and mostly on a motte and bailey plan, a central mound (motte), topped with a stronghold (the keep) and circled by a wall. The enclosed area was called the Bailey. While touring the Irish countryside I notice a green ziggurat covered with grass as if pushed up from the depths and into the sky. The first mottes were more defensive in nature.
Norman castles were royal military bastions. The Normans built Ireland ’s oldest castles. Superb Carrickfergus, begun in 1180, and still well preserved today, is probably the first true castle in Ireland. A garrison town was usually built next to each castle, but the castle had to be self supporting in times of a siege. Castles usually included stables, workshops, gardens, storerooms, and a chapel. Castles were the economic and administrative and social centers for the feudal society.
The end of feudalism, and not the introduction of explosives, hastened the use of castles. A few nobles still live in castles, surrounded by servants, or they are turned into luxury hotels or tourist attractions with Medieval banquets. Royalty still lives in castles in England, at Windsor.
The signature castle in Ireland is a Preferred Hotel — Dromoland, in the western side of the country. You won’t find serfs hurling rocks or spears or shooting flaming arrows or boulders catapulted onto the castle grounds. The four-hundred-year-old castle is more of a Baronial home than a castle — and it never was used as a defensive castle. You don’t need a battering ram to get in to make a reservation.
Dromoland is not just a castle, it is a large sixteenth century Gothic revival castellated multi-towered aslar (hewn and dressed stone columns laid horizontally) monument. Dromoland was the former home of the O'Brien Family, one of the great noble Irish clans, who ruled Southern Ireland. This stone splendor is set on 365 acres of its own estate in a natural amphitheatre scooped out in bygone days by the action of a glacier ice sheet and surrounded by a lake (louge) and woodlands filled with deer. The castle first opened as a hotel in 1963, and today, after many renovations, there are 75 rooms and 21 suites on four floors; function space and conference facilities can handle hundreds.
This is the most romantic place I have ever stayed in, and all the guests I talk to wish they could stay forever and role play as a baron or baroness. Because of its romantic appeal, Dromoland is a major draw as a wedding and honeymoon destination; set your Rolex to GMT so you won’t be late for your own special event!
Plush carpets regale the landed gentry’s museum quality of the castle. Vibrant paintings are the stars on vivid velvet walls. Exquisite sculpture stands testament to fine living. Luxury service is expected and received on damask dinner tables. Jetetters Magazine readers have always given the castle superior ratings.
Gourmet dining at the castle is a knightly pleasure, with many options and wonderful cuisine choices for various group sizes or for private romantic interludes.
The Castle's signature restaurant is The Earl of Thomond Restaurant, offering a relaxed but elegant dining experience. Located on the ground floor, dinner can be enjoyed in an ambience enhanced by the soft music of the castle's resident harpist. Enjoy breakfast, light lunch, and dinner in this wonderful setting. The bill of fare includes a large à la carte menu, a daily table d'hôte menu, and a selection of gastronomic menus.
Local game includes estate venison.
Dining at Dromoland’s Earl of Thomond Restaurant is an adventure in culinary elegant delights (with the harpist setting the romantic tone); the quality of food and service is impeccable — 5 stars! With all the deer running loose in the neighborhood, but of course venison is one of my six courses, but I am assured by John Hehir, Sales Manager of the castle, that I can not just go out and poach the king’s deer, but rather hunt clubs supply the game for the table. It is noticeable that the venison I was fortunate to indulge in was grass fed, and the tenderness needed no knave’s knife. The six course dinner winds down after round after round of fine wine (the castle has its own sommelier) from the castle’s extensive wine cellar (check out the vintage cognacs and ports), and the desserts should be considered aperitifs. Then it is off to the Cocktail Bar for more lies, libels, and legerdemain (You can not be in Ireland unless you are a ribald raconteur!).
Formerly the Castle Library, the Cocktail Bar at the top of the Main Gallery, now provides a cozy setting for pleasures of a less literary nature, unless the string of libations loosen up the lengua franca, and then of course that Irish poet in you sets the tongue loose. The bar is open from 10:30 a.m. and I think they close whenever. A log burns in the fireplace; candles are lit in the evening. I sip a Jameson Irish whiskey on the rocks as a beautiful spun gold Rapunzel-haired Irish balladeer sings and strums a guitar in the background as if she were a soundtrack to a Gothic romance novel.
Other dining options at the castle include the Fig Tree Restaurant (at the Golf and Country Club), offering a wonderful variety of dining, from 12 noon to 10 p.m. The menu and presentation have been created for more informal dining, in contrast to the award-winning Earl of Thomond Restaurant. For guests preferring the privacy and comfort of their room or suite, the full complement of restaurant menus is offered. Room service is available from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. A reduced night menu is available from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
I don’t have to drop the drawbridge to get to my luxury deluxe room overlooking the grounds; nearby is the 300-year-old stone Walled Garden that is used for special events, such as weddings. The romantic sleeping rooms are designed in three styles: standard, deluxe, and state (suite) rooms, and all are ensuite with TV, direct dial telephones, iron, ironing board, hairdryers, and trouser press. I look for the ironing board, and it drops down off the side of the armoire. Other room amenities include a modem jack, laundry services, room service, turn down service, and safe deposit box. The best amenity is the box of Dromoland chocolates on the polished hardwood night desk!
The rooms in the entire castle complex are spread out over several buildings. The Caste Keep itself incorporates public rooms, game rooms, and the Earl of Thomond Restaurant, Cocktail Bar, Hotel Reception, and 27 bedrooms (This is where I stayed.). The 19th century Queen Anne Court incorporates 28 bedrooms, and although I didn't get to see them because they were occupied, I hear that they are the ultra romantic rooms overlooking an enclosed courtyard. The Moriarty Wing incorporates 24 bedrooms. The Links Rooms have 16 bedrooms. The Orchard Wood development area has 13 private golf course houses.
The 300-year-old Walled Garden
was the Castle's original entrance.
The Walled Garden is like a Renaissance painting on living display. What could be more romantic than the perfume of spring flowers blooming? Imagine, over three centuries of interludes! Everywhere I look, even out my deluxe room window, I see greenery.
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By Kriss Hammond, Editor, Jetsetters Magazine – visit Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
About the Author
Kriss Hammond, Editor, Jetsetters Magazine. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com