C&TH GREAT BRITISH & IRISH HOTELS
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: The glorious Causeway Coastal Route; Ballyfin is Ireland’s finest country house; The Titanic Belfast visitor attraction; Dublin Castle; the gates to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin
for so long that it would be rude to change. And anyway, your belongings will be perfectly safe.’ And you know, without a doubt, that he speaks the truth. In the library there’s an ancient telly, but otherwise shelves of book, a piano and bouts of Monopoly or cards suffice. A generous ‘Edwardian’ breakfast is laid out on the sideboard in the dining room and coffee is served in original ’50s glass Cona receptacles, warmed by methylated spirits. As Henry struggled with a match, I suggested a lighter might be a good idea. ‘If we have a very good year,’ he answered, ‘I might invest in one’. Currarevagh House is just one charming place to stay where you will find deadpan humour delivered with an Irish twinkle. Even at a luxury place like Ballyfin (see page 194), which ranks among the finest hotels in Europe, lavishly furnished with precious paintings and objects, the atmosphere is brought alive by its delightful local staff (don’t miss a ride with Lionel in his pony and trap – pure fun). Or take Ballymaloe (see page 195), where at 7am we traipsed sleepily in to the kitchen to learn how to make Irish soda bread and scones for the morning’s breakfast with pastry chef J.R. Ryall. We soon woke up, for we were in the company of another natural wit and for an hour we made the bread and laughed like drains. But if it’s the people that make Ireland for me, the places don’t lag far behind. The Emerald Isle may be divided in two but as far as Tourism Ireland is concerned, it is one marvellous place to visit, whether north of the border or south, with the extraordinary Wild Atlantic Way linking both. The
longest defined coastal road in the world, all 1,500 miles of it, stretches along the entire west coast from Kinsale in the south to Derry in the far north. It crosses nine counties and six regions, each different, each stunningly beautiful: the Northern Headlands, the Surf Coast, the Bay Coast, the Cliff Coast, the Southern Peninsulas and the Haven Coast. The east coast is no less forgotten. From Derry, you can head east and then south as far as Belfast by following the Causeway Coastal Route that passes such highlights as the Giant’s Causeway, Old Bushmills Distillery and Dunluce Castle, while the coastal path from Portstewart to Ballycastle makes a fabulous walking route. The east of the island, from Belfast to Cork, is also the place to discover Ireland’s ancient roots, particularly Newgrange, the Stone Age monument in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, that’s older than Stonehenge and the pyramids of Egypt. And what of the cities? The Celtic Tiger is long dead, but the Celtic Phoenix is rising fast, and both Belfast and Dublin are bursting with energy and alive with business, art, culture and music where you can do that thing that’s only possible in Ireland: have some good craic. For more information visit: tourismireland.com
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