Dromoland Castle / Newmarket on Fergus / Ireland

House & Hotel Magazine loves this great hotel in lovely Ireland.

It has an extraordinary history stretching back to the 5th Century, Dromoland Castle was originally the ancestral home of one of the few families of Gaelic Royalty; direct descendants of Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland.
Approached by a meandering drive that passes acres of magnificent lawns, this luxury 5 Star Castle Hotel overlooks its own Championship Golf Course and a glistening lake which commands the panoramic beauty of the surrounds.
Its called the Irish St. Andrews.

So a bit of old-world style & elegance with contemporary luxuries, Dromoland’s tradition of delivering impeccable, unobtrusive service is never compromised. You can enjoy an exquisite selection of gourmet fine dining and delicious wines. If you are in the mood to relax try the castle’s luxury spa or indoor heated pool. Located just 13 kilometres from Shannon International Airport, Dromoland Castle Hotel Ireland is the ideal base from which to explore the typical irish cities of Limerick and Galway; the magical Shannon region and Ireland’s rugged West Coast.
Shannon International Airport, it is easy to check in to US.

Resto tip in Dublin: Patrick Guilbaud

Located in:21 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, Ireland

Patrick Guilbaud’s restaurant opened in 1981. He moved to Ireland after cooking in England for seven years.

These days the kitchen is in the hands of Guillaume Lebrun, who has worked here since the opening of the restaurant, after previously cooking in Paris.
The restaurant is on the ground floor of a boutique hotel in central Dublin. The room is airy and bright, with a high ceiling, patterned carpet, white walls and beige upholstery. The room can seat 70 diners at capacity, and there is private dining room in addition. Fourteen chefs and three kitchen porters were working in the kitchen today.

The wine list lands with a thud on the table in a large black binder. The cellar has around 20,000 bottles in all, with over 1,200 separate wines listed. Mark-ups seemed generally moderate.

A bread basket was filled with a wide range of breads, which are warmed up here, though the dough is supplied from an outside facility. The selection included baguette, bacon and onion roll, ciabatta, walnut and raisin roll, mixed seed bread and soda bread. These were nice. The meal began a single large roast scallop (from Castletownbere) with little cubes of parsley jelly, a light garlic emulsion and a Pedro Ximenes reduction. The scallop was high quality, caramelised with the help of a little sugar, cooked in butter and oil, and was cooked very carefully through. Yummy. This was followed by a tarte fine of assorted raw and marinated vegetables, on a base of St Tola, a soft goat cheese from County Clare, with a red pepper mustard. The peppers, radish, cucumber and baby mushrooms went well with the cheese, the red pepper mustard was a nice touch and the tart layer had good texture.
A cheese board had quite a wide choice of cheese, some from Ireland (such as Gubbeen) and some from France (Brie de Meaux, Munster etc). The hard and soft cheeses were in perfect condition. As a nice touch, the helpful sommelier brought, instead of a single glass of wine, four little glasses of different wines paired with each cheese that I had selected.
Nice experience and we just love the irish…