Planning a weekend away is just the thing to keep you going between now and Christmas, writes Róisín Ingle.
Back to work, back to school, back to reality: post-holiday blues are unavoidable at this time of year. The most effective way to tackle this inescapable predicament is, of course, to start planning another holiday as soon as you possibly can.
The problem is that, by the time the summer holidays fade to a distant memory - usually a week after you've landed - another two weeks relaxing abroad or even at home is often out of the question. At least that's what the bank manager seems to think. So planning a weekend away in Ireland - even if it is only an hour's drive from your front door - is just the thing to keep you going until Christmas.
Traditionally, tourism providers all over the country offer low-season packages, many of which are surprisingly easy on the wallet, especially when it comes to midweek rates. If you insist on spoiling yourself rotten, you'll be pleased to hear that even the fanciest establishments are trying to lure in more guests by adding extra activities and meals with their weekend deals.
Meanwhile, the places where you can go to be pampered are on the increase, and some more off-the-wall activities and venues are on offer to mini-breakers who want something a little bit different for the weekend.
Just hearing the crunch of gravel on an immaculately landscaped driveway is enough to make the mini-breaker feel transformed into a lord or lady of the manor - for the duration of their country-home stay at least. Rathsallagh House, a family-run golf and country club in Co Wicklow, is so posh that there are no numbers on the bedroom doors - only affectionate names - and regulars often request the same rooms when they return.
It's the kind of place where guests are on first-name terms with the people serving them breakfast, and it's worth keeping an eye out for prominent barristers taking refuge from the Four Courts. This autumn, on selected dates, the proprietor is offering two nights' bed and breakfast with an evening meal and a choice of golf lesson and massage for €199 a person sharing; early bookings will get you a second meal or an extra night free.
Nestling among 350 acres of mountains, rivers and lakes, Ballynahinch Castle in Recess, Co Galway, is another luxurious country retreat with individually named en-suite rooms. It revels in its "casual country elegance", with open log fires and a fishery on the Ballynahinch river - where, if you are lucky, your dinner for the evening might have been caught. Its winter packages start in October, when two nights' B&B with an evening meal costs €150 a person sharing midweek or €190 at the weekend.
A mile west of the castle stands Cashel House, which offers golf, salmon and sea-trout fishing and the exclusive pleasure of its (tiny) private beach. Trivia fans might appreciate that this was the spot chosen by the late Charles de Gaulle in the 1960s for its seclusion and peaceful atmosphere. Rates start at €200 a person sharing for two nights' B&B and an evening meal for this upmarket break by the sea.
Parknasilla, in Co Kerry, is another elegant country pile where you can shoot clay pigeons by day and relax in the outdoor Canadian hot tub by night.
Or perhaps, if you really are to the manor born, you might want to save up to splash out in Ireland's first destination spa, which opens at the Park Hotel Kenmare, near Sneem in Co Kerry, at the end of October. Sámas is a 10,000-square-foot, €5 million complex being modelled on resort spas such as Canyon Reach in upstate New York. The facilities will be open only to residents because "we want all the people who come here to be staying with us so that they can relax and do absolutely nothing else," says general manager John Brennan.
As well as something called "the heat experience", which warms you up before your treatments, there are rooms exclusively for couples, with features such as extra space in the shower cubicles and massage tables side by side so, Brennan explains, "you can hold your partner's hand" while being given some of the 50 holistic treatments on offer. These rooms even have private pools for the exclusive use of you and your partner. The catch? A three-day spa package starts at €885 a person. Still, the equally posh Canyon Reach would set you back more than $1,000 a day, making it cheaper for Americans to travel to Co Kerry than to relax in style in their own country.
But perhaps, as a discerning Irish weekend traveller, you would feel more at home in your own castle for the weekend? The Irish Landmark Trust knew what it was doing when it converted a number of unique Irish properties into stunning self-catering venues while stripping away none of their original charm. Lighthouses and lighthouse-keepers' cottages, such as the ones recently converted at Blackhead, on the Antrim coast, have proved among the most popular properties. The trust says it has been astounded by the interest in these old buildings, situated in the best possible vantage points on cliffs high above the sea.
But the trust also has a number of castles on its books that will appeal to anyone looking for a more unusual break that won't break the bank.
Clomantagh Castle, near Johnstown in Co Kilkenny, has buildings that range in age from a 12th-century parish church to 18th-century farmhouse buildings. It sleeps 10 people, so the €700 weekend rental fee could work out at only €70 a person.
Elsewhere, Annes Grove miniature medieval castle in Co Cork is the perfect setting for a romantic getaway, as it sleeps only two under its turrets. Designed by Benjamin Woodward in 1853, it's a gothic structure at the junction of three quiet country roads. The cost for a weekend is only €240 in low season.
That kind of getaway would be far too solitary for the increasing numbers who are packing out the annual murder-mystery theme nights in hotels around the country. "Our guests say they like the fact that they meet new people on these breaks, and they like to do something a little different," says Nicola Harkin of the Clifden Station House in Co Galway. In October it is running a "Guys and Molls" extravaganza in which the Irish and Sicilian mafia - played variously by actors and the guests themselves - turn sleuth after the boss has been murdered. For the entertainment, two nights' B&B and dinner, it costs €169.
Renvyle House Hotel in Connemara is another mecca for theme-break addicts. In October it is hosting a literary weekend, a jazz weekend hosted by Mary Coughlan and a weekend of classical music, with each package costing from about €210 per person sharing. Meanwhile, at Kelly's Resort Hotel, in Rosslare, autumn is the time for breaks featuring classes on everything from wine tasting to painting, golf clinics to cookery demonstrations. In November the Total Image event sees Celia Larkin on hand to help guests enhance their looks and their wardrobes, so there's no excuse for not looking good while you try to recapture that holiday feeling.
