For those planning - or even mishing - to get away for a few days over Christmas or New Year, here are a few home-grown suggestions from Paul O'Doherty
BIG COUNTRY Country houses slumbering by a lake or between forest and countryside are ideal escapes from urban life, and there is a good selection open around the festivities. Clone House, Aughrim, Co Wicklow (0402-36121; www.clonehouse.com) has rooms from December 24th to January 7th. B&B €75 pps. Dinner, €49.50, consists of Tuscan-style dishes cooked by Florentine owner Carla Watson. Enniscoe House, Ballina, Co Mayo (096-31112; www.enniscoe.com) has availability from December 30th until January 3rd. B&B&D is €140pps, and B&B is €90 pps. Don't forget to bring your walking shoes and fleeces for morning trips around Lough Conn, and an appetite for roast goose with all the trimmings in the evening. Glenview House, Midleton, Co Cork (021-6431680; www.glenviewmidleton.com) has availability over New Year. B&B is €70 pps and dinner is €40. Expect splendid seclusion within walking distance of civilisation, and the house has its own spring water, free-range eggs and home-cooking. Ballymaloe House, Cloyne, Co Cork (021-465253; www.ballymaloe.ie) has availability from December 27th until New Year at €160 (B&B&D). Great food, wine and in-house art collection. Farran House, Farran, Co Cork (021-7331215; www.farranhouse.com) has self-catering accommodation available over Christmas, costing €4,400 per week and sleeping 14. You and your guests will have 12 acres of woodland and rolling hills overlooking Kilcrea Castle and Friary.
SWINGING TIME Golf and country clubs have some tempting offers for golfers and golfing widows alike, with a number of deals on offer. For instance, Dromoland Castle, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare (061-368144; www.dromoland.ie) is offering a three-night package over Christmas for €1,350 pps including three B&Bs, three evening meals, three afternoon teas and a choice of golf, tennis and horse-riding activities, among others. Highlights include the picturesque seventh, and avoiding the Dromoland ducks on 10. Mount Juliet, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny (056-7773010; www.mountjuliet.ie) has a post-Christmas special including B&B, one dinner and one activity for €523 per couple from December 27th. Activities include a round of golf, spa treatments, archery, shooting or lake fishing. Try playing hide-and-go-seek on this 1,500-acre estate. Roganstown Golf and Country Club, Swords, Co Dublin (01-8433118; www.roganstown.com) has places from December 27th B&B&D plus golf for €180 pps. This is a Christy O'Connor-designed course with a testing 18th. Glenlo Abbey, Bushypark, Co Galway (091-526666; www.glenlo.com) is offering various deals from December 27th, from €224 pps including B&B&D, nine-hole golf, archery and clay-pigeon shooting. There's also the Pullman restaurant - a converted train carriage where the 1974 movie Murder on the Orient Express was filmed.
RELAAAX A fine way to tune up for a new year. The Park Hotel, Kenmare, Co Kerry (064-41200; www.parkkenmare.com) has a garden-of-the-gods-type Sámas spa, and one of the finest, old-fashioned Irish hotel welcomes in the country. There is also an 18-hole golf course. Three-day stays over Christmas cost €1,075 pps and include three B&B&3D, afternoon tea and lunch. A two-day deal over New Year's Eve is €775 pps. The Brook Lodge Inn, Aughrim, Co Wicklow (0402-36444; www.brooklodge.com) has crammed so much into its five-year existence that it's hard to imagine Wicklow without it, and that's before Paul McGinley gets to grips with his first golf course design. For the moment, try out the Wells Spa incorporating warm stone therapy, during three-night deals over Christmas, from €575 pps.
BY THE WATER Wineport Lodge, Glasson, Co Westmeath (090-6439010; www.wineport.ie) reopens December 27th, offering two-nights from €225 pps (2B&B&1D). This is a quiet place to escape to, with Lough Ree in the backyard. And if the waterways aren't your thing, check out the Canadian hot tub on the roof, or the masseuse in your room. Within walking distance of Howth Head and the blustery pier, The King Sitric, Howth, Co Dublin (01-8326729; www.kingsitric.ie), has availability from December 28th to 30th. B&B starts at €138 and dinner costs from €55 per head. Aherne's, Youghal, Co Cork (024-92424; www.ahernes.com) reopens December 29th with three-night breaks over New Year's Eve costing €395pps (B&B&D). It was chosen as Les Routiers 2006 guesthouse and restaurant of the year.
GO NORTH Northern Ireland is awash with top-notch restaurants and inviting country homes, and has an improving infrastructure. Belle Isle Castle, Lisbellaw, Co Fermanagh (00-44-2866387231; www.belleislecastle.com), has New Year availability in its self-catering accommodation from €430 for three nights or €743 for a week. The Inn At Castledawson, Castledawson, Co Derry (048-79469777; www.theinnatcastledawson.co.uk), is offering a B&B room rate of £37.50 over Christmas and New Year. Dinner on Christmas Day is £45, and £50 on New Year's Eve. This is an inexpensive getaway on the way up - book it now before it gets too popular. Ferndale, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh (00-44-2866328374; www.ferndalecountryhouseandrestaurant.com, is offering B&B from December 27th at £27.50 pps, and dinner from £27 for two courses. New Year's Eve dinner is £45pp for a six-course celebration.
THE BIG-BREAKFAST The Green Gate, near Ardara, Co Donegal (074-9541546; www.thegreengate-ireland.com), is a welcoming B&B which costs from €35 pps. McMenamins Townhouse, Wexford town (053-46442; www.wexford-bedandbreakfast.com), is open from December 30th through New Year, offering B&B at €45 pps and is currently Georgina Campbell's Irish breakfast B&B of the year. Glasha Farmhouse, Ballymacarbry, Co Waterford (052-36108; www.glashafarmhouse.com), a working dairy farm, is Les Rouiters B&B of the Year, and is offering B&B and one dinner for €150 pps from December 29th. This is another place for the walking boots and a warm fleece.
FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD As the clock tiptoes toward New Year's resolutions and the next go-go diets, there's no better time than Christmas to sample great food. A good restaurant with its own accommodation is a massive enticement to any foodie. The Tannery Townhouse, Dungarvan, Co Waterford (058-45420; www.tannery.ie), has availability from December 29th and offers B&B at €50 pps, and New Year's Eve dinner is €60 per head - quite possibly the offer of the season. The Mustard Seed, Ballingarry Co Limerick (069-68508; www.mustardseed.ie) is offering B&B at €90 pps and dinner at €54 per head from December 27th. This is a beautiful location on seven acres. The Olde Post Inn, Butlersbridge, Co Cavan (047-55555; www.theoldepostinn.com) is open from December 29th. B&B is €40 pps, with dinner extra.
CAPITAL IDEA Finding somewhere special in Dublin requires a bit of research if you want something away from the madding crowds. Aberdeen Lodge and Merrion Hall, both in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 (01- 2838155 and 01-6681426, respectively; www.halpinsprivatehotels.com), both offer two nights' B&B at €159 pps, with Christmas lunch at €89 - and are ideal if you're going to Leopardstown for the races. The Red Bank Lodge, Skerries, Co Dublin (01-8491005; www.redbank.ie) is offering a New Year's Eve special for €135 pps (B&B and six-course dinner). Room rates from December 27th are €50 pps, with dinner at €30 per head. This is a respected fish restaurant close to sea, city and countryside in north Co Dublin. u
The getaways mentioned were chosen following a browse through new versions of the following books: The Hidden Ireland; Ireland's Blue Book; John and Sally McKenna's The Bridgestone 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland 2006; Les Routiers in Ireland 2006 - The Road to Good Food; Georgina Campbell's Ireland - The Best of the Best and Georgina Campbell's Ireland - For Gourmet Golfers