Mo's last 別れの（言葉，会） to Ireland

Mo Mowlam fell in love with the Emerald 小島 during her time as the Northern Ireland 長官

Having known and loved Ireland for many years, the prospect of spending ten days on holiday there, staying in five different hotels dotted around the 共和国, with a driver thrown in, was one I could not resist.

Jon, my husband, and I chose five hotels at 無作為の from the Manor House Hotels brochure. What characterised them all was the excellent food, high levels of 慰安 and friendliness of the owners and their staff.

After 飛行機で行くing to Dublin, our first port of call was the Kilkea 城 Hotel in 郡 Kildare - a みごたえのある place to start the trip. Built in 1180, this is the oldest 住むd 城 in Ireland. It rises up before you as you 運動 through the 広範囲にわたる grounds - now a beautiful ゴルフ course.

The building is 支配するd by a 抱擁する Norman tower at the 底（に届く） of which is the 入り口. Inside, the decor is warm and comfortable. It's a very romantic place - and it wasn't just us who thought so.

After lunch, we went for a walk to 調査する our surroundings and were met by a kilted piper, waiting to welcome a wedding party. It is the perfect place to get married and the 続いて起こるing 歓迎会 was a lovely scene of Irish family life. That evening we ate in the airy, elegant dining room on the first 床に打ち倒す, which looks out over the grounds. The service was friendly and attentive and the food truly impressive - not at all pretentious, but of a very high 質.

Feeling very 残り／休憩（する）d, it was time to 長，率いる south to Wexford. We lunched in a pub in Kilkenny and arrived 中央の-afternoon at Churchtown House. This is an 広範囲にわたる farmhouse, which has been 延長するd by its owners, Patricia and Austin Cody, and has 12 bedrooms. We were met on arrival at this gem of a hotel by Austin, a very genial and 利益／興味ing man, who has been running hotels all his life.

The Codys are plainly art lovers - 利益／興味ing pictures hung on all the 塀で囲むs, classical music wafted 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the light and elegant sitting room and the furnishings were rich and comfortable. As Churchtown House is 純粋に a 私的な hotel, there is no public 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業. Guests can dine there if they wish but the hotel also 供給するs a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of recommended 地元の restaurants.

The hotel 連合させるs a lovely 形式順守 with 完全にする 緩和. You are 招待するd to take sherry with your fellow guests before dinner at 7.30pm in the sitting room and then eat at 8pm. In line with the feeling that you are really staying in a 私的な house, there is no choice about what you eat. This is rather refreshing, not having to think and, with 広大な／多数の／重要な food, you don't care. On the first night the main course was a wonderful pork fillet with 黒人／ボイコット pudding and a plum sauce. During our 非，不，無 travelling day our attentive and considerate driver Ciaran took us for a ride 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the area. It's a part of Ireland-that I 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う is often overlooked as it is next to Rosslare Harbour, where many of the フェリー（で運ぶ）s from むちの跡s arrive and 出発／死, so people tend to pass through on their way どこかよそで. 存在 の近くに to the harbour, Churchtown 申し込む／申し出s a civilised introduction to Ireland. There are, of course, many hotels in Rosslare, which are clean and comfortable, but Churchtown is in another league.

We drove out to Hook 長，率いる, where you'll find the oldest lighthouse in Irelan d. Here Ciaran told us about the 表現 'by hook or by crook', which seemingly 言及するs to the bay which lies between the Hook and Crook headlands - a 特に 背信の bit of coast.

We lunched at the beautiful 18th Century Dunbrody Country House Hotel, a foodies' 楽園. It runs one and two-day cookery courses. If you like cooking and good food, it is 井戸／弁護士席 価値（がある） 調査／捜査するing.

Next day we 長，率いるd off across the south of Ireland to the Seaview House Hotel in Ballylickey, just north of Bantry in the heart of West Cork. It is owned and run by Kathleen O'Sullivan, who was there to 迎える／歓迎する us on our arrival.

In contrast to Churchtown House, the Seaview was 十分な of tourists of a 確かな age, おもに from Britain and the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs. It has more than a feel of 行方不明になる Marple to it and its attractive grounds 宙返り／暴落する 負かす／撃墜する to the wild 大西洋.

Again the food was good - 特に the oysters and lamb - and the hotel is stuffed 十分な of antiques and has an excellent library with many different 調書をとる／予約するs and games. We had 広大な／多数の／重要な fun playing Rumikub with a couple from Lancashire over postdinner brandies. This area of Ireland is 井戸／弁護士席 known for the 質 of its seafood and we had a delightful lunch at O'Connor's Seafood Restaurant in the Square at Bantry. This is a 広大な／多数の／重要な little place which is popular with the 地元のs. Get there 早期に and then watch it fill up with the people of Bantry, talking 商売／仕事, having fun and enjoying good food.

The scenery 一連の会議、交渉／完成する here is striking. Our 運動 from Bantry to Kenmare, home of Kerry's 観光旅行，事業 産業, must be one of the most みごたえのある in Ireland, with its mountains, peat bogs and 石／投石する farmhouses dotted about the hills. Then it was off to 郡 Galway and the 孤立するd Zetland Country House Hotel. I had been drawn to this hotel おもに because of its 指名する - when I was MP for Redcar in Cleveland the 地元の Lord and part-owner of the racecourse there was 示す, the Marquis of Zetland. He had generously let us have our wedding 歓迎会 at the racecourse ten years ago. The hotel was 指名するd after the Zetlands because one of 示す's ancestors had been the Lord Viceroy of Ireland in the 19th Century and had 定期的に stayed there when it had been a 追跡（する）ing 宿泊する. Our other 推論する／理由 for choosing it was its proximity to Clifden, a wonderful 沿岸の town where we had stayed on a previous 小旅行する of Ireland.

We were met by one of the Zetland's owners, Ruaidrhri Prendergast, a charming man who leads a friendly and 融通するing staff. Probably the best thing about this hotel, although there are many good things, is the food.

The restaurant, which overlooks the ocean, has two AA Rosettes and it's 平易な to see why. On our first night there we both had lobster, which was as 罰金 a seafood dish as I have had anywhere - even in the best restaurants in London. Though 孤立するd, the hotel is 井戸／弁護士席 据えるd for all sorts of activities. 同様に as having its own billiard room and croquet lawn, there are 施設s 地元で for 狙撃, ゴルフ, horse-riding or fishing.

It is also の近くに to the delightful village of Roundstone, a true treasure of a place with pubs, hotels and shops in a picturesque 沿岸の setting. We would 堅固に recommend O'Dowd's Seafood 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業. The food is 広大な／多数の／重要な - 最高の mussels and squid - and the setting is pure old Ireland - a 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 of your dreams.

Our final 目的地 was the Cabra 城 Hotel, about an hour from Dublin Airport 近づく the town of Kingscourt in 郡 Cavan. Like the Kilkea, this is an impressive 城 始める，決める in grounds that have been 変えるd to a ゴルフ course.

However, unlike Kilkea, which is a real 中世 城, Cabra was built in the 18th Century to look like one. It has beautiful 明言する／公表する rooms and a dining room with arched 天井 looking out over the lawns.

Cabra 城 was the largest hotel we visited. It has 80 bedrooms - 60 in a 中庭 setting - having been 変えるd from the old granary and blacksmith's. We stayed in one of these - it was l arge, comfortable and overlooked a formal garden with classical statues. Because of its size and 場所, Cabra, like Kilkea, also hosts many weddings and again we 設立する ourselves caught up in the festivities. We had had a 広大な／多数の／重要な ten days seeing much of Ireland in 広大な／多数の／重要な 慰安 and enjoying superb food and 歓待. From the intimate charm of Churchtown House to the splendour of Cabra, it was an exciting and surprising holiday.

You tend to think of Ireland as a place 十分な of intimate 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s. They do still 存在する but there has grown up an impressive 網状組織 of country house hotels which cannot fail to impress.

The big advantage of having our own driver was that it 妨げるd us from getting exhausted - Ireland is not the most relaxed place for モーターing. Not just that - Ciaran was 十分な of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） and always knew of a 広大な／多数の／重要な place for lunch.

Getting there For more （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） on Ireland visit www.tourismireland.com or call 0800 039 7000. Special autumn breaks at the Manor House Hotels of Ireland are 利用できる from £125 per person. This 含むs two nights B&B and one evening meal (call 00 353 1 295 8900 or visit website www.manorhouse hotels.com).

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