Ballynahinch Castle

We really didn’t want to leave the luxury of the Princess Grace Suite at The Shelbourne, but that’s what we had to do on Wednesday morning.

We loaded up the rental car and began our drive across the center of Ireland, from Dublin, on the east coast, to Ballynahinch Castle on the west coast. It’s about a 4-hour drive, though we took a little longer, stopping in the center of the country, in the town of Athlone.

There, we toured the medieval Athlone Castle along the Shannon River.

While the boys played “lawn” chess on the top level of the castle, I was more focused on what was in the background.

I visited the beautiful Church of Saints Peter and Paul.

Beautiful, inside and out.

It began to rain, so back in the car, we went.

We followed the road markers to our destination, turning down the dense tree-lined lanes until the castle rose out of nowhere in front of us.

Ballynahinch Castle was built in about 1684 and has been used as a hotel since 1946.

It sits on the edge of the Owenmore River.

The grounds are stunningly gorgeous!

Happily, when we booked the rooms, months ago, we made reservations for dinner in the dining room of the castle.

The food was outstanding!

With only a couple of California wines on the extensive wine list, we were beyond excited to find that one of the two was from our favorite winery in Napa, Frog’s Leap!

To end the night on a perfect note, I found our dinner order nailed to the order board. The young woman who served us referred to me as “Lady” instead of “Mum” while listing Dave and Connor as “Dad” and “Son.”  I noticed other orders had “Lady” and “Gentleman” on them.  I don’t know why, but I thought that was really sweet.

After exploring more around the grounds, we’ll be off to find more Irish treasures.

Stay tuned…