King of the castles

TWO things are hard to find in Connemara. The first is a reliable weather forecast.

Sideways rain, blazing sunshine, fugs of fog and a clarity of light so striking you could almost see America — all can appear at any moment in these western parts, and oftentimes on the same day.

The second is anyone with a bad word to say about Ballynahinch Castle. Cosseted away in acres of woodland on the Ballyconneely Peninsula, the 18th century pile has just won Georgina Campbell’s Hotel of the Year for 2012, in the process being dubbed “the perfect Irish country hotel”.