Cooler than cool

WE arrive at the Ice House in Co Mayo to a welcome so warm it belies the name, and not one, but two glasses of bubbly. This, actually, is an oversight — the better half had ordered tea (of which a selection is brought) — but it’s my kind of oversight. I happily compare and contrast the white and rosé as we sit in one of the signature river-facing rooms: A great glass extension to the old Victorian house which forms a core around which the hotel’s spa and guest rooms have been added in such a way as they all face the river. The original building is built over three cellars, which give the place its name.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

We Irish have a habit of turning our backs to rivers architecturally, but the Ice House shows how wrong we are. It’s a great place to appreciate the slow-flowing River Moy as it winds its way through Ballina.