King of the castle in Offaly
I’ve ticked Athlone and Tullamore off the list and so relished the opportunity to visit Kinnitty Castle in Co Offaly, given its location in the foothills of the Slieve Bloom mountain range.
The castle is a 19th century structure in the gothic revival style on 650 acres of parkland. The website for the venue states it “offers the perfect setting for a romantic castle break in Ireland” — just what my wife and I needed in the middle of January.
The castle is outside the village of Kinnitty, about 10km from the village of Birr. Passing through the large gates, we cruised up a winding drive through dense forest on both sides and emerged to find the impressive castle structure.
With plenty of parking space available we didn’t have far to walk to the massive wooden front door; the reception is up a set of stone steps flanked by large candles burning in a series of floor-mounted holders, very medieval indeed and sets the tone for the rest of the castle — tapestries, antique furniture and art.
Our room wasn’t ready on arrival and we were invited to take refreshments in the Library Bar. As the only people in the bar we made straight for the comfort of a large green Chesterfield couch in front of the cavernous fireplace, although it seemed that the fire had only been recently lit as there wasn’t much wood burning in it ... well these things do take time to catch on.
We were assigned the O’Carroll suite on the first floor, a vast room with as much space as an entire three-bed semi, with views to the front and the side of the castle grounds through three 12-foot-high sash windows. We were shown to the room by the receptionist and the concierge who recognised the look of horror on our faces as we were hit by the freezing cold in the room — they assured us the heating had just been switched on and the room would heat up in no time. But we felt the chill the whole time we were there.
The huge widescreen TV was the only hint we were out of the 19th century; antique furniture was dotted around the room to good visual effect. The bed had a solid king-size mattress, but the massive ornate throne-like structure on which it sat was impractical.
The dirty slipper under the bed (belonging to a previous guest perhaps) was a house-keeping error; the bathroom door, with only an internal bolt, had to be jammed from the outside with cardboard to stop the draughts.
And as for the romance, instead of ripping our clothes off we were digging out thermals and layering on the woolies.
The only thing to do was to get some food as fuel into our bellies.
We decided to return to the Library Bar where a snacks and hot meals are served; the menu offers a wide selection of food at reasonable prices. I opted for the minute steak sandwich, sauté red onion, garlic, local organic cheese and chips while my wife went for a sesame seed coated salmon dish. Both dishes were of a very high standard, tasted great and cost less than €15 each. Service was also really prompt and very friendly, and credit must go all the staff who were nice and pleasant to deal with.
Breakfast is served in the Slí Dala restaurant — Kinnitty Castle’s main dining room — and there was a fine selection of food on offer, from the cold buffet to the hot breakfast menu, though the claim on the breakfast menu of the food being “freshly cooked to order” was a bit of a stretch — the rashers were cooked that morning alright but well before I ordered.
Dinner in the Slí Dala on the second night of our visit didn’t disappoint either and full marks to the chefs for having the rather unusual dish of ray wing as a main course which my wife sampled and declared to be excellent. I had a roast pork dish which again was very good.
Kinnitty Castle doesn’t offer a spa or leisure centre but it does have some more traditional activities on offer such as horse-riding and clay pigeon shooting. Also, a walk around the back of the castle provides access to the tracks of the Slieve Bloom range. Kinnitty village is a short walk away and offers a chance to explore what may be Ireland’s only pyramid, erected in the 1830s by one of the castle’s owning Bernard family on his return from Egypt. The castle also features a nicely laid-out dungeon area which houses a bar and a restaurant. We had a look around, but again we felt the cold.
The hotel currently has a two-night (two breakfasts/one evening meal) winter break from €129 per person.
www.kinnittycastlehotel.com.
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