Here’s five suggestions for things to look out for in the week ahead.

The Park Hotel boasts five-star service and delivers on it in every way possible, writes Jayson Carcione.

MY favourite part of Christmas decorating is laying the dining table — china and glassware that normally sits forgotten in the back of a cupboard has a seasonal renaissance with a rinse and a buff.

A GLISTENING table of Downton Abbey elegance, laden with glasses and candles. Elegant, beautiful glasses, but do their sizes and shapes serve any purpose? Can expensive glasses add to the pleasure of wine drinking?

We’re led by our nose and eyes when shopping for scent in a candle but Kya deLongchamps says buy a brand you trust.

A weekend of cooking with Sarah Baker isn’t just a relaxing getaway, says Pól Ó Conghaile. You may come home with plans for the kitchen and garden, too.

Supermarket giant Tesco has revealed plans to bolster its upmarket credentials by sponsoring hit period drama Downton Abbey.

Academics can be dismissive of the concerns of the popular media. But when it comes to the growth of the super-rich, the tabloids may have gotten it right.

SILVER-HAIRED Myrtle Allen, graceful as ever in a black evening dress and patterned neck scarf, takes a seat in her conservatory at Ballymaloe House.

It could be described as Downton Abbey Irish-style — a glimpse of life in those great houses in wooded estates behind high stone walls.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Kate Winslet and period drama 'Downton Abbey' were among the big winners at the Emmy Awards overnight.

Rathclare House near Kanturk, Co Cork, can be transformed into a Ballymaloe-type enterprise with the right people in charge, writes Rose Martin.