Carton alternative to the holiday package

Tommy Barker visits a 200-year-old estate with teenage attitude.

CARTON HOUSE, long the seat of the Earls of Leinster, has had some pretty demanding guests, from its 18th century nobility callers, to elite golfers in the Irish Open, on through demanding house buyers picking up more than 100 of its demesne-set lodges. A hotel since 2006, it has also met the high expectations of hotel and spa pampered high-rollers of the Celtic Tiger years. Even more prima donna types — soccer players from Real Madrid among other elite athletes — are even rumoured to be set to visit this summer, for training sessions on its new playing pitches, next to the 165-bed hotel in the 1,100 acres of private ground. Carton’s new owners have even built a 5,000 sq ft private house in the woods that has footballer’s wife stamped all over it (see panel).

Now, though, having drawn all of this on itself as its daily business Carton had better prepare itself for the most challenging, the most demanding, the hardest to please of all of its guests over a 200-year span: might that be teenagers, then?