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From craic to crackers
By Malcolm Rogers
 Planning that special Christmas break in Ireland?
If so, now’s the time to reserve your room as many hotels are reporting bookings are running at an
all-time high. Malcolm Rogers looks at some of the options still open to you this Christmas back home
in Ireland.
Christmas in Ireland can still be magical. The ancient Celts had their mid-winter celebrations with Yule logs, candles, great fires and of course you can be sure there was plenty of craic mixed in with the spirituality.
When Christianity arrived in Ireland 2,000 years ago, our ancestors embraced the story of Christ — but didn’t altogether forget about the craic. All agreed that mid-winter required a celebration.
You can still get that genuine Celtic Christmas in Ireland, mixed in with a fair dollop of luxury, because increasing numbers of hotels are offering Christmas break deals over the festive season. Most offer traditional meals, entertainment, trees, trimmings and mulled wine — and the huge bonus is that you won’t have to battle through supermarkets buying industrial quantities of Christmas tuck. Even better you won’t have to serve up the stuff, and then do the dishes afterwards. It’s all done for you!
In Dublin, the Merrion Hotel (tel: 00 353 1 603 0600) is offering a special two-night stay, December 24 — December 26 for EURO 445 per person sharing a deluxe double or twin room. The deal includes a champagne and mulled wine reception in the bar, with Christmas dinner in the famed Cellar restaurant. Santa will of course be making an appearance on Christmas morning, bearing gifts and good cheer for all. If you’re still up for a bit of craic on St Stephen’s Day, you can extend your stay until December 27 for the total price of EURO 640, and take yourself off to Leopardstown Races on the 26th. Who knows, you might win the price of your hotel stay back.
If you’re looking for an escape from the kids over Christmas — not just your own kids, but everybody’s kids — then Castle Leslie in Co. Monaghan is the place to head for.
The Castle, where Sir Paul McCartney was married, won’t accept bookings for anyone under 18. In this child-free environment, dinner will be served on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, plus
presses novelties, carol singing and, if you’re into horse riding, there are rides every afternoon, with hot toddies to fortify you on your way. Price per person (including use of horses) EURO 625 per person.
Still in Ulster, the Nuremore Hotel in Monaghan (tel: 00 353 42 9661 438) is laying on a more traditional family Christmas. Three days of indulgence are on offer, starting on Christmas Eve with afternoon tea, mince pies and various other seasonal goodies.
In the evening there’s dinner, followed by a trip a local church for Midnight Mass. Santy will be in attendance on Christmas morning with
presses for all the good little girls and boys, followed by traditional lunch served at 2.00pm. St Stephen’s Day will be a more leisurely affair after the celebrations and libations of the night before.
You’ll have time to check out the hotel’s spa or the golf course. Lunch is followed by a mystery tour, and in the evening a gala dinner dance is the climax of the weekend. The three nights cost EURO 590 per person sharing.
In Kerry, the Aghadoe Heights Hotel (tel: 00 353 64 31766) is offering top of the range, luxury breaks from December 24 to December 27 at EURO 800 per person. But this Christmas experience has the lot — from resident musicians welcoming you to the hotel, to mince pies served on your return from Midnight Mass. On Christmas Day, following champagne, you’ll tuck into a five-course gourmet lunch.
To work off a few calories you can walk the grounds after lunch — or further indulge yourself in the spa where all pampering services will be provided. This should put you in fine fettle for another delicious five-course dinner in the evening, accompanied by live acoustic music.
Back in Dublin at the Davenport Hotel (tel: 00 353 1 607 3500) you can get yourself a two-night stay including entertainment,
presses and excellent food for EURO 395 per person. The stay can be extended to three nights — and a visit to Leopardstown Races on St Stephen’s Day (you’ll have gathered by now that going to Leopardstown is something of a St Stephen’s Day institution in Ireland).
Up North, the majestic Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle (tel: 0284 372 1066) is offering a two or three-day Christmas Experience. The Slieve Donard is one of Europe’s most highly rated hotels, lying as it does in the shadow of the North’s highest mountain, on the shores of Dundrum Bay.
A three-night stay will set you back £375 per person sharing, or a two-night stay £275 per person sharing. An added bonus here is that it’s just about the likeliest place in Ireland to get a white Christmas — in the mountains at any rate. Seldom does a year go by when there isn’t some snow atop the Mountains of Mourne — and even if the snow doesn’t
materialize, you can always watch them sweep down to the sea.
The Galway Bay Golf and Country Club, Oranmore (tel: 00 353 91 79 0500) is perched on the shores of Galway Bay, overlooking a world-famous 18-hole PGA-standard golf course. They’ve put together a Christmas package consists of three nights dinner, bed and breakfast, including Christmas lunch, for only EURO 299 per person sharing. During the Christmas festivities, the hotel offers entertainment including live music, sing-a-longs and carol singers.
The Regency Hotel, Whitehall, Dublin 9 (00 353 1 836 0236) is offering a four-day, three-night package. Arriving on Christmas Eve, you’ll be welcomed with a mulled wine reception prior to a festive dinner — with carol singing round the Christmas Tree.
Christmas Day consists of breakfast, followed by a multi-denominational service in the hotel. This is followed by Christmas lunch, then a buffet in the afternoon.
St Stephen’s Day offers a choice of tours to Avoca or Leopardstown Races, followed by a gala dinner with entertainment and dancing. On the 27th, breakfast is served before farewell tea and coffee reception — to swap numbers with all the new friends you’ve met. Cost is EURO 469, with children EURO 199.
Down south in Cork, Hayfield Manor (00 353 21 431 6839) you can book yourself in for a special three-day Christmas extravaganza. Mulled wine, mince pies by candlelight, champagne receptions, sumptuous meals, elaborate buffets. Cost is EURO 780.
The Hodson Bay Hotel, Athlone, Westmeath is organising a full programme of activities and entertainment over the festive period. They’re offering three and four-day packages with something for the young and old — naturally enough, Santa Claus will be making a visit.
Proceedings will follow a very traditional pattern — turkey dinner with all the trimmings, buck’s fizz, mulled wine, gifts from Father Christmas, courtesy coach to Midnight Mass and Vigil Mass.
Cost for the three-day package is from EURO 495 per adult sharing, for the four-day package from EURO 550 per adult sharing. (tel 00 353 90 644 2000)
Further west in Galway, the Merriman Hotel in Kinvara is NOT open on Christmas Eve or St Stephen’s Day. However, they are running exceptional value pre-Christmas weekends on Saturday, December 4, December 10/11, and December 17/18.
For EURO 60 per person, you can arrive at the Merriman, have a hot punch or mulled wine reception in the bar, proceed to Christmas dinner in the evening, and enjoy the full gambit of Christmas trimmings from craic to carols.
Later you can sleep under Ireland’s biggest thatched roof — and the deal also includes breakfast the next morning. Named after the famous 18th century poet, the hotel is three-star and boasts absolutely stunning views across Galway Bay.
Friendly staff, a first class restaurant, and traditional music in the bar. And to walk off all those Christmas calories, you can head for the best walking country in Ireland, the Burren, just five minutes up the road. (tel: 00 353 91 638 222).
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