Ireland's finest hotel and restaurant

Sceala Clann Counsellor Location: NZ

kerrin, this is about such hotels and was in our news. i thought it might interest you to read what is written the other side of the world.
ireland's history told through its 5-star hotels
by diana plater
they take their history seriously in ireland. they turn their georgian buildings into shopping centres.
at powerscourt townhouse centre, shireen marcus, better known as miss information, tells us this is the third best georgian house in dublin.
in 1609, as a reward for his services to the crown, james 1 granted the englishman richard wingfield the lands of powerscourt in county wicklow. his descendant, lord powerscourt, built this 1774 townhouse to be used by the family during the season when parliament sat and balls and banquets were held culminating in a grand one in march at dublin castle.
"dublin was the place to be after london," marcus says. "there was so much social activity ... and this was a party house."
marcus says there's very few records of what actually happened to the family but the house was sold in 1807, later to become the home of the government stamp office.
in 1981 it was converted to a shopping centre, which includes the nightclub spy (where they say bono can be occasionally spotted), bar mizu in the former cellars and a bridal shop in the former parlour.
dublin is known for its elegant georgian architecture, named after the kings that ruled england and ireland in the 18th and early 19th centuries, a time when the city's size and population grew rapidly.
the mediaeval walls were swept away and new broad streets and fine squares were built on what had been open land on both sides of the river liffey.
the british parliament, for a short time acknowledged ireland's legislative independence but this ended with the 1800 act of union, in the wake of the 1798 rebellion.

because of more recent tourism growth and economic good times, many of these grand homes have not only been opened to the public but turned into glamorous five-star hotels.
and to stay at them, you are taking part in a history lesson.
as one irishman observed, a few years ago in ireland, before its rapid economic improvement, these sorts of properties would have been rare. most people stayed in pubs and b&bs. but now they are filling up as irish with more money to spend on weekend getaways are joined by international tourists, as well as corporate travellers on frequent business trips or for conferences.
many of these stylish resorts are members of ireland's blue book, an association of country manor houses, castles and restaurants.
while some visit ireland to discover its celtic history and see its ancient monuments and gorgeous landscape, there are others that come for more recent history and to learn more about their family roots.
many of the early settlers of australia came fleeing the potato famine but also as convicts, their imprisonment often linked with political conflict and agrarian unrest.
monart destination spa is nestled within 40 hectares of private mature woodland and built around the 18th century monart house outside enniscorth in county wexford.
it's an adults-only hotel as well as spa. the old part of the house has been decorated with an unusual mix of the old and the new.
outside the resort, i get into a discussion with the owner, liam griffin, who points over towards vinegar hill, the site of the famous battle in 1798, part of the irish rebellion.
he is a descendant of people killed there, when hundreds of rebels, including women and children, were massacred by the british forces.
enniscorthy was the largest camp and headquarters of the wexford rebels. the battle marked a turning point in the irish rebellion as it was the last attempt by the wexford rebels to hold and defend ground against the british military and forced them to rely on tactics of mobile warfare for the remainder of the wexford rebellion.

earlier we'd visited powerscourt estate where lord powerscourt and his family lived most of the year at enniskerry,, considered one of ireland'sgreatest treasures. the site dates back to the castle of around 1300 but was transformed into a mansion in 1731, which is open to the public.
it's set in 20 hectares of gardens at the base of the sugarloaf mountain, which include italian and japanese ones and a pet cemetery. in 1961 the estate was bought by the slazenger family.
nearby the country's newest five star hotel, the ritz carlton in powerscourt, has 200 rooms, said to be the largest guest rooms in ireland, luxury restaurants including a gordon ramsay one and even its own irish pub, mcgills within the building (which they hope will become the locals' local).
russborough house in blessington, also county wicklow, was built for joseph leeson, later earl of milltown, in the palladian style. building began in 1741 and took about 10 years to complete. stucco ceilings are attributed to the lafranchini brothers, while there's lavish use of mahogany in the doors and staircases.
the house was bought by sir alfred beit in 1952 as a home for the beit collection and it's been opened to the public since 1978.
it became notorious when thieves stole some of the more famous paintings, which when tracked down, were moved to dublin. copies now hang on the walls of the mansion.
wineport is another unusual resort right on the edge of the peaceful inland waterways or inner lakes of lough ree, in the centre of the country.
it's named for its history and the great tradition of wine drinking going back to the 6th century.
having studied in clonard and aran for some years, st ciaran returned to his native midlands to found a monastery. he settled initially in a place called iseal chiaran, around three kilometres east of lough ree.
the name of the local village of ballykeeran literally means "the home of ciaran". in 545 ad he headed south and founded his most famous monastery and seat of learning in clonmacnoise.
in what remains of the writings from st ciaran's time there is mention of wine being brought from gaul across the sea to limerick city and up the shannon destined for st ciaran's monastery.
the townland of wineport is named after the sheltered place at which the wine was carefully landed and brought ashore for consumption.

the next morning we too headed south, taking a chilly boat cruise down the river to clonmacnoise, where the ruins are the most extensive of their kind in ireland with what used to be a cathedral, eight churches, two round towers and three crosses.
the english are blamed for a lot in ireland but it was surprising to hear that it's even their fault that no cheese was made there for 300 years.
but in the past 20 years local cheesemakers have been sprouting up, as fresh produce improves, according to seamus sheridan, the owner of sheridans cheesemongers, which also has an upstairs wine bar in lively galway.
this includes beef and lamb, described as "fantastic".
he said the restaurants offering the first "posh" foods in ireland started around 12 years ago. but he says food is "remarkably better" in the past three years.

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