First of a two-part series The lush terrain crisscrossing Ireland could break your heart with its raw beauty. In a landscape where bright yellow hedges of wild gorse mingle with the snowy blossoms of the blackthorn and thousands of miles of centuries-old stone walls delineate emerald green fields, black-faced sheep and honey-hued dairy cows graze languorously beneath an impossibly blue sky. For the traveler along the southern and western edge of the country, in the counties of Cork, Limerick and Clare, it is soul stirring.
From Shannon Airport in County Clare, it’s a quick drive to the lavish Dromoland Castle Golf and Spa Resort. Built in the 5th century by the O’Brien family, ancestors of the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, the turreted castle overlooks its own golf course and falconry school on 375 acres offering grand suites decorated in elegant country style and a wealth of sporting activities like fishing, clay shooting and horseback riding. The refined seasonal cuisine, created by noted chef David McCann, is reflected by roasted saddle of rabbit with leeks, clams and wild mushrooms in corn broth, filet of beef with a claret sauce, and chocolate coconut cream torte with red berry sauce.
From the castle it’s an easy drive to the limestone Cliffs of Moher on the southwest coast, where guillemots and puffins frolic in Galway Bay beneath the shadow of O’Brien’s Tower. In the distance the Aran Islands, a much-visited area noted for Irish music and thatched-roof buildings dating from the mid-1400s, are reachable by ferry from the nearby town of Doolin.
South of Ballyvaughan, lunch is at Gregans Castle Hotel, a lovely Georgian-style manor house, where you can park your wellies by the door for a bite of local steamed lobster or the delicious Burren lamb. Expert botanist Tony Kirby is there to escort us to the Burren National Park and the iconic Poulnabrone Dolmen Monument. The preserve is a beautifully desolate glacial karst of 98,000 acres filled with more than 70 percent of Ireland’s native plants.
Throughout the countryside of this Neolithic land are more than 30,000 ringforts and ancient stone monuments that harken a civilization conceived before the pyramids of Egypt. Conquered in turns by Celts, Gaels, Vikings, Visigoths and Normans, tribes built these ringforts or raths. But were they used by fairies or farmers? Were they forts or sites for pagan mating rituals? The debate continues where myths and mysteries entice. Here you’ll also find Christian abbeys coexisting with medieval castles and 2-million-year-old subterranean rivers and caves.
A trip to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, built in 1425, offers a glimpse of “knight” life. Stroll through the restored village to reach the castle keep where lords and ladies in period costume invite you to make merry with a bawdy madrigal concert and medieval banquet in the great dining hall. Traditional fare includes mead, braised beef and raspberry fool.
The following day we drive into the magnificent gates of the luxurious 19th century Castlemartyr Resort. This extraordinary country estate, once owned by Sir Walter Raleigh, sits on 220 pastoral acres with the ruins of an 800-year-old castle that was once home to the Knights Templar. A pair of perfectly matched Kerry bog ponies with cart trots us around the rose gardens before cocktails in the clubby Knight’s Bar. On the veranda a black-and-white themed wedding of stunning young royals plays out before we segue into the dining room for a sumptuous six-course dinner of Ballycotton prawns with artichoke puree and truffles, ballantine of foie gras, sea bass with coastal mussels and chervil, and Hereford beef with a potato terrine and carrot fondant.
Morning brings us to Cork to visit the famed English Market, a food emporium chock-a-block with local fish, meats and farm produce. Upstairs at Farmgate Cafe we lunch on Atlantic oysters, grilled lemon sole and rhubarb fool paired with a crisp Verdicchio from the Le Marche region of Italy.
Along the Celtic Sea we arrive at the quaint fishing village of Cobh. Home to the Royal Cork Yacht Club, it served as the final departure point for the RMS Titanic’s ill-fated maiden voyage. From the town’s quay we set out on a bracing sea safari in a 12-seat rigid-inflatable boat past the former prison of Spike Island. We head toward Kinsale, passing gray seals and bottlenose dolphins cavorting in the calm waters beneath the rugged cliffs.
Check out next week’s Washington Examiner for the conclusion of this Ireland adventure.
