A Weekend in The Kingdom!

What an amazing Easter Weekend!!

I haven’t been away in Ireland for a weekend in too long a time, so we decided that for the Easter weekend, we’d head down south to Kerry and take a bit of a break. We were so lucky – for once the weather was exactly what you’d wish for – sunny and warm. We spent the first night with some friends in Cork and then made our way towards Bantry and that area of Cork.

We stayed that night in a fantastic little hotel called the Seaview Hotel in the village of Ballylickey. Straight away we knew that we’d fallen upon one of Ireland’s hidden secrets. It’s a beautiful old manor house on the seafront that has been extended and restored. Well furnished – although a tad dubiously in some places, but clean, warm and friendly. Next door to the hotel, just set off the main road was a place called Mannings Food Emporium. A lovely little deli type place with tables and chairs outside in the sun – just begging for a bottle of red wine and cheese board to be enjoyed outside. And although it was Good Friday, we did manage to get just that! The couple of hours that we spent outside in the sun, were a taste of the weekend to come… Wine, cheese, music and sun!

Later in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner in the restaurant downstairs. Impeccable service and even better food. Coupled with a few after dinner glasses of red wine, we were fit for bed by just nine o’clock.

The next day we headed down to Kenmare and went for a really relaxing walk down by the pier. Again, the weather was just fantastic, the temperature was in and around the late teens and everything was just perfect. We checked in to our guesthouse (Virginia’s Guesthouse), which shares its premises with Mulcahy’s Restaurant on one of the main streets. I won’t bore you with the details, but if you’re ever in Kenmare, you’ve got to try these two places… Especially Mulcahy’s!

The second day in Kenmare was probably the best we’d had… in a long time! We had got a tip to head over to a place called Gleninchiquin Park – about 20 mins south of Kenmare on the R571. A really tight winding road that seems to go on forever, but that eventually leads you to the depths of the Kerry countryside. This is something you just cannot miss. I have never seen a place like this before and its got to be the more breathtaking piece of scenery that you’re ever likely to find on this island. We took a 2 hour walk up and around the upper waterfall, which was not easy going (especially if like me, you’re unfit and a smoker with a hangover!) – but it was definitely worth every effort. The view from the top was just unbelievable and when set to the music of Jessye Norman’s ‘Sanctus’, you could only say that it was magical…

So after a weekend that has to rank somewhere up there in the top three best weekends ever, we headed back to Dublin with a five hour drive and a warm fuzzy feeling. We couldn’t just stop there and let the weekend finish, so we took a 10 bus and got off at Stephen’s Green to have lunch at the Clarendon. Thankfully food service had stopped so we were able to concentrate on the Minervois with Joe and Beth offering their selfless support.

I felt a bit rough this morning as I drove to work, but after a weekend like that, you just can’t complain!