Heritage Week

To be in with a chance to win a €500 voucher to stay at one of Hidden Ireland’s glorious houses all you have to do is answer the following question correctly:

What organisation in Ireland coordinates National Heritage Week?

Email your answer to heritageweekcompetition@gmail.com no later than midnight on the 26th of August. The winner will be notified by email no later than Friday the 31st of August.

Hidden Ireland is a fascinating collection of Historic Country Houses where visitors stay as guests. All privately owned, Hidden Ireland houses are an enchanting contrast to the hotel experience with well-travelled and well-informed hosts who know precisely how to ensure guests get the most from their stay, be it a peaceful retreat from the world or a holiday of sight-seeing, natural beauty and sporting excellence. This collection of sumptuous Georgian mansions, elegant rural rectories and handsome town houses are probably the most stylish places you can stay in Ireland.

Hidden Ireland houses offer exceptionally comfortable, and usually rather big, bedrooms, in which the beds are often four poster and sometimes canopied. Breakfast and dinner tend to be traditional, wholesome and delicious, served up with ingredients gathered from the surrounding area. And thence it is over to the guests to head out and explore the surrounding parklands and gardens, or absorb the rich history of these homes.

Some of the Hidden Ireland houses have been with the same family for an extraordinary length of time. Pyers O’Conor Nash who lives on the heavily wooded 700 acre Clonalis Houseestate in County Roscommon descends from an unbroken line that stretches back over a thousand years to Ireland’s last High King and the traditional Kings of Connacht. Kate Nicholson’s family has been ensconced at Lismacue House, County Tipperary, for over 300 years. The Maddens have been at Hilton Park, County Monaghan, since the 1730s. The O’Hara’s of Mornington, County Westmeath, and the Laws ofRossnaree, County Meath, have both been in situ since the Victorian Age. 

Other houses have been acquired and restored in more recent times. The Gossips completed an accomplished restoration of the perfectly proportioned Ballinderry Parkin County Galway. Mark and Emma Hewlett performed a similar feat with a Georgian rectory at Kilmokea Gardenson the banks of the River Barrow in County Wexford. On the other side of the island, in the Kingdom of Kerry, both Coolclogher Houseon the Ring of Kerry and the Knight of Kerry’s linen mill at Glenleam on Valentia Island have been ingeniously reincarnated as idyllic retreats. Fishermen bound for Connemara can enjoy the twin splendours of Delphi Lodgeand Emlaghmore Lodge,both substantially revamped by their present owners. Polo players and cross-country enthusiasts might enjoy the Italianate mansion of Tyrella in County Down.  

Weddings are also a Hidden Ireland speciality, with large reception rooms, gorgeous marquees, stunning gardens with smooth lawns and the upmost privacy. Family reunions are also perfect for Hidden Ireland houses as families can hire an entire house, and sleep everyone under one roof. Gathering for breakfast around a large historic dining room table can be a party in itself. Follow this with wonderful walks, crackling log fires, deep baths and sofas … and quality family time. The peace and privacy of Hidden Ireland houses is a great aspect of their charm as guests will experience a home from home feeling. 

Visit Hidden Ireland on www.facebook.com/hiddenireland and www.hiddenireland.com