The Guzzler might not have been the oldest car parked outside Ashford Castle in County Mayo – there was an older Jag – but it was certainly the dirtiest. Frank, the hotel valet simply smiled after parking it, , dusted himself down and asked us if we had come far. We could have excused the car by saying that it had been to Greece and back without a wash but we simply answered ‘Waterford’…..’ Ah, a long way’, nodded Frank. We were staying for two nights in Ashford Castle – a huge step up from our usual standard of accommodation – because of a VERY generous voucher from my sister and her husband (thanks Ger&Tony)

There was a friendly relaxed welcome from the moment we drove through the man gates where a man in top hat and green livery welcomed us in what sounded like a Cork accent. We continued into the estate with lots of old majestic trees, their January silhouettes bare and beautiful, on through the golf course until we had a view of the 800 year old castle at the far side of the fast-flowing river Cong. We crossed a stone bridge where a gatekeeper also welcomed us and told us that Frank would take care of parking our car.

The castle has a long history – it was founded by the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family in 1228 following the defeat of the native O’Connor’s of Connaught. It was home to the Guinness family for many years and was acquired by the Carnation Hotel Group in 2013 and underwent a multi-million restoration. The castle breathes luxury with fabulous oak panelling, silk draped walls, parquet floors, vast vases of fresh flowers and resident wolfhounds. Although it is fit for royalty – there are photos of some of the rich and famous visitors on the walls – the atmosphere is one of friendly hospitality not stuffy formality. We didn’t feel out of place wandering the corridors and exploring the turret staircases – a wonderful place for snooping! The drawing room had huge windows looking out on landscaped gardens but it was the view beyond that of the shifting light and cloud on Lough Corrib that was absolutely mesmerising.

Our comfortable bedroom overlooked the river (lakeview rooms are more expensive) and had ultra-sensitive touch button panels for lights, heating, window blinds (very modern in an old building) and the biggest and highest bed we had ever slept in – if I was a little bit shorter I might have needed a stepladder to climb into it. We could even keep track of our mounting bill on the TV – not a bad idea as all this luxury and attentive service doesn’t come cheap.

We could have played golf, gone horse riding, tried falconry, hired bikes or had a boat trip on the river and lake but we didn’t do any of those things. We walked along by the river in the rain assuming that it would soon stop – it didn’t. Persistent drizzle became heavier and turned back to drizzle in an endless West of Ireland cycle until we were sodden, walking along woodland tracks to Clonbur. But it was still beautiful with water everywhere – rivers, streams, dripping from trees, puddles and muck and the moss such a vibrant green in the rain. On the way back we dripped into a pub for a restorative pint in Cong – a lovely village still making the most of its location for The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man was one of the movies shown in the cinema in the Castle – enormous plush seats with popcorn and jellies provided on a help-yourself basis and we had the whole cinema to ourselves. We were lucky to visit the spa- we were on a cancellation list as Covid restrictions still applied in the last week in January and we hadn’t booked in advance. Sipping cucumber iced water while looking out at the lake in such tranquil elegance was special

After leaving the luxury of the Castle, we drove to the start of a walking trail that took us around Lough Coolin to the deserted Famine village. It was a stunningly beautiful winters day – the sky was mirrored in the lake in brilliant blue and white. We sank in the boggy ground, stumbling over rocks and rushes and thought of the people who once lived here, leaving behind only fallen stones and echoes….

The contrast of this poverty with the opulence of the Castle was sobering and it seemed for a while as if the sun went in.