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Christmas wish list
By Malcolm Rogers
 MALCOLM
ROGERS considers several options open to you if you’re journeying
home this Christmas
The bar: O’Dowd’s Bar, Roundstone, Co. Galway
The pub and hotel is located in the heart of the village overlooking the
working, picturesque harbour. The focus is on providing some of the very
best seafood, Guinness and buckets of atmosphere.
The day out: Strangford Lough, Co. Down
Described as a ‘motorway cafe for birds’, Strangford Lough
is one of the very busiest. Joined to the Irish Sea by the narrowest of
channels, this 60 sq mile inlet, about two hour’s drive from Dublin,
is best known for the 15,000 pale-bellied Brent geese from the Arctic
that land on its northern sandflats in late summer. Other visitors include
whooper swans from Iceland and wigeon and teal from eastern Europe. www.strangfordlough.org
The burger joint: Bobo’s Gourmet Irish Burgers, Dublin
You can get some of the best burgers this side of the Mason-Dixon line
at this burger joint in Dublin. Whopping gourmet burgers on tin plates,
in galvanised milk pails, served by waiters in flat-caps.
22 Wexford Street 00 353 1 400 5750
The hotel: Park Hotel Kenmare, Co. Kerry
Old-style hospitality, outdoor vitality pool, spa, pampering and Kenmare
on your doorstep. And it’s not all indulgence. Trekking, hiking
and biking too.
Tel 00 353 64 41200 www.parkkemnare.com
 The
island: Valentia, Co. Kerry
Kerry’s best-kept secret is not exactly how you might imagine an
offshore Atlantic island. This is a stylish holiday retreat with views,
hotels, restaurants and the wonderful Glanleam Subtropical Gardens. The
Sea Breeze Café in Knightstown is worth the journey itself —
sumptuous bakes, tapas, platters and you can watch the ferries plying
backwards and forwards across the straits.
Dining out: On the Ring of Kerry
QC’s Seafood Bar and Restaurant on Cahersiveen Main Street is
run by husband and wife team Kate Quinlan and Andrew Cooke. They produce
pots of prawns, grills from the Basque-style asador, great risotto, steak
or calamari and chips. Main Street, Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry, tel 00 353
66 947-2244 www.qcbar.com
The Sunday lunch: The Cellar
Brunch like a lord in the Cellar Bar at the five-star Merrion Hotel,
the last word in relaxed grandeur. Eggs Benedict with Irish bacon or sausages
with colcannon, knocked back with a Bloody Mary or a Screwdriver. Dedicated
kiddies’ corner with videos, toys and colouring books. Upper Merrion
St, D2, tel: 00 353 1 603-0600 www.merrionhotel.com
The gardens: Mount Congreve in Co. Waterford
These gardens are in flower every month of the year — thanks to
a sheltered position and south easterly aspect. One of the great free
days out in Ireland. Tel 00 353 51 384511.
The museum: Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin
Worth a visit even if you’re not interested in insurrection. This
eerie place is where you go to learn about the origins of the modern Irish
State. The current building opened for business in 1796 — although
a prison has stood on the site since 1210. It was here that the rebels
were held and where the leaders of the Rising executed. The museum’s
last prisoner was Eamon de Valera. Attractions include a major exhibition
detailing the political and penal history of the prison, while a tour
of the most inhospitable hostelry in Dublin includes an audio-visual show.
www.heritageireland.ie
The fish shop: Connemara Smokehouse
For an island both surrounded and criss-crossed by water, we sure do
hate fish. Apart from fish fingers and tinned tuna, we really prefer a
good bit of steak. But things are changing slowly and if you want to get
the best fish pop into the Connemara Smokehouse on Bunowen Pier, Co. Galway.
Smoked bass, cod and kippers, all caught locally. www.smokehouse.ie
The art gallery: Royal Hospital Kilmainham & Irish Museum of Modern
Art
Irish artists such as Louis Le Brocquy — the brand leader, currently
— plus international faves such as Picasso and Miro are all featured.
The gallery is housed in one of the finest buildings in Dublin and a wonderful
example of Jack-the-lad architecture. Showing the locals what could be
done, James Butler, Duke of Ormonde (a distant ancestor of Princess Diana),
came up with a plan to build a hospital based on Les Invalides in Paris.
The 17th century result was one of Dublin’s first — and many
would say grandest — classical buildings. www.imma.ie
 The
hotel: Waterford Castle, Ballinakill, Waterford
Standing on a private island, this is one of the country’s smaller
castle hotels, with only 19 rooms, ideal for either a romantic or a sporting
weekend. A discreet retreat, featuring restaurant, 18-hole parkland golf
course (designed by Des Smyth), luxurious club-house, and comfortable
and cosy quarters. Contact: tel 00 353 (0) 51 878 203 or 00 353 (0) 51
871633 www.waterfordcastle.com/golf
Double rooms from e350 (£230) per night for two people sharing.
The full Irish: Cucina, Kinsale
Anthony Worrall Thompson protégée Ursula Roncken does
the business in Cucina, her chic cafe in Kinsale. Decadent eggs Benedict
and smoothies as well as the full Irish. 9 Market St, Kinsale, Co Cork,
tel: 00 353 21 4700707 www.cucina.ie
The fish and chip shop: McDonagh’s, Galway
A glance at the press clippings on the wall of McDonagh’s fish and
chip shop will give you some idea of just how far word of this chippie
has spread. Among the uniformly glowing reviews, there’s an official
letter from an admiral of the Russian navy, stating that on all his travels
he had never come across a better plate of fish and chips. Local customers
tend to agree with the Russians.
The classiest glass: Jerpoint Glass, Kilkenny
The most original keepsake of Ireland you’re likely to go home
with. This season they’ve reinvented their hand-blown bowls. Available
in smoke, olive, turquoise, amethyst, honey and clear. From e115. Jerpoint
Glass Studio, Stoneyford, Co. Kilkenny, tel: 00 353 56 772 4350 or e-mail:
enquiries@jerpointglass.com
The hideaway: The Old Convent, Clogheen, Tipperary
Luxury bedrooms, gourmet cuisine, lovingly-constructed menu. The Old
Convent, Mount Anglesby, Clogheen, Co. Tipperary, tel: 00 353 52 526 5565
www.theoldconvent.ie
The perfect café: The Silk Road Café, Dublin
Even better, it’s in the Chester Beatty Library, worth a day’s
visit itself. Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean food. Chester Beatty Library,
Dublin Castle, D2, tel: 00 353 1 407 0770 www.silkroadcafe.ie
The perfect oyster: Moran’s, Galway
Moran’s Oyster Cottage, The Weir, Co. Galway is a family business
dating back more than 250 years. The restaurant is home to several world
champion oyster openers, who will prise open your Galway Bay oysters with
delicate ease. Seamus Heaney’s acclaimed poem, Oysters, was penned
after he had indulged in a succulent feast here.
The beach: Magilligan Strand, Derry
OK, it’s Crimbo, but if last Christmas was anything to go by, a
walk on the beach could be just the bracing sort of thing to work up an
appetite. Nowhere better to do it than Magilligan Strand. This spot on
the Causeway Coast is paradise for conchologists. After a dramatic storm,
the whole beach resembles a cobbled street from the shroud of massive
Icelandic mussel shells washed up here.
The library: The Linenhall, Belfast
Home to an unparalleled collection of Irish and local studies and over
250,000 items in the internationally renowned NI Political Collection,
it’s a place, said local author Sam Hanna Bell “where you
can browse among wonderful books and come out with half-a-dozen new ideas
— like pollen on your shoulders.” Or you can simply enjoy
the carpeted silence in cracked leather chairs or comfy sofas. Non-members
enter through the stunning modern extension in Fountain Street. |
