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Irish Castles: A Pilgrimage
to the Links and Parklands
by Karen Misuraca, KarenMisuraca.com
In the 1700s when the sport of golf was born, the first courses were simply shorn meadows between sand dunes and shrubs, with few trees or water hazards. The pioneering architects walked the breezy seaside hillocks, shaping their layouts not with bulldozers, but according to the lay of the land. The term "links", which is what all of the original courses were, comes from a Scottish word for unfarmable land between the sea and the farmland—the link between the two. Traditionally, links courses are laid along the coastline in an outward nine, returning in the opposite direction in an inward nine, making it necessary for players to cope with opposite wind patterns, out and back.
For the most part, the older links courses in Ireland retain their historic characteristics—the uneven fairways, thick rough, thorny gorse, and the ubiquitous pot bunkers, often fearsomely deep, some with grassy or "woolly" walls. It is said that bunkers were created in the linksland by sheep burrowing into the dunes for protection from the sea winds.
Ireland is famous for hundreds of gloriously Old World, seaside links courses, and for the player who is besotted with the game in all its history and tradition, a golfing trip to Ireland is a dream of a lifetime. The country's booming economy, the 2006 Ryder Cup and the Tiger factor have resulted in the opening of several new upscale golf resorts since the turn of the 21st century, with more in the planning and construction stages. Many of the new courses are American-style parkland or heathland courses inland of the coast.
Here we introduce you to some of the top golf resorts in southwestern Ireland, and around Dublin. After our next pilgrimage to Ireland, in April of 2007, we'll fill you in on the rest!
 The Earl's Manor House
Just 45 minutes from Shannon Airport in County Limerick, a good place to start your Ireland sojourn is Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort in the thatched-roofed village of Adare. The second Earl of Dunraven built this immense, Gothic-style mansion between 1832 and 1862, providing work for the villagers during the terrible potato famine. From the turreted tower to the 52 chimneys, 75 fireplaces and 365 leaded glass windows, arches, gargoyles and elaborate wood and stone decoration, this place does not disappoint (http://www.adaremanor.com). The setting is a thousand acres of woodlands planted in the 1850s, notably the towering 180-year-old beeches, the cork oaks, aspens, magnolia, and a 300-century-old Cedar of Lebanon.
Inspired by the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles and lined with 17th century Flemish choir stalls, the Minstrel's Gallery is 132 feet long and 26 feet high. Lady Dunraven's apartment (guestroom #203) is sumptuous with fine fabrics and furnishings, with a fireplace and a river view. Although not every room is a luscious as Lady Dunraven's, there are one-of-kind fireplaces in many rooms, dark wood furnishings and velvet, silk and brocade fabrics and drapes; most rooms look onto gardens or the River Maigue, which runs throughout the estate. Guests linger at candlelight dinners, over cordials in the library and afternoon "cream" teas, and sing-alongs in the Tack Room pub.
Here in 1995, Robert Trent Jones, Sr. laid a 7,125 yard track through dense, mature woods and around the ruins of a castle, a friary and an abbey, with the river running through. Three lakes, large, deep bunkers, and fiendishly sloping greens offer a good test, and all will be in fine shape when the Irish Open is held here for three years, beginning in 2007.
A ramble around the estate turns up fragments of Desmond Castle, a remnant of feudal architecture. You can horseback ride and cycle nearby, fish for salmon and trout and walk into the village to explore the narrow lanes, the intricate stonework of the Trinitarian Abbey, sweet cottages and antiques shops.
The American owners of the resort have added an indoor swimming pool, an impressive clubhouse, and a cluster of 2- and 4-bedroom townhouses and meeting spaces to attract corporate groups. Three-bedroom villas were added in 2006; each has 4 bathrooms with soaking tubs, an equipped kitchen, living room and den with sofabed; flatscreen TV and WiFi, washer/dryer.
 Norman's First in Ireland
Looking as if laid down in the 1700s, Greg Norman's masterpiece at Doonbeg Resort and Golf Club in County Clare is a stunning incarnation of true links courses of the past. The monumental lodge, clubhouse, cottages and the course were integrated into the countryside with great style by Kiawah Development, of Kiawah Island fame (http://www.doonbeggolfclub.com).
Along the crescent of Doughmore Bay, the nines run out and back, just as they should, in skinny fairways between high dunes. Norman was able to get away with little earth moving—14 of the greens and 12 of the fairways were simply mowed. Fairways and landing areas are generous, yet when breezes blow, which they generally do, you'll need every bit of Irish luck not to end up in the high rough or in the myriad bunkers, from ten-foot-deep pots to grassy-sided ball-suckers and vast, sandy mounds (a bunker is nestled nicely in the middle of the 12th green—yes, the green). Pause on the 15th to snap your photo of breakers crashing on a couple of miles of shoreline. Enhancing the player's experience greatly, the caddies were trained by experts from Kiawah Island Resort.
A private club, the resort offers public play and luxury lodge suites and cottage accommodations on a limited basis; international memberships are offered. With views of gardens or the Skivileen River, 1- to 4-bedrooms suites are commodious, with living rooms, kitchens and fireplaces. Throughout the property stone floors, antique fireplaces, 18th and 19th century furnishings and artifacts, and massive beamed ceilings enhance the ambiance.
Ideally located between Ballybunion and Lahinch, about 40 miles from Shannon Airport, the town of Doonbeg has a population of 300 residents and seven pubs.
Feared and Revered, the Old One
Ballybunion Golf Club is not a golf resort, yet, it is a mecca for lovers of the links. As it has been since its founding in 1893, the Old Course is wild, windy and demanding, amongst giant dunes on high, treeless cliffs above the surf of the Shannon River estuary. Fairways are narrow, with impinging gorse, shrubs and belt-high grass. Bring balls, lots of balls for the slippery, elevated greens that drop off on either side into the sea. And, above all, hire a caddy to tote your gear (golf carts, which are called buggies here, are not allowed) and give invaluable advice regarding wind and unseen hazards.
Robert Trent Jones, Sr., designed the Cashen Course at Ballybunion on hilly, duney terrain with well-guarded greens, narrow fairways and serious up- and downhill runs. Although you can ride a cart on the Cashen, a caddy comes in very handy for the myriad blind shots.
 If you are making your own bookings at Ballybunion, take care to call or e-mail in November for the following season, which fills up fast (http://www.ballybuniongolfclub.ie); weekends are most often unavailable. On the site are a driving range, practice bunkers and chipping and putting greens.
To play both the Old Course and the Cashen Course, you will want to stay overnight at one of the small, nearby inns. An intimate 10-room guesthouse, Cashen Course House, a long iron from the golf clubhouse, has quite nice, spacious rooms and they will book tee times for you (http://www.playballybunion.com).
Castle of Your Dreams
Charge up your camera for the magnificence of Dromoland Castle, a 16th century estate just 8 miles from Shannon Airport. As if in a children's fairy tale, the huge crenellated castle stands in a 400-acre ancient forest on the banks of a lake (http://www.dromoland.ie). One of the most spectacular baronial castles in Ireland, this was the ancestral home of the O'Briens, Barons of Inchiquin, one of the few Gaelic families of royal blood and direct descendants of Brian Boroimhe (Boru), King of Ireland in the 11th century.
Draped in luxurious fabrics, rich with period art and outfitted with comfortable yet elegant furnishings, each with views of the gardens or the lake, the 100 spacious guest rooms and suites have been recently renovated. A large conference center accommodates meetings and social events; 30 two-bedroomed courtyard cottages are in the works; and the newly expanded, full-service spa opens in 2007.
Whether you stay here or not, do stop in for tea or a meal and a tour of the public rooms of the castle, which appear as opulent and richly decorated as when the barons were in residence—they look down in all their finery from their portraits on the silken walls.
A recent injection of 5 million Euros and the genius of J.B. Carr and Ron Kirby, who revamped Old Head, have dramatically raised the lovely, rolling parkland course at Dromoland to championship level. Lakes, streams and thousands of mature trees, along with near-perfect, USGA-standard greens create one of most challenging and enjoyable inland golfing experiences in the country.
Kirby also designed the new golf academy which features enclosed teaching bays, "power tees" that alleviate the need to bend down to tee the ball, chipping greens and bunkers, and a floodlit driving range.
When you tire of golf, horseback riding, fishing on the River Rine and clay shooting, step into the castle's vintage Rolls Royce, originally owned by Sir Lawrence Olivier, for a chauffeured and narrated tour of the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle and other local attractions.
Four near Dublin:
 K Club in County Kildare
After the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in about 550 A.D., Straffan House was granted to an ancestor of the Dukes of Leinster, and confirmed by Richard the Lionheart's brother, who later became King John of England. Titled families owned it for centuries, including the Bartons, winery owners in Bordeaux, who redesigned the house as a French chateau. The 550-acre estate twenty miles west of Dublin was purchased in the 1980s by one of Ireland's wealthiest CEOs, gloriously renovated and opened in 1991 as the Kildare Hotel and Country Club (the K Club) a luxury resort hotel with two world-class golf courses, whereupon the resort was promptly awarded the first and only five-red-star rating in Ireland.
Like a scene in a Constable painting, Straffan House is set in idyllic woodlands, bordered by the River Liffey and surrounded by the parkland golf courses, the Palmer and the Smurfitt. Planted in the 19th century, oaks, limes, cypress and beeches, and banks of flowers in formal, walled gardens set the scene. In the 69 elegant rooms and suites, each one unique, wood fires crackle in the Georgian fireplaces, reflecting in Waterford crystal chandeliers. Throughout the house are hundreds of paintings by Jack Yeats, the Irish poet's brother. Adjacent to the hotel are two-bedroomed Garden/Fountain Suites, each with a living and dining room.
On the Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay-designed course, site of the 2006 Ryder Cup, the river and 14 lakes come into play, grassy hummocks abound and beach bunkers run right into the lakes. The 7th is a 608-yard stunner with double doglegs, encroaching gorse, an obstacle course of wide, flat, bunkers, and plenty of dense rough. Players trod a century-old iron bridge to reach the green perched on a little island between two streams. Distractions are rampant, as swans build their nests on the riverbanks and peregrine falcons swoop above the waterfalls.
The toughest test is on the 7,277-yard Smurfit Course, where Arnie presents a stadium layout on a treeless, windy track, water on 12 holes, big-time bunkers and super-sloping greens. Dropping 60 feet tee to green, the 606-yard 7th is menaced by a fairway-long rock water feature. Reach it in two? Consider the name of the hole, "Swallow Quarry".
You can arrive at the K Club in your helicopter, your limo or your DeLorean and stay for more than just golf: indoor tennis and squash, indoor swimming pool, archery range, croquet court, full-service spa and fitness center. Game shoots are on the menu, shopping in the picturesque village of Straffan, horseback riding nearby, and fishing on a private mile of the River Liffey and in three private lakes, with equipment provided.
 On the Irish Sea
The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, often visited the Jameson family at their estate, St. Marnock's House, on a peninsula jutting into the Irish Sea, not far from Dublin City. On his last visit in 1907, he unveiled a plaque commemorating the marriage between the two distilling families, Jameson and Haig; you will find the plaque in the garden of the ancestral home, which is now the Portmarnock Hotel, opened in 1995 (http://www.portmarnock.com). The 12th century church of the local saint, St. Marnock, overlooks the property while two emerald-green islands, Lambay and Ireland's Eye, float offshore.
The Jamesons' original, century-old, nine-hole golf course is now part of the hotel's Bernhard Langer-designed Golf Links, which is separated from the ocean by sand dunes and a wide beach where local residents walk their dogs within view of Dublin harbor. Site of several Irish Opens, the Links gently rolls, weaving through dunes and marram grass hummocks, clouds of yellow gorse and ninety-eight bunkers, many steep, some hidden. European PGA Tour pro, Darren Clarke, offered advice: "First hole, out of bounds on the right in the graveyard—you don't want to go visiting in there." Nor, do you want to visit the creek that crosses the fairway.
Some with large bay windows or balconies, the 103 rooms and suites in the 4-star hotel are of small and medium size, each with a view of the sea or the golf course.
A five minute drive south, the Portmarnock Golf Club, one of the oldest and finest links clubs in the country, is a dependably windy track with ocean on three sides, and pocked with—what else—deep bunkers (http://www.portmarnockgolfclub.ie).
The Glen and the Heath
In Newtownmountkennedy, County Wicklow, a half hour south of Dublin, Druids Glen Golf Resort has hosted four Irish Opens and the Irish PGA Championship since it opened in 1995. Two championship courses and a 145-room Marriott hotel comprise the 400-acre resort, which was named European Golf Resort of Year in 2005 (http://www.druidsglen.ie).
 Often called the "Augusta of Europe" due to the lavish landscaping, the Druids Glen course rambles on wide fairways through dense forest along bubbling streams, waterfalls, stone walls and bridges, making this one of the prettiest tracks in Ireland. High banks are abloom with orchard trees and flowers, while ducks and swans float among the reeds and the water lilies in the ponds.
Opened in 2003, Druids Heath is windy and challenging, combining links and heathlands styles, all with wide mountain, sea and countryside views. Look out for quarries and stone walls, boulders, and plenty of water.
Originally the manor house on the Woodstock Estate, the stately golf clubhouse was built in 1760. The new teaching academy has all the bells and whistles, including covered driving bays, a short game practice area, and video analysis.
At the 4-star Marriott Druids Glen Hotel, you'll find a nice indoor swimming pool, a full-service spa and fitness center, casually comfy public rooms with wonderful woodland views, and extensive conference facilities (http://www.marriotthotels.com/dubgs).
Nearby Newtownmountkennedy, Devil's Glen forest park has miles of woodland footpaths and a stunning waterfall, while the Hilltop Quad and Sporting Club offers quad trekking, clay pigeon shooting and archery.
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Seve's First in Ireland
Newly opened in time for the 2006 Ryder Cup, the Heritage Golf and Spa Resort is located in the sweet village of Killenard in County Laois, an hour southwest of Dublin (http://www.theheritage.com). The Slieve Bloom Mountains are the misty backdrop for the five-star resort, which includes a 114-room hotel with penthouses, 4- and 5-bedroom "executive style" homes available to rent, and a Seve Ballesteros-designed course. On rather flat terrain, treeless and windy, lakes and streams are encountered on ten holes, along with nearly a hundred bunkers and thousands of trees. The Seve Ballesteros Natural Golf School here is the first in the UK, with a floodlit driving range, indoor putting and pitching greens, bunker practice area, and a 9-hole, par-3 practice course with holes from 150 to 210 yards.
Non-golfers will find much to occupy their time, at the indoor/outdoor lawn bowling greens, floodlit walking track, 15-metre swimming pool, fitness center, cinema, and, at the sleek, full-service spa complete with resident sports injury therapists.
When Seve's schoolwork starts getting to your muscles, check in at the spa for The Sporting Break, a package designed for recovery, starting with some warm, moist time in the samarium, tepdiarium, caldarium, steam bath, sauna, the open air hydro therapy pool, rainforest showers and the Hamman and mud baths; then you get hand and foot massage, and a facial! After all that, try to keep your left arm straight . . . or, anything else.
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Ireland Resort News:
Nick Faldo is working on a new layout for the Lough Erne Golf Resort in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in the west of Ireland, to open in the fall of 2007. New also will be the luxury hotel with 69 rooms and suites, and 25 two- and three-bedroom lodges. Among the amenities will be a full-service spa. More...
Tips for Ireland:
When to Visit: the warmest, driest months are May through September, with no guarantee that you won't encounter some rain, or at least heavy mist, even in those months. June through August is high tourist season, when quaint villages, country roads and golf courses are busy. April/May and September/October are best for obtaining tee times and lodgings. More...
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