Saying goodbye to The Old Rectory and on to Cong

DAY 10 – August 12th

Our departure day from The Old Rectory saw mixed weather ahead of us. It was kind o sad to depart the grand old house and I ran up through the stairways and landing to the very top level, where, at one time the servants’ quarters would have been. A final look around for my memory banks as I don’t know if we’ll ever stay here again, or indeed, whether the house will remain over the next few years. Our host had advised that there are plans to put the motorway right through the front of the property – a move that would destroy the natural beauty of the front gardens and the gracious drive in from the gated entrance. The price of progress in this case would be the loss of yet another heritage home. It’s hard to imagine a motorway in what is currently an acre or more of gardens. We had one last play with the retriever and checked and double-checked to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind as our next stop was some three and one-half hours northwest to the coast and Clew Bay. At about 12:30 p.m. we waited while the gates of The Old Rectory closed behind us for perhaps the last time.

We drove on to Limerick and (when I finally had the sense to put in the right county – Limerick of course) we managed to get the GPS to show us the way to 2 Pary Square the location of the Georgian House – a townhouse residence of 1838 – somewhat newer than The Old Rectory – which had been restored to its original splendour by a heritage society. The house had been purchased in 1996 for the equivalent of approximately $800,000 Cdn. It had then taken 3 years to remove all the partition walls that had been erected to turn it into small apartment lets, and complete the renovations. As a result, it now had an estimated value of 7 million Euro (approximately 10.5 million Cdn). Gives you pause to wonder what the value of The Old Rectory and it 13 acres is – even in its current condition (although very little has been changed in the house itself, in fact, some of the original, intact, crown moulding was far more elaborate than in the Georgian House).

After viewing the Georgian House, we went on to JJ Bowles a public house run by a man and his wife that we had met at the Bunratty dinner the night before. Unfortunately, we were too early and so carried on to a nearby café for tea and then toured a small museum (set near King John’s Castle) of local history. A nearby antique store also saw some of our time, but mom refrained from spending the rather ridiculous amount of Euros they were asking for a set Staffordshire dogs. I was sorely tempted by the plethora of old oil lamps they had and knew that even if one was purchased, the chances of the glass making it home were slim.

Onward to Cong and dinner at Ashford Castle. The driveway in was 1.3 km – which was the first clue that this was a huge estate – as it turns out, 350 acres. The castle came into view with its turrets and stone bridge leading the way over a river to the entrance. It was massive and impressive with presidents and celebrities alike having previously graced its presence. A French concierge greeted me and advised as to where we should park and then, while mom wandered about inside admiring the architecture, fixtures, furnishings and art work, George and I walked back over the stone bridge and took a few photos. We were a wee bit early for dinner, so were led to the bar (George received comments of approval for being suitably attired in suit and tie) where we sat in front of the fireplace and whiled away some time before then moving to the dining room for our dinner. The dinner was a set menu with a few choices, plus complimentary offerings from the Chef. George had a lamb appetizer, roast pork that was brought to and carved at the table, and chicken consommé. Mom had scallops on cous cous, rack of lamb and sorbet. I had a crabmeat and cream cheese appetizer, Irish beef medallions, and a fennel and orange soup. While both mom and George had the chocolate lover’s selection for dessert, I had a blackberry and sour cream tart. Everything was delicious. The waitresses came by frequently with a selection tray of about 7 different type of sliced breads and the Sommelier hovered – perhaps waiting to see if we wanted to order (as suggested on the menu, a different type of alcohol for each course). We ordered a bottle of Anakena Ona Cabernet Merlot Carmenera to accompany our dinner and found that that was sufficient. The dining room was magnificent with it huge windows overlooking the grounds and the highest ceilings I’ve seen yet. After dinner we went for a small walk around and found a type of rogue’s alley – except in this case there were photos of presidents, actors, actresses, famous business icons and the like. There was a gallery walk (unfortunately closed) on the second floor that overlooked a large lounge area on the main and more expansive windows that gave a view to the gardens, large circular fountain and pond, and the Lough beyond. The light was leaving us as we departed and headed into Cong proper to get oriented towards our next stop – Coral Reef - another home exchange set between Lecanvey and Kisallagh on Clew Bay near Westport, County Mayo. Typical signage had us viewing the sights of the center of Cong twice as we made the wrong choice first, and ignored the signage on the second lap to head out to the main roadway towards Westport.