Ballynahinch Castle Hotel

The Ballynahinch Castle Hotel and its immediate surroundings including the Owenmore river and walled garden

Ballynahinch has to be one of the best-known places to stay in Connemara, a world-renowned national park on the West Coast of Ireland. It’s a region renowned for its natural beauty; its rugged stretch along the Atlantic coast with tiny coves, bays, fishing villages, pristine rivers, lakes and mountains.

I travelled there last month to stay at the Ballynahinch Castle Hotel, somewhere that has been on my wish list for a very long time. I stayed as a guest but was under no obligation following the visit and this post reflects my experiences honestly.

This is a part of Ireland that’s long attracted visitors from afar to marvel at its huge landscapes, wild beauty and charming hospitality. My excitement grew on the drive west as the landscape seemed to widen, passing lochs and fields of Connemara ponies. The roads narrowed, the Bens appeared through the clouds and before we knew it, we pulled into the drive that climbs gently around the back of Ballynahinch Castle.

This is a charming country hotel and I felt relaxed and well looked after as soon as I stepped through the green front door into the hall with its roaring fire and warm welcome from staff at the reception desk. The earliest parts of the castle date back to the mid 1750s and have evolved over time with new wings added over the last 30 years. Many of the communal spaces are found in the original part of the building, where there are really nice quiet, comfortable and elegant lounges, a light, modern conservatory, a terrace with a retractable awning and sensational views of the river and the Owenmore Restaurant and breakfast room. The Fisherman’s Pub is also housed inside the hotel which is particularly convenient.

The photos you see of the hotel are mostly taken from the river, looking back on to the hotel, which is the opposite side to the main entrance. From here, you can really appreciate the great charm and character of the building and the river as the two create a mesmerisingly beautiful combination with the Twelve Bens framing the scene in good weather. The bedrooms really take advantage of this lovely situation and not only offer great comfort, but interesting and attractive views from dawn until dusk.

During our stay, the hotel was full with guests visiting from far and wide, including many from the U.S.A. Many guests I spoke to had this special hotel on their wish list – as had I – and the somewhat remote nature of the hotel, warm hospitality and high standards from the staff lent itself to a particularly friendly and convivial environment in the hotel. I liked how the atmosphere felt special and polished but also relaxed and friendly.

The food and drink

The food and drink at Ballynahinch really exceeded my high expectations and was some of the very, very best I can remember at any hotel I’ve stayed at in recent years.

The Fisherman’s Pub

For dinner on the first night, we went to The Fisherman’s Pub. Starting off at the bar, we had a drink and soaked in the buzzy atmosphere, helped by barman David putting together some particularly great cocktails, decorated with an enchanting selection of fresh flowers from the garden. We tried a delicious gin and fresh basil cocktail that was wonderfully balanced and really got the taste buds going. The wine selection was very good, too, with an appealing selection by the bottle and glass.

The dinner menu was really interesting, balanced and pretty much everything appealed to me. The chicken liver parfait to start was great and my starter of Sabanero stracciatella with heritage tomatoes and arbequina olive oil was absolutely fantastic. The quality of the ingredients was particularly outstanding and made this simple dish taste wonderful. The Sabanero stracciatella is produced locally in Galway city and is the best example of its kind I’ve ever tried, probably thanks in part to the lush, Irish milk. The walled garden radishes with hummus, toasted seeds and grilled focaccia was excellent, too.

We both chose specials for the main course, as there were some Galway lobsters and Killary Fjord mussels available. The local lobsters are small but incredibly sweet and this was really fantastic, served with lashings of garlic butter, a crisp and well-dressed salad and excellent, crisp chips. The mussels too were top notch and served in a plentiful portion with lots of sauce and more fresh, homemade bread on the side. We drank some great white wine by the glass and enjoyed every mouthful. Pudding felt like a bit of a stretch after all this feasting, but we managed to share a brilliant fresh pineapple carpaccio with piña colada sorbet and fresh mint tea to finish. This was a pitch perfect meal.

Breakfast and some of the surroundings at Ballynahinch

Breakfast is really excellent and taken looking over the Owenmore river which is such a nice start to the day. There are some lovely fresh juices made every morning, plentiful barista coffees (and the charming staff are very good at offering additional hot drinks) plus a bountiful breakfast buffet. Highlights included a fantastic brown soda bread, a crusty sugar-glazed baked ham, wonderful thick yoghurt with fresh rhubarb from the garden and a gingered fruit salad. I was particularly impressed with the quality, execution and thoughtfulness of the items available. Cooked options are really good, too, and we tried the full Irish breakfast, smoothie bowls and Connemara Smokehouse smoked mackerel as the fish of the day. All were extremely good and again staff were very sweet and informed us that the smoothie bowl was quite small and that we were very welcome to another cooked dish if we wanted one, which was a very nice gesture. Although we didn’t take it up, it we felt really well looked after and that the hospitality was very generous in every sense.

Dinner at Owenmore and the view from the terrace for drinks

For dinner on the second night, Owenmore Restaurant was our destination with those amazing river views with verdant woodland beyond. First, we enjoyed a glass of Franciacorta in the sunshine on the terrace before being shown to our table. The Owenmore restaurant has won a number of awards, including Irish Restaurant of the Year and is listed in the Michelin guide. Its Executive Chef is Danni Barry who has run the kitchens at a number of top restaurants across the island of Ireland and whose aim is to create some really special contemporary Irish dishes that genuinely celebrate the ingredients from the walled gardens, estate and wider region. Dinner is a four course menu with three or four choices per course. Cheese is available, too.

For the first course, the walled garden vegetable tart was beautifully presented and offered a really lovely combination of contrasting textures. The beetroot cured sea trout was also very nice, topped with Goatsbridge Irish trout caviar and plenty of delicious, warm bread and butter. We chose wines by the glass as a bottle felt like more than we wanted to drink. Choices by the glass are very good and well-priced. There is clearly much more choice by the bottle and our sommelier offered us plenty of help in making a decision. Had we wanted a bottle, we would have been able to enjoy something particularly interesting or unusual. We were also offered the choice to take any leftover wine from a bottle home with us.

For the second course, the East coast scallop with apple, fennel and lovage was the standout with really light, delicate, perfumed and herbal flavours. The honey-glazed pork cheek with radish, chard and pickled mustard seeds was very nice, too, with a particularly enjoyable texture thanks to the soy curing process.

The salt marsh lamb rump made a lovely choice for the main course, with buttered baby turnips and kale and a lamb jus. Equally enjoyable was the Irish Hereford beef fillet with smoked bone marrow, caramelised shallot and vegetables, served with some silky, rich spring onion topped mashed potato.

To finish, the warm chocolate mousse with iced milk, miso caramel and brown butter toasted oats made a deliciously light but rich end to the meal. The burnt honey custard with strawberries and vanilla shortbread was another delightful option.

The quality of the ingredients across all the menus, the amazing home-grown and regional produce and the focus on creative, modern and familiar dishes were all extremely well executed at Ballynahinch, thanks to the skill and creativity of the team in the kitchens. Not only was the food fantastic, fresh, seasonal and local, it gave such an enjoyable sense of place to our meals.

The room and some of the views at Ballynahinch

The rooms

Rooms are spacious, tastefully decorated and well-equipped. We stayed in a more recent extension to the original building that had wide river views and a pair of armchairs placed in the window from which to enjoy it. The beds are extremely comfortable, and the bathrooms are spacious with a shower, bath and two basins, plenty of marble, mirrors and Voya toiletries. We had a small but useful dressing area and a coffee machine in the room. Housekeeping staff were extremely friendly and attentive and were very efficient and generous in replenishing supplies of all kinds throughout the stay. Do be aware that there can be midges and, like anywhere that experiences this, keeping bedroom windows closed is strongly recommended to prevent them from getting in. We did this and had no bother at all from them.

A small selection of the things to do and views from the estate walks

Things to do

There are plenty of things to do and an extremely comfortable environment in which to do very little - apart from relaxing - depending on how you like to spend your time. If a gentle day appeals, an estate tour walk followed by a well-crafted coffee in the extremely beautiful restored walled gardens is a very nice way to spend some time. There is so much to see within the grounds and the walled garden is an absolute delight, with a particularly fantastic kitchen garden that supplies the hotel kitchens. There is a sweet little café/shop within the garden, too.

There is a new woodland sauna set up on the grounds, which we really enjoyed. There are two wooden sauna pods with amazing lakeside views. I combined this with a wonderful swim in the pristine lake and a cold plunge shower and enjoyed it all enormously. In a happy discovery, the water in the lake was a lot warmer than I expected. Sessions last an hour and you can be transported down to the pods on the back of a golf buggy with a basket containing everything you need for the experience.

Ballynahinch is renowned for its outstanding fishing on the river Owenmore and enthusiasts and novices alike will find so much to enjoy here in what is a famously special spot for excellent salmon and trout fishing. Tutored full and half days are available as well as equipment hire and packed lunches, so if you fancy giving it a go, you’ll have everything you need available.

There is an excellent dedicated activities coordinator who helps to book activities from a wide range of things to do. Next time, I’d book a boat trip from Roundstone and try a boat tour of the lake which I didn’t have time to get around to on this occasion.

Getting there

If you enjoy the feeling of getting away from it all, you’ll probably find that at Ballynahinch. The grounds are very extensive and there’s plenty to do on the 700 acre estate. Clifden is the nearest town with plenty of shops, delis and cafés and is under 10 miles away. The hotel offers free bicycle rental and has a Greenway running through the property.

I flew to Shannon (finding Aer Lingus had the best flight schedule) which was around 2¼ hours away by car. Driving is probably the easiest option to get to the hotel and is pretty much essential if you plan on exploring the wider area. If that’s not possible or you just want to stay put, there is plenty to do without your own set of wheels, but if you plan on taking a taxi, make sure it’s booked in advance.

If you are driving, may I recommend two stops on the way for refreshments. First, is the Gallery Café in Gort, just a short distance away from the M18 at Junction 16. This was a great stop for a delicious homemade lunch in pleasant surroundings and with easy parking. Second, is Sullivan’s Country Grocer in Oughterard. This was a recommendation from Danni Barry and was a great pit stop for a simple salad, baked goods, kombucha, good coffee and fresh fruit and veg for a picnic. I popped in to get some lunch for my travels back home and greatly appreciated some good quality homemade food at the airport.

If you have a little longer for a stop, I recommend investigating Kai or Ard Bia in Galway City.

Thank you to Ballynahinch Castle Hotel and Host PR for organising such a wonderful stay. I organised and paid for my travel myself.