Voted the Best Hotel Bar in Ireland, 2009 …

… by the Nation Hospitality Awards 2009 …. at the Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare, Co. Limerick …. and we stayed there !!!!!!

My hubby will show you in ….

… (drumroll .. ta da !!) …. and this is it … the pub at the Dunraven Arms

… with the bar counter … and comfy chairs in the bay window where we sat and ate the most delicious meal washed down with Guinness and red wine. Hubby had the most tasty and tender beef stew and I had haddock, cooked to perfection and served with mash and green beans. For our second meal in Adare we decided to try a family run restaurant in the village, within walking distance, and had the most delicious lamb roast !!!

A cosy fireplace to keep the little ‘tootsies’ warm in winter …

Excellent and friendly service ….

.. with red wine by the glass (which I had .. couldn’t possibly have consumed a whole bottle to myself whilst hubby had his Guinness) …

…. spot the South African wine !!! Now, why should I drink SA wine which I drink all the time at home when there’s French … and others … on offer !!!

Along the long passages of the various wings of the hotel, there are several sitting rooms, all beautifully decorated and comfortably furnished …

We’ll let you take a peek into our room … with the softest of soft, white linened, duvets … (BTW those are Queen sized beds !!)

Breakfast … and yes … you have to get out of that ‘heavenly softness’ and have breakfast before a day of sightseeing .. even if it is raining … !!

A short stroll away from the hotel is a well-kept park which has a tributary of the River Maigue running through it. The bridge (behind the green arum leaves to the left of pic) is called a Droichidin, a two arched bridge under which the river flows. At this point is The Washing Place where, in the long-ago-days, the women of the village did all their washing …

… then opposite the park is the Trinitarian Priory ….

Quaint and cosy … some of the thatched cottages, for which Adare is well known ….

… were built by the Earl of Dunraven in 1828 for his estate workers .. now they are private homes, cafes and restaurants …

It’s a magical place ….

… we loved it !!!

A note here … hubby is on the hotel’s mailing list and was sent an email the other day with the straight-off-the-printing-press news of the award … Best Hotel Bar in Ireland for 2009 !!