The Drawing Room HourNotebook No 70September 2025
Cavan, the eighteenth century kept honestly.
Collected by Deborah. Read her editorial perspective
Cabra Castle has always been direct with us about its identity. The banquet hall fulfills its function and the corridors serve theirs, all without overzealous restoration. This approach allows guests to genuinely feel its 18th-century origins in County Cavan.
Adare
If your travel includes a pause between Dublin and Donegal, we frequently suggest a single night's stay. Dining in the main hall grants you a tangible sense of the castle’s character, creating a distinctly atmospheric meal.
We advise reserving a tower room.
The Ireland Edit Way
Cut the itinerary in half, then cut it again. The letter we send before every first visit.
Every hotel change costs you half a day. Luxury, in Ireland, is staying put.
Six questions we apply before booking any room in Ireland. The November test, the dinner-twice test, the landscape-over-room test.
To understand Ireland, stop looking at the castles and start looking at the kitchen table.
From the notebook
Collected notes. A few times each season.