Luxury Stay in Kilkea: Kilkea Castle Review
Our second stay in Ireland was the Kilkea Castle in Kilkare County. Built over 200 years ago, Kilkea Castle was an estate that adds comfort to luxury. We began our stay by checking into our room. To my excitement, the carriage bedroom was gorgeous with gorgeous high beam ceilings and a spacious bedroom. Our room was complete with a large TV, views of the grounds, and a Nespresto espresso machine. We spent a lot of time in our room during our downtime.
We had our first dinner at Hermione’s Restaurant at the Clubhouse, a beautifully lit restaurant with view of the golf course and castle. There are other options for dining, you can also dine at Restaurant 1180; a three course meal dining experience for the more adventurous eater. Their course included cured monkfish, duck, and rabbit. We elected for a more familiar meal setting; at Hermione’s, we partook in meals a la cart. For an appetizer, I had the seafood chowder. I heard that chowder was the best in Ireland so why not try it in a 5-star restaurant? Needless to say that the meal was delicious. For dinner, I chose the fish and chips and Drew chose the 12 oz. , 28-day dry age ribeye steak. Both were equally delicious with more fries than we could eat.
The next day of our three-day stay was spent exploring the castle grounds. Kilkea Castle is known for its Parkland Course with over sixteen holes across the estate and the River Griese running through the property. If you’re looking for things to do around the castle, I recommend touring the grounds including their rose garden and orchards. But you can also book a falconry session with 90 minutes of experience with owls, falcons, and hawks. Other activities include equestrian, tennis, archery and whiskey tastings. I recommend booking any experience in advance. Due to Covid, reservations must be made at least a week in advance for availability. But the dining experiences can be booked at least two days prior to arrival from our experience. Management was very good about checking in with us for dinner reservations if we didn’t inform them in advance.
For lunch, we found ourselves back at Hermione’s Restaurant. For lunch, we’re tempted to try the duck. But it wasn’t any duck, it was smoked duck with celeriac remoulade and caramelized orange and truffle. I don’t know what celeriac remoulade is but it was absolutely delicious! We also had baby gems - large romaine leaves with Caesar dressing, thick bacon chunks and garlic croutons. And as if that was enough food, we had 7 oz. burgers as our entree. Super juicy beef with thick-cut slices of bacon, American cheese, and pickles with (of course) more fries! I think that lunch was the best meal of the day.
For dinner, we went back to Hermoine’s where I was convinced that I’d have my own baby gem salad and for dessert cheesecake topped with whipped chocolate. Despite my desire to steer clear of sweets, I couldn’t resist this treat. At the table, we shared our cheesecake with chocolate ice cream. But in our bedroom, our cheesecake was paired with whipped cream.
On our last day, we had breakfast at Restaurant 1801 in the castle which was absolutely delightful. For breakfast, we had an assortment of croissants and bread with a variety of jams and marmalades. For breakfast, I elected to have pancakes with bacon. Drew had eggs Benedict. We also had a variety of coffee, apple juice and orange juice for beverages.
To close our experience at Kilkea, we attended the Spa at Kilkea. It was a delightful treat considering that our stay at the castle was for Drew’s birthday. As a gift, I treated him to a 30-minute full body massage. As an added bonus we’re able to spend 45 minutes in their thermal suite, a state-of-the-art pool with with hydrotherapy jets. The suite also includes a steam room, sauna, and cold showers. The masseuses were experts in their training. We left our sessions relaxed and detoxified before headed on the road to Blarney to stay at the Blarney Castle Hotel.
For those interested in a stay at Kilkea Castle, I highly recommend it. If you want a full overview of our stay, then check out my vlog with our full experience as well as other experiences during our vacation in Ireland.
