The Lodge at Ashford Castle, Cong, Mayo, Ireland

When we visit Ashford Castle, we stay across the way at The Lodge at Ashford Castle. Not only is the price better but the atmosphere is more relaxed. And you get all the benefits of staying in the Castle. The service staff is exceptional. They always know your name and bend over backwards to help you.

The actual Castle is 1/2 mile away and there's a Land Rover available to run you back and forth.

We repeated several of our activities from our last visit, but added some.

As we visited the Castle we noticed that there were statues of Irish wolfhounds beside the door. We asked the doorman (in his top hat of course) why they were there. He offered that we could help walk the wolfhounds the next morning at 8:00AM.

So the next morning we turned up at the Castle (in the Land Rover) and joined a small crowd to go walk the dogs. We were led to a 6 ft. gate nearby. The dogs were inside in a van. James Knight, the handler,  cautioned us not to feed them and released them. They were HUGE!

Their names are Cronan And Garvan. When he went around the crowd asking where we were from we answered "Memphis." He then explained that the wolfhounds were there because Stanley Tollman, the owner of Ashford Castle, had visited the Peabody in Memphis and was enthralled by the ducks in the lobby fountain. Upon his return to Ashford Castle, he began a tradition of having the wolfhounds presented in the lobby daily.

The walk lasted about 45 minutes and the dogs performed all the necessary functions.

We had the falconry experience again this time with our daughter and granddaughter. It is a walk through the nearby forests with the Harris Hawks foraging for food. When they would return to the girls, they would swoop down with their huge wings extended.

Afterwards we got to visit with the family of ferrets. One pair was named Charles and Camilla. I'll let you speculate why. That was a big hit with the girls.

The manager of the falconry is Debbie Knight, James' wife. Here's a good article (archive.org) on James and Debbie.

Our younger granddaughter had just turned 6 so we had lunch in the drawing room of the Castle followed by cake and ice cream as we had done for our older granddaughter on the previous trip. They sang "Happy Birthday" and took photos. The younger granddaughter enjoyed exploring the Castle.

After lunch, the girls had a trail ride through the grounds.

The reception staff at the Lodge had made all the arrangements for us and everything came off perfectly.

For dinner, we drove up to Cong and explored the ruins of the Abbey and played on the banks of the river.

Incidentally, the Lodge is in County Mayo and the Castle is in County Galway.

The Lodge's web site is here and the TripAdvisor reviews are here.

Interestingly, our guide for the falconry shared with us that many of the words and phrases associated with falconry have made their way into the everyday English language.

• Under your thumb Refers to tightly gripping the bird’s tethers to keep it under control.
• Wrapped around my little finger Falconers wrap the tethers around their pinky to prevent the bird from flying away.
• Fed up When a bird has eaten its fill, it will no longer hunt.

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Cong Village, Mayo, Ireland

A short walk (or drive) from Ashford Castle is the quaint little village of Cong, home of Cong Abbey and "The Quiet Man" museum. There has been a church on the site of Cong Abbey since the 7th century.

Their web site is here and the TripAdvisor reviews are here. Their wikipedia site is here

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There is a tourist information center here if you need maps or directions.

We picked Crowe's Nest Bistro for dinner by the number of empty kegs on the curb. We weren't disappointed.

Ashford Castle, Cong, Mayo, Ireland

Ashford Castle is set in 350 acres on the shores of Lough Corrib. The castle dates back to 1228. The castle re-opened in April 2015 after a €47m restoration. It shows.

Their web site is here and the TripAdvisor reviews are here. Their wikipedia site is here.

We engaged in a number of activities on the estate including a carriage ride, a falconry walk and a pony ride.

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The Lodge at Ashford Castle, Cong, Mayo, Ireland

The Lodge at Ashford Castle is just over the hill from Ashford Castle. It was originally the house of the groundkeeper of the estate. While the rates are a fraction of those at Ashford Castle you certainly don't give up luxury or service. Their web site is here and the TripAdvisor reviews are here.

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I had worked with the staff prior to our arrival to arrange several activities on the grounds of the estate. They had been wonderful and even arranged for a birthday cake and ice cream in the drawing room of the Castle for our granddaughter's sixth birthday. After we arrived, I went back down to registration to ask for an additional key. I gave the receptionist my surname and she looked up at me and called me by my first name! She had been the person who had made all the arrangements for me. That's the kind of service we got everywhere on the estate. When we arrived at any activity on the grounds the staff knew who we were and why we were there. We had a birthday lunch in the Castle and they brought the cake in with lit candles singing "Happy Birthday!"

We also took advantage of several of other activities. We took a carriage ride through the forest and had a "pony" trail ride for my granddaughter. The two drivers were full of information about the estate and the area's history.

We arranged the falconry activity with 2 birds. They actually use Harris Hawks but there are falcons and owls there to see. The walk was about 45 minutes long through nearby open areas and dense woods. The hawks would fly into the trees and watch for the handler to put meat in our gloves. Then the hawks would SWOOP down from the trees and land on our gloves to get the meat. On a couple of occasions the hawks spotted some wildlife and the handler would have to coax them back with chick heads (tasty). Our entire party participated in the walk and the (newly) six year old got to hold one of the hawks on a glove. She is still walking around launching hawks from her hand.

We stayed in rooms 120 and 121. 120 has a queen bed. 121 is a 2-story suite with a queen bed upstairs and a pullout couch downstairs. Both are beautifully decorated. An example of the attention to detail is that the bathroom mirrors are non-fogging. Nice.

The Lodge has an exercise room, sauna and spa services. They have free Wi-Fi but it is relatively slow uploading.

Staying in the Lodge gave us the same privileges as guests in the castle. Just ignore the sign about admission fees as you cross the bridge at the Castle. The concierge Padraig was always at the ready to chauffeur us to whatever activity we needed or to offer advice on shopping or dining.

Breakfast is included with each room and it is served in Wilde's restaurant upstairs. Breakfast included both a continental buffet and a cooked to order menu. We ate in a backroom that you got to through the kitchen! It is Europe after all. That backroom has an outstanding view of the lake below. We had excellent pub food in the Quay Bar.

We were able to have the charges for the activities at the Equestrian Centre and Falconry Centre billed back to our account at the Lodge. We had to settle the lunch in the Castle directly with the Castle. Payment to the Lodge was via credit card at checkout. There were some improper charges on our folio when we checked out and they were removed without discussion.

The distance between the Castle and the Lodge is a 5 minute walk, uphill from the Castle to the Lodge but very pleasant. We also walked from the Castle to the Equestrian Centre and from the Falconry Centre to the Castle. This walk took us through amazing gardens.

You can also walk to Cong village from the Castle as it is a very short walk but we returned to the Lodge and drove to Cong. We explored Cong Abbey and dined in one of the local pubs. We chose The Crowe's Nest because of the empty kegs out front. There is a Tourist Information office there if you need one.

Overall the Lodge at Ashford Castle had the most attention to detail that I have ever seen.