THE TERM "girly getaway" is one that was surely overused during those heady days of yore: hen nights stretched to full weekends in Biarritz, while 30th birthday parties took place in Las Vegas, to the sounds of loose change streaming from slot machines (always someone else's), writes ROSEMARY Mac CABE
These kinds of excesses may be behind us, but there is a lot to be said for taking a weekend with your girlfriends and indulging in that old cliche, getting away from it all.
Organising any kind of trip for more than one person is, to clear up some old myths, usually a task of Herculean proportions. Hollywood films would have us believe that planning all happens on a Friday night after a particularly harsh rejection from Mr Obviously-Not-Right-After-All, and off we troop in a tiny Nissan Micra to drown our sorrows in Chardonnay and curse his name before, on day two, meeting Mr Definitely Right and sailing off into the sunset.
In actual fact, of course, there are several hundred e-mails exchanged regarding the destination, the date and, last but not least, the travel arrangements. After a long and heated debate, we settle on a weekend in Clonakilty in west Cork – I will drive my car with one friend, and the other two will head down beforehand. They have the afternoon off work, while we will be leaving at around 6pm, hoping to make it down before midnight.
Despite the advances made on Irish motorways – Dublin to Cork in two hours, you say? – Clonakilty is still a fair trek from Munster’s self-styled capital city. And it’s a harsh comparison. Once off the motorway – all cat’s eyes and street lights and clear signposting – you take your chances with the winding country roads that lead from the city to Clonakilty, and you’ll be lucky if you arrive within an hour and a half.
For our sins, we’re staying in Inchydoney, which is another 10-minute drive from Clonakilty itself – and that’s if you know where you’re going. Having been there before helps me none, and I find myself driving, much like my aged aunt Lucy, one foot on the brake and my head leaning against the windscreen as I attempt to see my way along narrow lanes by the sea. It’s a stunning vista, but best enjoyed in the morning, after a delicious breakfast.
The hotel bar is the first port of call and, luckily for us, there’s a birthday in full swing, meaning the place is full to the rafters of friendly locals. We get recommendations for activities, “Ye should take a boat out fishing” (unlikely); eating, “Try An Súgán for the best seafood in Ireland” (more likely) or “Richy’s, you can’t go wrong”; and, lastly, and most welcome, nightlife, “Young girls like you should be out and about!”
They’ll hear none of our “difficult drive” woes. “Go to the Emmet, that’s where I go every Saturday, it’s great craic.” This said by a man in his 50s – encouraging.
BREAKFAST THEnext morning is a buffet to end all buffets – pancakes, smoked salmon, cooked fish, a full Irish breakfast with the renowned local pudding (of course, and a sin not to have at least a portion) and fresh fruit and orange juice. The breakfast room is full, too, and the sea views make it a really special experience.
We’ve cunningly booked some spa treatments for afterwards – granted, not the most sociable option, but we take an hour before our bookings to lounge around in the hotel’s pool and sauna before being massaged and scrubbed into oblivion.
The next obvious step is to take a walk along the shore – the hotel is built on Inchydoney Island, facing out to the sea and it would be some kind of sacrilege, it is decided, not to take advantage of the location. (We had, truth told, booked a surf lesson, but the sea was too choppy and the relaxation too tempting.)
Lunch takes place in the hotel bar, which does delicious seafood. I opt for mussels, but there are also crab pots and fish’n’chips to beat the band, and by 5pm we’re sated and ready to begin the beautifying process for the night ahead. (It helps, when in a very relaxing location, incidentally, to have a Nespresso machine in the rooms; top marks for top wake-up features.)
Dinner that night – following, I swear, a lengthy gap from lunch – is in Richy’s, one of Friday night’s recommendations. The menu here is varied, using local ingredients and seafood when possible. Food is great and service, as with all of Clonakilty, we’re noticing, is ridiculously friendly.
A GIRLS' WEEKENDaway wouldn't be complete without some dancing and a moment at which, as if pre-planned, all four place their handbags in the middle of a circle and begin to dance around them.
We begin a bar crawl of sorts, although entirely unplanned, searching the area for what we would term “good craic” but what most other people would call “men”. It’s a complicated code – “Hmmm, I think this place is nice but, will we just have the one?” as the room is scanned and all possibilities are charted.
It doesn’t seem to matter where you go for a drink in Clon (having been there twice, it seems only right to refer to it like a local) – the Guinness is good and the craic is mighty. Dancing in the Venue at O’Donovan’s Hotel is our last port of call, if you don’t count a lively hooley on the street afterwards while we chat with some friendly locals about life in the town.
“I’m a teacher,” says one. “No you’re not,” says another. “Well, no,” he says, “but it’s the only thing people will believe.” “He’s still in school,” says his mate. Is that the time?
Clonakilty where to . . .
Stay
* Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa, Clonakilty, 023-8833143, inchydoneyisland.com. Rooms from €79 per person sharing for BB.
* The Clonakilty Hotel, Wolfe Tone Street, 023-8858866, theclonakilty.com. Rooms from €40pps (midweek) and €60pps (weekend)..
* The Emmet Hotel, Emmet Square, 023-8833394, emmethotel.com. Rooms from €35 pps
Eat
* Richy’s Bar & Bistro, Wolfe Tone Street, 023-8821852, richysbarandbistro.com.
* An Súgan, Wolfe Tone Street, 023-8833719, ansugan.com
* Deasy’s Harbour Bar & Seafood Restaurant, Ring Village, 023-8835741. It’s 2km outside Clonakilty, but worth the short spin – seriously good seafood and a great location facing Clonakilty Bay.
Take three getaway destinations
Lahinch, Co Clare
Stay in the Vaughan Lodge Hotel (065-7081111) in Lahinch, an intimate four-star with great food. Try your hand at surfing (below) – don’t they say it’s the great leveller? – and sample some of the nightlife at O’Looneys on the Promenade or Galvins on Church Street. Don’t leave without trying the seafood at Barrtra Seafood Restaurant (065-7081280).
Naas, Co Kildare
It may seem an unlikely “getaway”, especially if you’re escaping from the capital, but it’s a great location for a weekend of chilling out. Stay in the Osprey Hotel (045-881111, ospreyhotel.ie) and eat in Las Rada Wine & Tapas Bar (045-879978) just around the corner. Have a drink or two in Grace’s on Main Street or Hayden’s on Poplar Square, and dance in the Court on Main Street, where, on your way out, you can avail of a burger from the barbecue. Beats a kebab! Kildare Village outlet shopping (kildarevillage.com) is also only 15 minutes’ drive away.
Mullingar, Co Westmeath
It may not be the first destination that springs to mind when you think of a weekend away, but being smack, bang in the middle of the country has its advantages – namely bringing friends together who live on different sides of the country. Stay in the Bloomfield House Hotel (044-9340894, bloomfieldhousehotel.ie) just outside the town and have dinner in Oscars (044-9344909) before hitting Daly’s pub for live music or Danny Byrnes, which will be playing anything from pop to rock, depending on which area you choose to lounge in.