GO IRELAND : GARY QUINNtries out the pedal and paddle package around Ashford Castle
ARRIVING AT ASHFORD CASTLE for the first time is refreshing: everything immediately feels right – the long, winding driveway, the first sight of the castle itself, the view of the grand staircase and incredible reception rooms and, of course, that first view of Lough Corrib. And the staff is remarkable. I’ve never experienced service that is so deeply engrained in an appreciation of the building around us.
This castle is alive with history and meaning and you can sense that staff value that. I’m here to try out a new package called Pedal and Paddle that not only offers you the comfort of the castle, but also brings you by bike out into the 350 acres of formal gardens and forest and by kayak onto Lough Corrib itself.
For those looking for more adventure, you can go deeper still: right out into the mountains and valleys of Connemara, on the castle’s doorstep. The pedal and paddle package is run for Ashford Castle by local man David O’Loughlin, a former Olympic cyclist who runs Cunga Adventures. He acts as guide on the land and water-based excursions and with his expert help and a huge amount of professional patience we get to do what we thought was impossible: the 60km Ride Around the Mountains (Ram). This is an annual cycle that offers three routes: 5km, 60km and 125km through the castle grounds into the village of Cong and out into Connemara.
I’m not a cyclist but I’m glad I pushed myself to take part because the views that are opened up to me are fantastic. The roads that O’Loughlin takes me along are incredibly quiet: long leafy lanes that open onto huge expanses of mountain and valley. High mountain gaps that reward the effort of climbing them for the chance to look back at the beauty of where you’ve been and that long rambling descent towards Maam and the sheer joy of sitting in a pub as we refuel before the final 25km to home.
I’m the last person to get back to Cong and I admit that I did walk up most of the hills and only fell into a ditch once, but just finishing is fantastic.
O’Loughlin leads us further then around Cong: The Quiet Man cottage, the abbey, and back through woodland onto the castle grounds again. We cycle over the river, passing the monks’ fishing house and deep into Ashford. He points out The Quiet Man locations and the history of where we are and explains how the village of Cong itself is on an island surrounded by rivers and lakes. A superb location for a fantastic meeting with the wild. While beginners won’t need the 60km route I took, the chance to be guided around the castle grounds by O’Loughlin is great and for experienced cyclists the opportunities to go further are terrific.
Dinner in the George V restaurant at Ashford is the payoff for all our hard work. The restaurant is beautiful: 11 chandeliers reflect light off the silver and crystal that adorn the tables. The atmosphere is electric and it takes the guests a while to follow the lead of restaurant manager Robert Bowe and simply relax and enjoy themselves. This is not a stuffy affair but one filled with drama and surprise.
The food, by chef Stefan Matz, arrives under a silver cloche, the moment of revelation is when everything else on your table is ready. Later, the lights go out for a moment and the room is lit by candlelight as a guest’s birthday is marked with a song, and momentarily everyone joins in. It really is great fun.
We’re finishing our pedal/paddle weekend on the lake. Kayaks are waiting by the water’s edge in the morning and there isn’t a breath of wind. We launch onto the water with O’Loughlin guiding us again and surrender to the view. It really is great. The islands dot the horizon in front of the mountains we had cycled around the day before. We skirt under the forests along the bank before turning to take in the full vista of the castle.
The view from the lake is an essential part of a trip here and many people take a lake cruise, but to do it under your own steam, to push through the reeds and rushes following swans and mallards is a great release. Fish pass by underneath our boats and through stories and anecdotes the expanse of landscape is revealed to us.
This isn’t a complicated paddle, or particularly difficult, and beginners could easily take to the water with a guide. You can move as quickly or as slowly as you like or indeed, as we did, simply sit back and enjoy the view because we knew that once we came off the water the magic had to end and the real world would come flooding back. But for that short time, still on the water, still with Ashford Castle in view, everything else could wait.
Pedal and Paddle includes two nights B&B in a deluxe king/twin room and dinner in the George V dining room on one night for two people. It costs €750