I Stayed Over At Ashford Castle, The Former Guinness Family Seat In County Mayo

When the Tollman family bought Ashford Castle in 2013, they quickly spotted that as well as taking on one of the most historic buildings in Ireland, they also had one other priceless asset: the staff. During the castle’s two-year, multi-million-pound restoration, hotel teams were kept on, some living in the shell of the property and others mucking in to help out.

That sense of pride and love for the 800-year-old castle continues today, creating five-star Irish hospitality with a twinkle. Since reopening in 2015, the hotel is Forbes’ only five-star hotel and spa in Ireland, as well as being highly commended as the best seasonally inspired restaurant in the Country & Town House x Polestar Sustainable Hotel of the Year Awards 2025.

The castle in County Mayo is the former home of the Guinness family, whose story has been brought to life in Netflix’s House of Guinness. Remnants of that era are everywhere, from oil paintings and old photographs to the George V dining room, named after the then-Prince of Wales, who visited in 1905. Here, the delicious tasting menu includes cured organic salmon, Galway Stracciatella cheese and Slieve Aughty venison.

There is a big emphasis on ingredients supplied by local farmers and fishermen; Ashford is on the shores of Lough Corrib, and Galway Bay is just 40 minutes away.

The castle also serves the most delicious afternoon tea, named after Lord and Lady Ardilaun, the last Guinness residents who hosted Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw here before the family sold it in 1939. Like everything about Ashford, the portions are Irish-style, and that generosity continues in the room with a welcome chocolate wolfhound made by superstar chocolatier Paula Stakelum. Her desserts are also on the afternoon tea menu and are simply sublime.

Ashford also has a huge wine cellar, and a tasting with head sommelier Paul Fogerty was a real eye-opener into Irish-owned wine and viniculture. We sampled a delicious Burgundy by Róisín Curley, a fabulous Château La Coste rosé from Patrick and Mara McKillen, and a Château Léoville Barton Burgundy from the Barton estate.

At the very cosy Cullen’s at the Cottage in the grounds, you can enjoy a pint of Guinness and some of the best seafood in the west of Ireland.

Sustainability is hugely important here: the castle has been partnered with Winnow, which uses AI to measure (and thereby help reduce) food waste, since 2019. Every bit of leftover food or ingredients is repurposed, with breakfast croissants turned into bread and butter pudding and fruit and veg turned into stocks, syrups, kombucha and marinades.

The no-dig, no-pesticide garden, led by head gardener Alex Lavarde, is striving to become fully self-sufficient, its vegetable beds and edible flowers sitting alongside fruit trees, a truffle grove and beehives. Ashford has also partnered with EarthCheck to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Another lovely touch is the bird boxes made from fallen larch trees dotted around the woodland and 350-acre estate, numbered after the 83 rooms, suites and private boathouse.

There is so much to do across the estate. Every morning you can join wolfhounds Molly, Mulligan and Dougal – as well as Ruby and the red and white setter Shay – on a walk. Wolfhounds were nearly extinct in 19th-century Ireland, so it’s great to witness the breed so prominent here, both in real life and in the form of stone wolfhounds at the hotel’s entrance and Stakelum’s chocolate creations.

We took a boat trip with Frank Costello, who tells us his grandfather worked on the estate for the Guinness family from 1917. Costello, who was born here, is also a ghillie and leads fishing trips for salmon, trout and pike. He built the beautiful boat we travelled in and told stories about the area and the castle and its journey from medieval fortress to today’s grand retreat. Frank moored up and we were welcomed with a roaring fire and glass of champagne.

House of Guinness. (© Netflix)

My room had a four-poster bed with swags of character and theatre, plus the comfiest pillows and bed linen. The bathroom was huge and well stocked, and it was lovely to see the mini bar filled with lots of local Irish products, like Drumshanbo Gunpowder gin and Achill Island sea salted nougat.

Authenticity is key to Ashford and this is hugely apparent at its spa, the first and only in Ireland to offer Augustinus Bader treatments, where I had the most incredible facial.

If it rains – and surely it will – the hotel has a 32-seater cinema complete with a popcorn machine and posters of John Wayne. The classic 1952 film The Quiet Man was filmed here, and Wayne’s co-star Maureen O’Hara was a regular visitor. Not that anyone is fazed by celebrities at Ashford; they have seen everyone from Rory McIlroy to Pierce Brosnan, Sharon Stone and Brad Pitt. Every guest is treated the same, and it’s a testament to the happy staff that they have had multigenerational families working here and relationships cemented into marriages.

Back in my room, tired after a day of wolfhound walking, epic food and falconry – it was a privilege to have a hawk on my arm and see her plumage up close – I was ready for that four-poster bed. The fire had been lit, the lighting dimmed, quiet music playing. Thoughtful and meaningful – and so very Ashford Castle.

BOOK IT: From €496 for a double room B&B, ashfordcastle.com

Margaret’s return flights from London Heathrow to Shannon had a carbon footprint of 179kg CO2e (ecollectivecarbon.com)