Christmas
Celebrate Christmas: Top 5 Cosy Blue Book Hotels
Looking for a charming, elegant, and warm memorable Christmas? With twinkling lights, roaring fires, and gourmet holiday feasts, these hotels offer the perfect setting for a cosy and memorable Christmas. Here are five Ireland’s Blue Book hotels that are open during the holiday season and ideal for celebrating Christmas.
Christmas
Gingerbread Christmas Recipe from The Merrion Hotel Dublin
A Gingerbread Recipe from Paul Kelly of The Merrion Hotel
Weddings
Five reasons why Ireland's Blue Book Gift Vouchers make the perfect wedding gift
Here are five reasons why Ireland's Blue Book gift vouchers make the perfect wedding gift:
Christmas
The Perfect Wine Pairing for Christmas Dinner
Every year, we find ourselves asking the same question: what is the perfect wine pairing for Christmas dinner? And the answer varies, based on what you’re cooking and indeed who you ask. For most people, Christmas is just not Christmas without turkey, and because it is not powerfully flavoured and has a low fat content, it generally pairs best with white wines, and if a light red is preferred, it should be low in tannin.
Christmas
Festive Foodies
Christmas is a time for gathering with friends and family and enjoying a few creature comforts. Make your festive feast memorable this year with some decadent dining options from the houses of the Blue Book.
Plan Your Trip
5 Things to do for your Country Spring Escape
Spring is in the air so it's time to plan a country escape.
Christmas
Christmas Cocktails from Ireland's Blue Book
6 festive cocktails from our mixologists at Blue Book Houses & Restaurants
Gardens
4 Glorious Gardens from Ireland's Blue Book
A garden is a beautiful way to reflect the story of a building. Across the island of Ireland there are Blue Book destinations with magnificent gardens that each reflect their own unique history. The incredible gardens that surround these houses, hotels and manors are enjoyed by guests and gardening enthusiasts alike, making them an ideal escape for those who want to enjoy the treasures and delights of a spectacular garden.
Christmas
Ian Orr’s Top Ten Tips for Christmas Day
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, but it can also be very stressful when it comes to serving up a festive feast for the family. Ian Orr, Chef Patron of the Browns Bonds Hill Collection believes it should be about spending quality time with family and friends and indulging with traditional festive fayre. Ian shares his top ten tips for the perfect Christmas dinner
Christmas
Chef Ger Dunne’s Guide to a Delicious Christmas Dinner
A selection of decadent Christmas recipes from Ger Dunne, head chef from Butler House
Wild Atlantic Way
A cycling adventure to Gregans Castle
As I sat down to dinner in Gregans Castle, one of Irelands blue book hotels, last evening looking out at the purple hue form the limestone mountain across the valley I noticed the sky beginning to change colour. As each course of my meal was presented the sky went from pink to orange to red before finally succumbing to darkness as my desert arrived.
Activities
‘Tis the Season to be Cosy – Christmas Movie Nights at Bushmills Inn
This festive season, Bushmills Inn is screening 6 of your favourite Christmas films in their own intimate screening room.
Food and Drink
The Island's Seasonal Flavours with Ireland's Blue Book
Tastes of the season around Irelands Blue Book Houses
Plan Your Trip
12 Great Ways to Use Your Gift Voucher from Ireland’s Blue Book
The Blue Book contains beautiful country houses, hotels and restaurants all across Ireland, many set in idyllic scenic surroundings in some of the more rugged and isolated parts of this beautiful island.
Recipes
Beetroot, Blue Cheese, Garden Leaves, Toasted Pistachios and Honey Dressing
Garden Beetroot, Young Buck Blue Cheese, Walled Garden Leaves, Toasted pistachio nuts and Ballymaloe Honey Dressing from Ballymaloe House
Wild Atlantic Way
Discover Dreamy Retreats Along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way: 16 Enchanting Escapes
Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way stretches from the Northern Headlands to the Surf Coast, and is famous for its sweeping coastlines, towering sea cliffs, and diverse landscapes.