the times Saturday May 28 202244 Travel
I
am no Jeremy Paxman, but I do like a
straight answer to a question and re-
alised at a young age that religion
rarely supplies one. As a seven-year-
old at my Catholic primary school, I
asked a priest how he knew there
really was a God. After some back
and forth, the clergyman finally hit his
stride in this argument. Quite literally. He
marched over to my desk, picked up my
chair with me still on it and deposited me
outside the room.
It was downhill for me and men of the
cloth from then on. Yet one of the hotels I
have been most excited about this year is
Cashel Palace in Tipperary, the former
home of a long line of eminent arch-
bishops. It’s no ordinary church presby-
tery, of course. This red-brick Palladian
beauty was built in 1732 by Sir Edward Lov-
ett Pearce, the most in-demand architect
of his era. Like another of his commis-
sions, the awe-inspiring Irish
Houses of Parliament in Dublin,
the mansion is now considered
one of the country’s most
important masterpieces.
Despite fierce objections
from some quarters, it was
converted into a hotel 60
years ago by Lord Brockett,
an English millionaire busi-
nessman, and quickly be-
came a favourite with Jackie
Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor and
Richard Burton. Eventually, its
cachet began to fade — as did its
curtains and it was in a pretty hell-
ish state by the time it closed its doors
in 2014. This year, it reopened after a
multimillion-euro makeover bankrolled
by John and Susan Magnier, famous in Ire-
land as billionaire racehorse breeders but
probably best known in the UK for a
former shareholding in Manchester
United Football Club — and a bitter legal
wrangle with Alex Ferguson over the own-
ership of a champion racehorse called
Rock of Gibraltar.
I’m checking in to discover if the hotel is
once more a divine residence — and first
impressions are favourable. Glimpsed
from its avenue of precision-clipped yews,
the elegant symmetry of its façade and
doll’s house dimensions manage to look
both grand and inviting. It’s the same in-ment in minutes and are lucky enough to
share it with only a handful of others. Be-
liever or not, you cannot stand among
these stones and not feel a tingle down
your spine. It is home to Ireland’s most
complete Romanesque church, a 12th-
century round tower, a glorious 13th-cen-
tury gothic cathedral and the exquisite
15th-century Hall of the Vicars Choral.
The experience is made all the more
memorable by the brilliant tour guides. If
the opinionated seven-year-old me had
asked this silver-tongued team to defend
the faith, I’d probably have ended up
taking orders. One guide pauses before we
enter St Cormac’s Chapel and explains
that moisture damages its 800-year-old
frescoes so if we could just hold our breath
for 15 minutes or so that’d be grand. A
couple of Germans look concerned, before
realising the joke.
The Rock is not Cashel’s only claim to
fame. A resident of the palace also provid-Palace living: stately
opulence in the
country’s heart
Once home to archbishops and a favourite with
Elizabeth Taylor, Cashel Palace in Co Tipperary has had
a multimillion-euro renovation. Susan d’Arcy checks in
Luxury Ireland
rooks, ravens and jackdaws nesting in the
hotel’s gardens. The noise injects the scene
with an interesting undertone of Hitch-
cock-style menace.
The Rock is an extraordinary fusion of
the town’s natural and built environments,
a jagged outcrop of limestone that
smashed through the pea-green plains of
Tipperary’s Golden Vale millennia ago,
now crowned by dramatic medieval ruins.
For more than 1,000 years this spot has
provided the stage for monarchal strug-
gles, ecclesiastical legends and architec-
tural magnificence. St Patrick is said to
have converted King Aengus to Christian-
ity here in the 5th century, using the sham-
rock to explain the Trinity and thus
elevating the status of the humble clover
to national emblem. And Brian Boru
coveted and conquered it in the 10th
century before his ancestors gifted it to
the church.
My husband and I walk to the monu-Cashel Palace hotelside, where the sensitively restored intri-
cate plasterwork, wood panelling, marble
fireplaces and fluted Corinthian columns
are suitably stately, but the addition of
modern art with the traditional oils softens
the grandeur. Sink-in sofas fronted by
oversized ottomans, generously piled with
picture books and daily newspapers, en-
courage guests to relax and linger. I watch
a young tracksuited couple down from
Dublin chat to two suited and booted
Americans about genealogy.
The Magniers aren’t newcomers to hos-
pitality and their various interests include
Sandy Lane in Barbados, a glitzy resort be-
loved of footballers’ wives and reality TV
stars. But this is their first solo project and
it’s particularly personal. Not only did Sus-
an’s father, Vincent O’Brien, the renowned
horse trainer and six-time Derby winner,
once own the property, but the couple
also had their first date by the fire in its
sumptuous entrance hall. Logs
smoulder in that very grate
throughout my visit, sending
a homely scent through
the ground floor. It reinforces
an ambience that, despite
the gilded mirrors and
sparkling chandeliers, fo-
cuses on friendliness rather
than ostentation.
There’s no snooty Jeeves
guarding the drawing room’s
silver either. The team are
boundlessly enthusiastic, en-
dearingly proud of the “new” old
place and no doubt equally re-
lieved that one of the town’s biggest
employers is back in business. The feel is
more serene for the 42 bedrooms. Guests
can choose between the traditional in the
main house, including some in the attic
sporting characterful beams, and the more
contemporary in a sleek new extension.
That’s where I am staying — rooms have
a country-casual palette of clotted
creams and moss greens and stylish
modern furniture.
If the mood board is understated, the
view is anything but. Propped up on our
bed, I look out to one of the country’s pre-
mier tourist attractions and most popular
selfie backdrops, the Rock of Cashel.
When I crack open the window, I am re-
warded with a soundtrack of squawkingREPUBLIC OF
IRELANDTipperary Cashel Palace
Cork
Rosslare
10 milesThe hotel’s bar