Hotel review: Last chance to stay at an Irish country house classic before it is sold
The family running one of Co Cork’s finest foodie getaways plans to start a new chapter. But there’s still time to check in...
A junior suite at Longueville House
Longueville House dates from the 1700s
A cocktail made with Longueville House's own apple brandy
The Drawing Room at Longueville House
A deluxe suite at Longueville House
Dining at Longueville House
Apples in the orchard at Longueville
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Longueville House is for sale.
That feels like the kind of information to share up front. But it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t book. If anything, it means you should — to experience an Irish country house classic before it becomes hospitality history.
Set on a 400-acre estate near Mallow, Co Cork, Longueville is a distinctively pink Palladian manor dating from 1720. Prior to the pandemic, it had evolved over two generations into a country hotel and restaurant renowned for its locally grown, farmed and foraged menus. But the great pause has clearly prompted a rethink. Now, it’s with Sotheby’s and Lisney.
“We put our heart and souls into it,” says Aisling O’Callaghan, who runs the Blue Book stay with husband William.
Before Covid, they were up to ninety with leisure guests, weddings, lunches, dinners and afternoon tea, she explains. After Covid, a new chapter is coming. “You get one chance in your life at something like this, and this is it.”
The sale could take months or even years, however — so in the meantime, it’s transitioning to exclusive hires and occasional weekends for leisure guests. “We’re back to what we’re most comfortable doing,” Aisling says.
Last call for Longueville? I didn’t need to be asked twice.
The rating: 7.5/10
Arrival & location
Our sat nav leads us on a tour of north Cork’s back roads and an annoying creep up the deliveries entrance. Turning onto the main entrance avenue, however, views pan down toward the River Blackwater and the manor blushes in the afternoon sun, lasering the frustration away.
We arrive in August’s heatwave, with a haze shimmering over the fields. Deckchairs are on the lawn; a springer spaniel lying under shade of a Doric porch. Aisling appears in a sun hat, offering a warm welcome before leading us into the hallway. As my eyes adjust from the sun, antique cabinets, oil paintings and a fanlight arch leading to a bifurcated staircase materialise. Check-in is completed at a little desk while our luggage is brought upstairs.
After settling, we relax in a drawing room where coffee, tea and fresh baked goodies are laid out, along with a large Kilner jar filled with well water and fresh mint. 7/10
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Service & style
I find Aisling and William in their element, enjoying a less-frantic lifestyle and a steady flow of fewer guests. In a way, it’s what William’s parents were doing when they first welcomed guests in 1968. And visitor feedback suggests that people prefer it too, Aisling says. Bookings range from family gatherings to intimate weddings — the Turner conservatory is a gorgeous setting for ceremonies.
It feels like a home from home — if your home was a country manor, that is (offers above €7m only, please). Features like marble fireplaces and mahogany floors can seem stuffy, and there’s no spa, but the handful of staff are easy to be around, and time-worn armchairs cry out for lounging. It feels simultaneously grand and casual.
Outside, we have the run of an estate threaded with trails, explore the walled gardens, and can also avail of charged activities like fishing and falconry. On one short orchard stroll, I see a hare under the apple trees, a flitting wren, and swallows zipping from a shed. 7.5/10
The rooms
I love nosing around country piles, sensing the stories in the curios and heirlooms — be it paintings of Irish presidents, an in-built hatch bar, antique iron used as a door stop, or a slightly creepy collection of dolls in the TV room. “Lots of detail,” says the smiling barman passing me by.
That continues in the 12 suites and bedrooms, which are all uniquely styled, but governed by the country luxe sensibility you’d expect. In ours, there’s a sprig of montbretia on the dresser and fresh roses on a table by the sash window. We quickly sink into armchairs here, taking in the cool air and fan provided (there is no air-conditioning).
Decor mixes nature wallpaper, sage-green wood panelling, fabric lamps, antiques and a marble bathroom with Voya products, though the shower is now quite dated. There is decent Wi-Fi, but no TVs in the rooms. 7/10
Food & drink
“He calls himself a cook, rather than a chef,” William’s mother, Jane, tells me. When I meet him at breakfast — an easy, unpretentious presence introducing their own hams, fruits, scones and juices — that makes complete sense.
For dinner, guests gather in the drawing room from 7pm. William appears to read through the menu, a hymn to Longueville and its locality based around a main course of roast pork, garden plum sauce, red cabbage and potatoes with fresh chives and butter. There’s no choice, but we are emailed ahead to ask about any allergies and preferences (my wife’s coeliac needs are handled well). The pork feels a little wintry for the weather, but is delicious, and afterwards, guests chat and mingle around the fire pit.
Longueville’s ciders and apple brandy are available to buy from cabinets in the hall, and a unique way to experience the house and O’Callaghan philosophy is its annual mushroom weekend (September 30 to October 1). It sees experts guide guests on a forage around the estate, and their harvest then features in a picnic and dinner. 8/10
The bottom line
Our heatwave visit finds the house gasping, but log fires will light up a very different mood when the seasons start to shift. “I love this house in winter,” Aisling says.
A personable, gourmet and utterly Irish stay, Longueville reminds me of country house breaks like Ballyvolane, Newforge and Roundwood. We’ll miss it.
Insider tip
There’s also a self-catering lodge available — a five-bed courtyard mews sleeping up to 10.
Rates
A mushroom hunt weekend includes two nights’ B&B, a picnic and dinner from €800 for two sharing (September 30 to October 1).
Exclusive hires are priced from €5,000 a night. The house sleeps up to 26, with a two-night minimum stay. Meals and other activities extra.
Pól was a guest of the hotel. 022 47156; longuevillehouse.ie
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