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ADARE |
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Famously picturesque ADARE has cultivated nearly as many antiques
shops as pubs. In peak season, it will more than likely be infested with
tourists taking photos of the wayside cottages that sit in a neat row,
their quaint deep-brown thatch hanging in low fringes. The cottages
represent the nineteenth-century ideal of romanticized rusticity, as
realized by the third Earl of Dunraven (1812-71), landlord and master of
Adare Manor and an eternal improver of circumstances for his tenants.
Given that Adare is now probably regarded as the prettiest (and, it must
be added, prissiest) village in Ireland, it's hard to believe that
before the earl's improvements it was one of the grottiest. The cottages
today are pure upmarket thatch, with pricey restaurants and craft shops.
Adare Manor House , to the north of the village, is a huge, near
fanatical assembly of castellations and turrets in limestone, built by
the earl to Gothic Revival designs in 1832. This castle has only
recently passed into private hands as a grand hotel , the Adare Manor (tel
061/396566; over £130/¬165.07), which offers luxurious accommodation, a
swimming pool and a golf course. The River Maigue flows by the estate a
little further up, at the head of the village, and although an exciting-looking
triumvirate of medieval buildings beckons, a golf course steers its
course next to all of them, inhibiting any snooping around you might
want to do. It may not be worth the effort anyhow, for the Desmond
castle - interesting as it looks to explore - is completely bricked up
and deemed unsafe. The fifteenth-century friary appears far better
preserved, but it was extensively restored as late as the mid-nineteenth
century. These are perhaps easiest viewed from the bridge.
Back in the village there are ecclesiastical sites, too, starting with
an Augustinian Priory just by the bridge. Beautifully preserved, the
priory still serves as the local Church of Ireland church, its interior
as close as any to the old medieval model. The Trinitarian Abbey ,
halfway down the main street, was founded in 1230 for the Trinitarian
Canons of the Order of the Redemption of Captives, and is the only house
of this order in Ireland. Today, it's Adare's Catholic church, with one
of its turrets at the back a deserted columbarium.
Buses from Limerick stop in the main street. Adare's tourist office
(Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat & Sun 9am-6pm; tel 061/396255) is in the main
street alongside the heritage centre (same times; £3/¬3.81). There are
numerous B&Bs in the village, including Berkeley Lodge (tel 061/396857;
berlodge@iol.ie ; £40-55/¬50.79-69.84); Avona (tel 061/396323;
£40-55/¬50.79-69.84) and Church View House (tel 061/396371;
£33-40/¬41.90-50.79), all situated on Station Road. You can get decent
meals at The Arches Restaurant on Main Street; for snacks try the café
in the same building as the tourist office. Bill Chawke's and Collin's
Bar both have traditional-music sessions one evening a week during the
summer.
Five miles southwest of Adare, the pleasant village of BALLINGARRY has
an excellent IHH hostel , Trainor's (closed mid-Oct to Feb; tel
069/68164). The village is also home to an upmarket restaurant of some
renown, The Mustard Seed (closed March; tel 069/68508), which offers
imaginative country-house cooking using plenty of organic and local
produce
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