Ashford Castle

Listen first. Water moves over stone somewhere close by, and the gravel shifts under your feet. Mist lies low across the lake. Grey limestone walls rise out of the trees, with towers, battlements and narrow windows. It looks like a fortress, and in a way it is. Over eight centuries it has also been a family home, a hunting lodge and, today, a luxury hotel. Welcome to Ashford Castle, on the edge of the village of Cong, in County Mayo, in the west of Ireland.

Start with the setting, because it explains almost everything here. Cong sits on a narrow strip of land between two large lakes. Lough Corrib is to the south and east, and Lough Mask lies to the north. The village name comes from an Irish word that means a neck or narrow strip of land. Much of the water between the two lakes runs underground, through cracks in the limestone. So the ground around you is full of hidden streams and caves. The river beside the castle is one place where that water comes back to the surface.

The story of the castle begins in the thirteenth century. In 1228, the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family built a stronghold here. The Anglo-Normans were French-speaking lords who had come to Ireland from England. The de Burgos took this land after defeating the O'Connors, a powerful Irish ruling family of the region. Their castle guarded the crossing between the lakes. For an army or a trader, this narrow strip of land was the easy way through. Whoever held it held the route.

Very little of that medieval fortress survives above ground. Most of what you see today is much younger, and this surprises many visitors. The castle has been rebuilt and extended several times. Each owner added towers, wings and decoration in the style of their own time. The result looks ancient, but much of it dates from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The battlements are partly a romantic idea of a castle, not only a real defence.

In the early eighteenth century, the land passed to the Browne family, local landowners in Mayo. They built a hunting lodge here in the style of a French country house. Look for the more regular, symmetrical part of the building. That calmer section comes from this period. For several generations, Ashford was a quiet country estate. Woods, water and wild birds made it ideal for hunting and fishing.

The next great change came in 1852. Benjamin Lee Guinness, from the Dublin brewing family, bought the estate. Yes — the same Guinness family whose dark beer is known around the world. He began to enlarge the house in the Victorian Gothic style. His son, Arthur Edward Guinness, later known as Lord Ardilaun, continued the work on a much larger scale. Many of the towers and battlements you see now come from their time.

Lord Ardilaun did not only build in stone. He also changed the land itself. He planted large areas of woodland across the estate and laid out walks, gardens and drives. Many of the old trees around you today grew from that planting. He also cared deeply about the lake and its fish. So the forest you walk through is a Victorian creation, shaped by one man's taste. It is not wild Irish woodland.

In 1939, the castle began a new life as a hotel. A local hotelier, Noel Huggard, bought it and opened its doors to guests. Fishermen came for the trout and salmon of Lough Corrib. Later, famous guests followed. United States President Ronald Reagan stayed here during his visit to Ireland in 1984. Over the decades, the castle became one of the best-known hotels in the country. Since 2013, it has belonged to the Red Carnation hotel group, and a long restoration followed.

Now for a story that still brings visitors to Cong. In the early 1950s, the director John Ford filmed The Quiet Man here. The film starred John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and it came out in 1952. Many scenes were shot in the village and on the castle grounds. Members of the film crew stayed at Ashford during the shoot. Today, you can still find small reminders of the film around Cong, and some visitors come only for that.

As you walk the grounds, notice the bridge over the river. It leads to the main entrance, and its stone arches carry you across the water like a drawbridge. From the bridge, you get a good view of the towers rising above the river. Then walk towards the lake shore. Lough Corrib is very large, with many small islands. On a still morning, the castle walls are reflected in the water, and the only sounds are birds and wind.

The estate is also home to Ireland's School of Falconry. Falconry is the old art of hunting with trained birds of prey. Here, visitors can walk through the woods with a hawk on a gloved hand. Many people do not expect this kind of encounter at a castle hotel. Yet it fits the long history of this land as a place for hunting. It also connects with the wild birds you may hear in the trees around you.

Before you leave, walk back towards the village. The ruins of Cong Abbey stand close to the estate. The abbey was a monastery of Augustinian canons, a community of priests who lived by a shared rule. Its carved stone doorways and windows are quiet and worn. The Cross of Cong, a fine piece of medieval Irish metalwork, is linked with this place. The cross itself is now kept in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.

So stand still for a moment. Behind you is a castle that has changed many times — from Norman stronghold to hunting lodge, from family home to hotel. In front of you, the water still moves through the stone, as it did long before anyone built here. As you walk away, listen again for the river. And look back once at the grey towers through the trees.