Are there any manor house wedding venues in Ireland that are not a bit ****?!

joeymaccy · 24-05-2012 08:39AM #1

OK so, apologies for my totally sweeping generalisation but I’ve been hunting high and low for a manor house venue for my wedding only to find that each house, while is lovely in its own regards, is always not quite right. Take Bellinter House for example; lovely house but the dining room is in a dungeon downstairs and also, you have to book out all 34 room @€;180 a pop. I don’t want to do the marquee thing either.
I don’t think I’m being a diva, I’m just looking for a manor house with a) a nice garden for having drinks outside and b) a room big enough to accommodate about 120 people. Any suggestions?

Borderfox · 24-05-2012 08:48AM

Whats the budget per head. Balyna house is quite nice

CavanGal · 24-05-2012 08:57AM

I don't know how these hotels work as regards booking with have you checked Tankardstown in Slane and Clonabreany House near Crossakiel?

Moonbeam · 24-05-2012 09:00AM

Ballyseede is amazing.
There are not many bedrooms though.

joeymaccy · 24-05-2012 09:09AM

Hi Guys, thanks for the suggestions. I'd push the boat out for the right venue - €100 - 120 a head. Keep the ideas coming!!
I've been to a wedding in Tankardstown - it's really nice but can only accommodate 80 for dinner

joeymaccy · 24-05-2012 09:16AM

Has anyone heard of the rectory in Cork?

Sleepy · 24-05-2012 09:22AM

No idea on pricing but it's a stunning place and can seemingly handle your numbers: http://www.powerscourt.ie/weddings

pwurple · 24-05-2012 09:27AM

We got married in Kinsale, Cork here:

http://www.ballinacurra.com/

Place is fab, the guy Des is a bit painful to deal with. You do have to book all the bedrooms. They have a big dining room. If you don't want your guests to pay whatever he charges, just subsidise it, like we did. So, his price for guests for a room was 150, we went through it in advance and paid 30 euro of it on our own bill. Guests were charged 120.

Huntington Castle in Carlow is stunning. Dining room is a bit dark, which you said you don't like, but the gardens are amazing. So could do an outdoor thing.

http://www.huntingtoncastle.com/

I'm unsure whether you want accommodation or not, but Fota House in cork is just the house for hire. No rooms to sleep in, people stay in the nearby hotel. The website doesn't do it justice. It is a lovely spot. I've been to weddings there, very elegant. Gardens are lovely.

http://www.fotahouse.com/

Balmed Out · 24-05-2012 09:35AM

joeymaccy wrote: »

Has anyone heard of the rectory in Cork?

Yeah, quite possible the best food you will get at a wedding in Ireland and a gorgeous location to boot. In fact now that youve mentioned it if the weathers good for the wk end im gonna go for lunch in Glandore, really nice spot.
Downs - think max is 120 or 140 ppl, accomodation isnt onsite (though marine hotel is a few minutes walk down the road). I didnt enquire as we have too big a crowd but I would imagine its expensive.
One other thing is the room is sort of divided up, you might think it wouldnt work but it does.

Every time I get a wedding invite I cross my fingers hoping it'll be the rectory!

joeymaccy · 24-05-2012 09:41AM

Hi BalmedOut, thanks for your message. I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about the split up room thing. For the speeches, I’d really like to have everyone in the one room so the split room mightn’t work.. Thanks for the info though. I think I’ll still check it out.
Cheers,

Penny Dreadful · 24-05-2012 09:58AM

joeymaccy wrote: »

Hi Guys, thanks for the suggestions. I'd push the boat out for the right venue - €100 - 120 a head. Keep the ideas coming!!
I've been to a wedding in Tankardstown - it's really nice but can only accommodate 80 for dinner

They have added a function room onto the building now. I had looked at having my wedding there but they were only starting to build it and I wasn't sure it would be finished in time. They expect to be able to cater for 150 or so I think.
It is a really nice venue and the people I dealt with when I was thinking of having it there were really lovely.

Balmed Out · 24-05-2012 10:01AM

If your heading to west cork could check out the following places too:

Blairscove - far west, not been but meant to be ver good. Think the max is 100.

Why are you going for a manor house? I looked at them as well as regular hotels but not sure why you would specifically choose one. If its a privacy thing then plenty of hotels are geared so much towards weddings that pretty much all their business is weddings. Fern hill in clonakilty and the innishannon hotel have nice gardens, dunmore house hotel has no gardens but does have an outdoor area with a spectacular view of inchydoney. Those 3 would have restraunt / bar services for locals but 90 % of guests are probably for weddings.

Sleepy · 24-05-2012 10:03AM

The problem you're always going to have with a manor house is accommodation. There have been very, very few houses built in Ireland with over 50 bedrooms.

fuddy1 · 24-05-2012 10:14AM

Am biased but i love Leixlip Manor. Am getting married there this year. Its been around in some form since 1774. The drawing room is beautiful. Green, cream and gold colour scheme. High ceilings with floor to ceiling windows and drapes. Big open fireplaces and candles everywhere. its on 27 acres with walled victorian gardens. Can sit up to 120 guests i think. 29 bedrooms in total and not bad prices for guests. It only hosts weddings so its all yours with no exclusive use fee like the likes of killashee house has.
They've been really nice to deal with so far.
Dont mean to sound like an advertisment for the place but i really do love it.....cant wait til november!

Sleepy · 24-05-2012 11:04AM

We were looking at Leixlip Manor alright. Loved the place but couldn't get the guest list down to 120.

sweetie · 24-05-2012 11:06AM

All manor houses will stuggle with those numbers. Have you considered Step house in Borris, Co Carlow or Rathsallagh or the Millhouse Slane. Whilst not quite a Manor the step house is a lovely boutique hotel and has nice garden and function room. The latter two have permanent marquees which are very nice and better than the average rented marquee. I fear you will need to compromise somewhere!

campo · 24-05-2012 11:09AM

Have you tried Ballyvolane House in Cork

joeymaccy · 24-05-2012 11:11AM

thanks for all the suggestions; I'm going to check Leixlip Manor out this weekend!

Sleepy · 24-05-2012 11:15AM

Moy Valley could be an option for the best of both worlds if you have bigger numbers: you can have your drinks reception in the old manor house and saunter across the courtyard to the meal/reception in a bright and modern hotel. Was at a friends wedding there recently and thought it was a nice idea: get the show of the old house for the arrival and photos and all the convenience of a modern building (bathrooms, large function room, smoking balconies etc.)

Borderfox · 24-05-2012 01:12PM

Clonabreany is really nice but its a marquee beside the main house with accomodation across the road

Penny Dreadful · 24-05-2012 01:34PM

Not pushing the venue just because its where I'm having my wedding but consider The Station House Hotel.

I liked it because it has lovely grounds for guests to enjoy themselves outside when the weather is like this. The food is great (actually that was one of the biggest factors for us), the hotel can deal with a good number of guests and has houses too that people can use. I think it can cater for up to 180 people (although how I don't really know) but we're looking at 120-130 on the day and they can sit that many comfortably.

joeymaccy · 24-05-2012 01:45PM

Hi Campo, Ballyvolane looks like the type of thing I'm after in terms of the gardens - it's got a great quirky festival vibe going on. I'm not sure about the marquee dinner room. it looks a bit pokey from the photos..? Have you been to Ballyvolane yourself?

campo wrote: »

Have you tried Ballyvolane House in Cork

ABajaninCork · 24-05-2012 01:51PM

Balmed Out wrote: »

If your heading to west cork could check out the following places too:

Blairscove - far west, not been but meant to be ver good. Think the max is 100.

Why are you going for a manor house? I looked at them as well as regular hotels but not sure why you would specifically choose one. If its a privacy thing then plenty of hotels are geared so much towards weddings that pretty much all their business is weddings. Fern hill in clonakilty and the innishannon hotel have nice gardens, dunmore house hotel has no gardens but does have an outdoor area with a spectacular view of inchydoney. Those 3 would have restraunt / bar services for locals but 90 % of guests are probably for weddings.

I'd agree with this. Look for a hotel that does only one wedding a day. Innishannon is lovely, I've been to weddings there, and has gorgeous grounds.

If you're looking to book a manor house, then expect to pay a lot. They will usually ask that all the rooms are booked, especially in peak wedding season.

pwurple · 24-05-2012 01:53PM

I thought Ballyvolane was restricted to 75? Give them a ring I'd say and ask.

PCPhoto · 24-05-2012 02:40PM

finnstown house, lucan, dublin

is an option - has grounds, gardens and accomodation for your group (we're having our wedding there and it can accomodate upto 200 for a meal and I think they have approx 80-90rooms (so thats about 180ish people sorted for accomodation)

moco · 24-05-2012 04:28PM

If you're willing to venture over the border...

http://www.manorhousecountryhotel.com/home.htm

Ms Mustard · 24-05-2012 10:13PM

joeymaccy wrote: »

Has anyone heard of the rectory in Cork?

Yes, going there for a wedding in July if you can wait that long for feedback.

okiss · 25-05-2012 01:00AM

I would have a look at the Annebrook House Hotel in Mullingar. They do one wedding a day.
One of my family members had there wedding there and they spoke very highly of the staff. The food was lovely and you did not have to book very expensive accommodation in order to have the venue. The accommodation also includes Apart-hotel Rooms.
There website address is http://www.annebrook.ie.

AngelaB · 25-05-2012 02:23AM

Borderfox wrote: »

Clonabreany is really nice but its a marquee beside the main house with accomodation across the road

Tinakilty House Wicklow is a lovely venue for a Wedding unsure of numbers they can take . For smaller more intimate weddings the newly opened Old Rectory Centre in Donard is a beautiful place www.theoldrectorydonard.com

Gatica · 25-05-2012 09:49AM

fuddy1 wrote: »

It only hosts weddings so its all yours with no exclusive use fee like the likes of killashee house has.

Did you mean Kilshane House by any chance?

If you're looking for a stunning venue, Kilshane House would definitely be at the top of my list but they do charge an insanely high exclusivity fee - we couldn't afford it nor did I wanna give them the money for technically "nothing", as that's what it seems like to me.
Castle Durrow is another stunning venue. It's more like a country house than a castle. I loved it so much, and a fab garden. Didn't have our date and the other dates worked out too expensive for us.

Ballymagarvey Village is really lovely.
The Village at Lyons is a stunning location.
Rathsallagh House as someone suggested is a proper country manor. I didn't like it when I saw it though because of the layout. The same went for Leixlip Manor, for me personally. I wanted an open room where I could see one end to the other. Leixlip and Rathsallagh both have a kind of 90 degree angle in the layout.

Cashel House Hotel in Connemara was another pretty country house but their limit is 120, i.e. at a squeeze.
Mount Falcon has fabulous grounds and a country house feel to it. They do require all rooms to be booked though.(not unlike many of the other venues listed above).
SummerHill House Hotel is pretty, but I didn't like the coordinator there.
Killashee house is also nice, but they can do two weddings a day - one in the old house and one in the main hotel.

The others to check out would be Castle Oaks House Hotel, Springfort Hall Country House, Brooklodge, Tulfarris.

Best of luck!

Seanchai · 25-05-2012 03:23PM

joeymaccy wrote: »

Are there any manor house wedding venues in Ireland that are not a bit ****?!

Lough Rynn, of course. Here, here, here and here.

/end thread.

Are there any manor house wedding venues in Ireland that are not a bit ****?!

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