Location: 10 minutes outside of Dublin, Ireland
Review: Ten out of ten pretend prince or princesses sleeping in a castle 👑
When I first heard of Clontarf Castle researching my trip to Dublin, I did an eye roll picturing a sort of Medieval Times-esque monstrosity meant to lure in unsuspecting fantasy fans to a fraudulent experience of cheesy decor and potentially, even worse costuming inside. But as soon as I looked further and read that it was in fact an actual castle, I realized I was very wrong, booked it immediately and got ready for one of the most unique stays I’d ever had traveling.
I think I told literally everyone that I’m staying in an actual castle in Dublin. But I realize now after spending some time in Dublin (and Glasgow) that castles are not as big of a deal as my America-raised brain was making them, they’re kind of easily to access with Ireland having over 30,000 castles alone. But I couldn’t hide my excitement because like I said, I would be staying in a castle.
Upon pulling up to Clontarf Castle, I was struck with this feeling of awe and historic wonder. The first thing you see is that they’ve done a wonderful job preserving the crux of the castle without giving it a complete facial reconstruction. The buildings stoney facade, stain glass windows and large double handed doors all remained beautifully and stoically intact.
If you ignore the fact that we had arrived by taxi and were entering with suitcases through automated doors, you can easily transport yourself and let your mind imagine what this castle may have been several eras ago. Which lucky for me, it only took a little prying to get a full backstory on where I was staying, complete with list of all the past owners of the castle – including the one and only Dracula. 🧛♂️⚡️ Cue thunder bolts and spooky music…fine maybe not the Dracula but the writer of Dracula, Bram Stoker did grow up right next door.
Brief History of Clontarf Castle:
1172 – The official construction of Clontarf Castle by the order of Hugh De Lacy (King of Meath) who liked that the castle provided protection away from attacks by sea in Dublin.
1649 – After exchanging several hands (including back and forth from the Catholic Church), the castle was sold by Oliver Cromwell to the Vernon family. Personally my favorite owners of the castle because of their family motto ‘Vernon Semper Viret‘, or Vernon Always Flourishes. (Iconic, really.) The banner can still be seen hanging in the current castle lobby.
1960s – After the Vernon family, the castle was passed on due to a lack of male family heirs (classic) and after changing a few hands throughout the next several decades, it ended up later becoming a cabaret and began as a wedding venue (which is still is to this day)
1997 – Clontarf Castle the year the castle officially becomes a hotel and has remained been open since then.
In addition to the rich history, it was also said to be the castle of the secret rendezvouses of composer George Frideric Handel and his lover Lady Vernon and even he composed a song in dedication to their time together there. And as I mentioned, Bram Stoker also grew up in Clontarf and was fascinated by the castle structure so it’s said that Clontarf Castle is the inspiration for Dracula’s castle.
Ghosts in The Castle?
While I was doing research on this castle, I found out not only are castles common but it’s also common is the knowledge that “every castle has at least one ghost“. (This is advice I wish I could forget because I plan on staying in a lot more castles.)
And only after I left did I find out there had been many rumors of said “ghosts” at the Clondarf Castle. While I got only good vibes during my stay, the only caveat was several times our window shade was pulled up randomly and not in a way that it sputtered to the top like a normal but in a way that was as if someone pulled it up. It made us jump out of our skin each time because the timing was never predictable – sometimes it’d be minutes after we pulled it down, other times hours, sometimes at night right before we left to go out, other times it was a very rude (and loud) wakeup call.
We didn’t ask the front desk about it and it could’ve been we just didn’t have a good grip for it stay down but the infrequency to which is happened did make me suspicious. In addition, while we were searching for places for our castle photoshoot (as you do while you’re in a castle), we found a completely dark room at the top of the stairs which held only a long dining table donned with white table cloth. The room itself was freezing, several times colder then of the rest of the entire hotel and we avoided going anywhere near the room after that.
My Clontarf Hotel Dublin review is positive. There’s also fabulous art from the lobby to the hallways, gorgeous candelabras and chandeliers, your very own throne chairs to sit in if you want to be a king or queen of the castle, a secret hidden enclosed cave to have your morning tea in and three places to dine with probably the best food I had my entire trip to Dublin. (Highly recommend the mushrooms on toast with a Guinness for breakfast.) It’s also eco friendly, with a special note the website about its dedication to waste management, water consumption and giving back to local communities by partnering with small businesses.
If you’re a history buff like me and can get past the “ghosts”, Clondarf is a great place with a lot of character and the ideal stay for any fantasy nerd who wants to imagine what its like to live in a castle while keeping all the amenities of present day.
