VRBO is part of the HomeAway family, the world leader in vacation rentals. We offer the largest selection of properties for any travel occasion and every budget. We’re committed to helping families and friends find a perfect vacation rental to create unforgettable travel experiences together.
This large open plan country home with sleeping for up to 15 guests in 4 upstairs bedrooms, plus a downstairs room with convertible sofa bed (and en-suite).
Views of a Castle Keep Tower from every room. Private grounds to the front, side and rear.
Set in a private, tranquil and rural location with easy access to local village, Ennis town, Shannon Airport and the motorway is only 1 mile away.
We have enjoyed sharing our (vacation rental) holiday home with guests from all over the world since 2004.
Margaret Moore purchased this Lodge in 2004
Great location, close to Shannon Airport (15 mins drive), from Ennis Town (10 mins drive), local village (5 mins drive) and there are several very closeby B&B's and a hotel within walking distance. Private. Tranquil. Spacious. Homely. Easy access to all tourist spots and to the motorway just one mile away.
This large open plan house is ideal for large families/groups to relax and hang out. There is an on-site (unstocked) pub on the grounds for those who may wish to have an extra room outside, or get in kegs/drinks to have your own pub (whether you're just on holidays or for hosting an event). It's fun and a great little addition to the property. There are lawns surrounding the lodge as well as car parking space to the front and rear of the property.
Check-in: 2:30 PM
Check-out: 10:30 AM
100% refund if canceled at least 30 days before arrival date. 50% refund if canceled at least 14 days before arrival date.
In planning a trip for 19 high school students from the States to Ireland and England, where are we going to stay was top on my list. I cannot begin to tell you what a perfect location Ballyhannon Castle is! We spent our time in Ireland mainly on day trips to Galway, Doolin, Cobh, Blarney and more. We were almost always within about an hour of these destinations. After a long day of visiting some of Ireland's beautiful sites, it was so amazing coming back to Ballyhannon. There is plenty of space to hang out, which is especially needed with 19 students traveling together. We stayed in both the Castle and Coach House. Each provided a different living opportunity and the kids loved them both equally. Margaret and Liam were so welcoming. From the first correspondence to our last, they wanted to make our stay the best it could be. We had a few questions when we were there and they quickly answered all of them. Being the leader of the trip, I am always looking to make sure everything runs smoothly. My only thought to make one's stay a little easier would be to have a place for trash. We were incredibly fortunate to have the awesome Brian Mortell cater for us while we were there. He was able to remove any trash that we had, which was great. Had we not had a caterer, I'm not sure what our options would have been, and we did not have our own vehicle so removing it would have been difficult. This is just a very minor thought as to how things might be made easier for future guests. With that said, this was the experience of a lifetime. I am currently planning a return trip for the upcoming summer with another group so that they can experience this fantastic and wonderful place for themselves!
Our extended family of 18 stayed at this property (the castle and coach house). The castle was an "A" for the kids. However, the accommodations were not an "A" for the adults.
Our family has traveled to a few European countries as a group renting accommodations each time. The price paid for these accommodations did not match the value received in comparison to other properties we have rented. The property and price indicated a high end property. While lovely and unique, our expectations were not met.
Upon arrival, the accommodations were damp and cold. One of the main heat sources in the coach house did not function through the first night. We were instructed to add pellets to the stove to keep it running. The stove required my husband to clean out one of the compartments that was dirty and caused the stove to turn off periodically through the week. The pellets to heat the home were an additional cost per bag.
The stovetop in the coach house did not work. We alerted Margaret of this as soon as we noticed it. It took a few days to be repaired. This required us to cook meals in the other building and bring the food back to the coach house.
The TV in the coach house did not work. The TV in the castle was covered up. The dryer in the castle did not work. We were told not to use the showers at the same time in the coach house. Wifi was only available in the castle. Within the castle, the wifi only worked on the 4th floor. We alerted Margaret, but this was never repaired during out stay.
There were large bees in the coach house on the second floor- particularly the master bedroom and shared bathroom. My parents killed multiple bees during the night each night of our stay. We alerted Margaret. She informed us that there used to be a hive there, but they had it fixed during the summer. It was not addressed during our stay.
There was additional charges for electricity, heat, towels (waived) and garbage disposal that added up significantly.
Margaret did offer to coordinate or introduce us to amenities. The horse stable (onsite) we booked and confirmed multiple times over 9 months leading to our trip canceled on us the night we arrived. She told us she was leaving for Africa for vacation! It was a huge disappointment. The kids were heartbroken.
A 2-3 night stay would have fulfilled our castle experience.
Although lovely people, for the price we paid, we expected professional service and higher end accommodations.
This was a lovely extended family who stayed with us in November 2014. They very kindly invited Margaret, me and our two children to spend Thanksgiving evening with them, with traditional Irish musicians in the Castle and they allowed a camera crew to film their celebrations for Irish TV (on our own website). We rarely get to enjoy our own castle, so it was a real treat to see it come alive with happy families and children dancing to the live jigs, reels and hornpipes.
Kelly's review has indeed come as quite a surprise to us for many reasons which, due to restrictions on the amount we can type here on VRBO, we have listed in full on our own RentAnIrishCastle.com website under our 'Activities and Things To Do' page entitled 'Our Responses to VRBO Review(s)'. Moreso, we are disappointed for this family because they had given us no indication of these sentiments (on service, value and expectations) whatsoever during their stay back in 2014, even during our memorable evening with them on Thanksgiving.
On service, it is Margaret's way to try to go above and beyond to help bookers with information before and after they arrive. When one expects the usual number of emails being exchanged about availability and rates, etc. leading to the booking being made, Margaret had 87 emails with Kelly, which is quite a lot when you consider that we are only a vacation rental.
On value, when our guests get to rent an entire medieval castle and country home sleeping up to 25, bar and 3 acres, all to themselves in private walled grounds for as little as €30pp/pn (for 25) in low season when this group booked, we hope that this is not an unreasonable rate.
There is great pressure on us to meet all expectations, and despite our best efforts we accept that there are times like this when we simply cannot.
You will see from the almost unanimous, overwhelmingly complimentary reviews on another global review site that Kelly's opinion on our service, value and expectations is the exception (e.g. all guests who stayed subsequently and posted reviews of their stays gave us the full 5 stars for these). We wish in no way to diminish nor dispute Kelly's opinions for the benefit of fellow travelers, and by posting our response, as owners, we seek only to deal with the factual discrepancies in her review by relaying our equally valid perspectives in order to add balance to this case for the equal benefit of prospective future guests.
The Moore family
Ballyhannon Castle & Coach House
An abundance of adventure and fun activities are available on the doorstep.
Surrounded by Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions strategically and conveniently at the heart of the West Coast of Ireland and along the Wild Atlantic Way.
By pure, though indeed fortunate, historic coincidence, Castlefergus Lodge is exceptionally well located for visitors to Irish shores.
The nearest airport is 15 minutes drive, and there are 3 local villages, all within 3 miles of the Castle, 2 towns within 10 minutes and 2 cities less than 1 hours drive. The Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, Bunratty Castle, Blarney Castle, the Aran Islands, Dingle, Killarney, Dublin City, Galway City to name the most popular tourist attractions within easy reach.
Optional extras available for rent: The Pub (A Bring Your Own Bar) or ask about having kegs/bottles installed to be there for you to enjoy on arrival. Also, catering is available (from simple welcome packs to buffet meals or chef-cooked and served dinners, or drop-off hot/cold dishes, or bbq's, etc...) ask for more details. We have lots of great local contacts for catering, music/entertainment, etc .... please ask for more information and let us know what you're thinking about (if having some kind of party), we might be able to make some helpful suggestions. Payments can be made directly to us (avoiding agency booking fees) by phoning us directly with credit card details.