American Family in Longford: Traveling to Doolin: Ashford Castle

Ashford Castle is the billed as the oldest castle in Ireland dating back to 1228. It was once owned by the Guinness family and opened as a hotel in 1939. It sits on Lough Corrib and is absolutely gorgeous.

As you can see, it is truly magnificent.

So, when we first pulled up, I drove across the bridge below. There was a security guard who was extremely pleasant but he told us we couldn't park in the hotel lot unless we had a reservation for a room. There fore, it was necessary for us to go back out and park over by the shop. Well that was fine but I was supposed to back up along the little bridge to get turned around. Now, you can see the super thick stone walls, and, I am not the most confident backer upper!

I think I must have looked fairly panicked and he was like, "Ah you'll be fine! We'll get ya sorted!" I was skeptical, but I decided it was time to believe in myself, so I went for it, AND I successfully navigated backwards and across the bridge. Now, I also recall that when I tried to find a place to park by the shop, I had to maneuver a bit to back in, and the look of amusement on the guards face was priceless...Wish I had taken his picture, but apparently I didn't.

I took this picture of the gateway as we walked back over to stroll the castle grounds. Off to the left, around the wall, is the path to take for foot traffic.