O'Callaghan Stephens Green Hotel★★★★

In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty, I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone…

Last year was the 80th birthday of my dear old Irish grandmother, and with more than fifty years gone since she’d moved across the Irish Sea to live with the Englishman she’d fallen in love with all those years ago, we decided it was time to treat her to a trip to her home city, Dublin. So after months of trying to find a week that suited all the extended family… bearing in mind there were sixteen of us aged between 3 and 80… we finally agreed on the week before Christmas, to get into the festive spirit. We chose an O’Callaghan Hotel, one of the leading privately owned hotel groups in Ireland and a place we’d heard only good things about.

…As she wheeled her wheelbarrow, through streets broad and narrow, crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive alive oh!"

Grandmother’s eyes lit up when we arrived in Dublin, and she immediately started telling us stories about what it was like ‘back in her day’. We got to the hotel in no time, and the sixteen of us traipsed into the reception area, where we were struck by the amazing glass atrium, filling the lobby with natural light and overlooking the idyllic nine-acre park. The fusion of old and new is showcased through the wooden panelling and soft furnishings sitting alongside Georgian stucco ceilings and elegant fireplaces, highlighting the heritage of great historical and cultural importance to Ireland. We said ‘top o’ the morning to ya’ to the lovely staff, who’d managed to find space for all of us at late notice, so we were already very impressed. They led us to our modern, elegant and beautiful appointed rooms which included air-conditioning, Wi-Fi, a flat screen TV, a tea & coffee welcome tray, a safe and a power-shower in the ensuite bathrooms. The rooms also had terraces with views over the city, and the unique décor added rich shades of reds, deep blues and golds to the contemporary design.

"Alive-a-live-oh, Alive-a-live-oh", crying "Cockles and mussels, alive alive oh"

Hungry from our travels, we wandered down to the ‘Pie Dish’ Bistro, set in the atrium and the inner rooms of the Georgian houses with a modern twist. We indulged in a contemporary two-course Irish meal with a complimentary bottle of wine, followed by exotic cocktails in ‘Magic Glasses’, a light and spacious bar with a stained glass ceiling, named after the work of Playwright George Fitzmaurice. We strolled into the city and enjoyed friendly conversation, live folk music and Guinness with the merry locals. After one too many pints, we stumbled back to the hotel and slept peacefully in our cloud-like king sized beds.

"Alive-a-live-oh, Alive-a-live-oh", crying "Cockles and mussels, alive alive oh"

The following morning we feasted on a traditional Irish breakfast whilst listening to our grandmother tell us all the plans she had for us during our holiday. She was an excellent guide, and each place we visited was made even more interesting by the little anecdotes she would tell us about them. After a week of relaxing, sightseeing, eating, drinking and enjoying some rare family time, we all felt happier and healthier than we had in a long time, and decided to make the trip an annual event. It really was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.