Afternoon Tea at Adare Manor

When I was in college, a few friends of mine started a club called SASS– Students Acquiring Social Skills. It was really just an excuse to dress up and pretend to be fancy with the school’s funding; the members were primarily from their friend group. SASS’s shining moment was a trip the group organized to the only proper English tea room in Waltham, MA. We all wore our fanciest dresses and ate tiny cucumber sandwiches and biscuits with clotted cream and resisted the overwhelming urge to speak in fake British accents.

And that was my only experience of high tea, until I went to Ireland.

As part of the Limerick 2014 trip sponsored by Failte Ireland, we were treated to a terrific tea time at Adare Manor, a 5-star luxury castle hotel.

The interior of the manor itself was captivating– the hidden corners filled with tiny ornate details, bookshelves spilling over with old Irish literature, and high soaring ceilings that kept me ooh-ing and aah-ing and sneaking off to explore the little things that caught my eye. From the quiet indoor pool to the leather-upholstered dark downstairs bar to the long historical hallways with intricate fireplaces, the entirety of Adare Manor was grand.

But the highlight was, without a doubt, our exquisite teatime.

We were welcome heartily by the Adare staff and led to a long, lace-covered table that delicately set with teacups and flowers and little else.

Not for long.

In a blink, our cups were filled with tea and the table was abundant with delicacies. Three-tiered tea-trays laden with sweet and savory concoctions appeared, as did tiny exquisite tea sandwiches, itty-bitty parfaits, platters of steaming scones and lemon curd. There was a brief hush as twelve hungry travel bloggers dove into the spread, though soon the table was overflowing with laughter—this teatime was simply delightful.

We polished off the food easily.

In an attempt to ward off a hazy post-tea food coma, we wandered Adare’s sprawling grounds. There’s an 18-hole golf course and immaculately manicured greenery; while the Manor fascinated with its dark corners and delicate secrets, the grounds are all openness and freshness and sunshine. The weather was so glorious and the grass was so pristinely lush; with our teatime joy lingering, there was only one appropriate course of action.

I did cartwheels.

(One last note: If you go to Adare Manor, I recommend wandering around the little town of Adare as well—it’s quaint and lovely for a stroll. There are little parks, old churches, cute houses; it’s really rather pleasant.)

I visited Adare Manor as part of the Limerick 2014 City of Culture tour, arranged and sponsored by Failte Ireland. All opinions are my own.