Ashford Castle is a glorious 17th century castle, hotel, garden and golf course worthy of Downton Abby. My brother and I first visited this location in 1999 on our first trip and we were really taken by it. We didn’t have enough money to stay there and still don’t but we love to visit. Located on the outskirts of the Quiet Man village of Cong, Ashford castle is for the rich and famous. Once owned by the Guinness family this updated medieval castle sits on the lovely Lough Corrib next to a pretty wooded golf course. Visitors can walk the grounds and visit the gardens and even take boat tours. However, they are no longer allowed inside of the castle without a reservation. (Boo!)
The adjacent town of Cong is possibly one of the most charming small towns in Ireland. Cong and Ashford sit on the cusp of Connemara, Ireland’s nature wonderland. This area is worthy of a visit to bask in the thousands of shades of green available to you. Rest, relax, and renew and have your photo taken with the statue of Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne while you are there.
If I ever redesign my back yard I would like it to look like this…
Keeping guard over the castle.
Official family selfie at Ashford Castle. Say hello to the Collins clan.
Follow my Wild Irish Road trip here…
PS. Rest in peace Maureen O’Hara. I wrote and scheduled this post prior to her passing. What a lovely Irish movie legend…
Bulldog Travels / Photos By Jenny 
So astonishing this Ashford Castle is!
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I have long wanted to stay here, just never managed to save up enough yet!! But a walk in the grounds has to be the next best thing!!
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It is really nice. The grounds are the best part anyway. I keep saying I’ll stay there someday but then never feel like spending the money. Either way it’s worth a visit. You can play golf, go horseback riding and even learn falconry without staying overnight. But the walk to the grounds from Cong town is perfect.
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Great photos!!
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I absolutely love these castles you’ve been posting/writing about. My sister recently got engaged on a trip to Ireland and the way she described the land and scenery made it so appealing . You’ve done a great job as well.
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Congrats to her. That would be very romantic getting engaged in Ireland. You will have to tell me where her man proposed. I am glad you are liking the castles and abbeys and big houses. I hope it isn’t overkill because there are so many but people seem to still be enjoying them!
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Wow! Your pictures are amazing. Loved the post. I’ve never been, but I definitely want to go now. 🙂
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Thanks so much! Ireland makes it easy to take beautiful photos! You just walk outside anywhere and snap away! Thanks for the comment. Happy to have you!
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The is a great looking castle.
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Thanks so much! I think so too! Wouldn’t it be fun to live there?
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Oh it would be fantastic, think of the exploring you could do, especially at night, it would be super creepy so it would have to be two of you, with a torch… oh and extra batteries for it as you dont want them to fail 😀
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Gosh no kidding. Great setting for a mystery novel don’t you think?
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absolutely, and one of those murder mystery weekends
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Totally!
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That bird statue is so awesome!! I want that on my patio right now. And your castle photos are phenomenal!
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Thank you so much! It is a glorious place that makes taking photos easy! Thanks for stopping by and for the comment.
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I love all of your photos!
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Thank you!
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Looks stunning! Definitely going to add this to my Ireland plans 🙂
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Very excited to hear that! Is your trip soon?
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Sadly no. It will be during summer 2016, and nothing’s been booked yet, so fingers crossed!
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Hey summer 2016 is better than not at all. That gives you some time to do some research and figure out what you want to see. I have a month’s worth of posts queued up. So check them out as they come and see if any of the locations spark your interest. Are you thinking Northern Ireland or the Republic or both? Renting a car?
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Perfect! Likely both, and yes renting a car. My family is doing a ‘family heritage trip’ and it’ll likely be me choosing where to go lol
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Exciting!
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So beautiful. It is my dream to go to Ireland. I had a layover in the airport there once and looking at the lush landscape through the glass is nothing short of amazing.
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Thanks for the visit and the comment. I hope you can get back someday and see the rest of it!
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We are saving for that vacation. I’m going to follow you until then, at least that way I can live through your travels for a while.
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Sounds like a deal! Good luck!
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What a beautiful place! I’d never heard of it but would love to visit one day. Great photos 🙂
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Thank you!
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Hello to a lovely clan.
🙂
(Yes I was thinking of Maureen O´Hara. Graced many an old movie)
🙂
Have a nice week Jenny
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Nice looking place. Very similar to my apartment in everything except scale and appearance. By the way, hello Collins clan. You seem like a nice, friendly bunch. 🙂
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That’s funny. You must live in a beautiful place!
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Well, let’s just say my apartment’s a palace to me! (More like a hovel to everybody else, of course.)
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Been there!
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It is not surprising that so many movies are filmed in Ireland. My favourite is Ryan’s daughter, what is yours?
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Oh good question. The wind that shakes the barley is a good one. I love waking bed Devine but that was filmed in Wales I think. Evelyn was good. Crying game was filmed there too I think.
Lots of TV shows filmed there too. Vikings and game of thrones of course.
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I was thinking the Burren would be a great place for a movie. Or the town of Kinsale.
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A sort of post apocypse evet maybe?
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Murder thriller or sci-fi for sure. For that matter game of thrones could use it for some vast landscape shot. I’ll have to give them a call! 😉
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What a beautiful castle!
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Thank you! It’s located in a lovely setting too.
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Wow! Lovely castle 🙂
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Thank you!
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Simply stunning pictures of the castle. I had not heard of it but after seeing your pictures and reading about it, I definitely want to visit!
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I’m glad I am inspiring so many people to want to visit Ireland. It is a wonderful place to visit full of fun and inquisitive people. I hope you go some day.
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Where are you headed next??? 🙂
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Believe it or not I don’t have a big trip planned. I have some ideas in the making. Maybe Washington DC or Germany. Not sure yet.
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I hope so too!
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Those are amazing pictures!!! You are VERY intriguing to read!! I love that!! I also have my own site, and I am not seceding very well. 😦 But, there is nothing that I can really do!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 I LOVE your blog!!!!
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Just keep trying. Thank you for the nice comments!
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Really enjoy the beautiful tour! 🙂
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Glad you like! Thanks for he comment.
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Your photos are gorgeous, Jenny! We were at Ashford several years ago when we lived in London – you captured it perfectly. 🙂 ~Terri
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Why thank you so much. Did you stay there?
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Unfortunately not. I was traveling on business and had to move on. Is it your favorite castle so far? ~Terri
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No not my favorite by far. I do love it there but I don’t like that you can’t go in unless you are staying there. I like Kylemore Abbey better. I also tend to prefer the ruined ones too. 🙂
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Thanks for following! Nice to see another blogger in a relevant niche as I’m in! Hope to stay connected and share our traveling stories.
-Renee
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Thanks for the follow. Happy to be connected to you! Where are your travels going to take you next?
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No problem! 🙂 I really see Australia in the future. But I haven’t really traveled much since my last post because “real life” got caught up in the way. 😦 But I really want to start taking this blog seriously from now on.
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Good for you. Looking forward to seeing what comes next for you.
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Excellent photos. Love your first one of the castle and grounds (with beautiful flowers). Everytime I hear of Ashford Castle I think of ‘Lord Ashford’ in the British series ‘Heartbeat’…ha ha.
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Perfect! Thanks for the comment. Cheers!
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Oh, this is beautiful! Your posts are really showing me how little of the west of Ireland I’ve seen, and it looks like I’m missing some great stuff out there! A “staycation” is definitely on the cards, I think… Thanks for sharing!
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Yes. You totally should! It’s very pretty.
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