Christopher Gray pays a first visit to the Irish capital based in the Georgian splendour of the Merrion Hotel

My first visit to Dublin, indeed to Ireland, was fixed to mark a birthday on which I reached an age that seemed illimitably in the future when I first heard the Beatles sing of it.

“When I get older, losing my hair...” Now that was me. At 64 – hopefully still needed, certainly still fed – it was high time to cross the Irish Sea.

What had detained me? I know and like so many of its famously friendly people, admire its mighty literary figures, enjoy its Guinness and whiskey and the music that so often accompanies them. At desperate times I’ve even managed the stew.

That Ireland has exported itself so well perhaps explains my less than pressing need to experience the real thing. My loss, as I now realise.

An invitation to stay at the luxurious Merrion Hotel clinched the matter. Fashioned from four fine houses in the heart of Georgian Dublin – one of which was birthplace to the Duke of Wellington – it looked to offer the sort of understated elegance and old-fashioned comfort that Rosemarie and I relish. As we shall see, the appearance was not deceptive.

Our journey there on a recent Saturday was easily managed. The Oxford Bus Company’s excellent airline service took us to Heathrow’s Terminal Five in about an hour. Fifty minutes in the air on a punctual British Airways flight (just time for gin and tonics) brought us to Dublin by early afternoon.

In a first experience of the all-the-time-in-the-world-for-you courtesy that characterised our trip, we were introduced to the Aircoach service and ushered aboard the blue number 700. Less than half an hour later, for a fare of 14 Euros each, we were in Kildare Street, a five-minute walk (the driver directed) from the hotel.

This stands opposite the imposing Government Buildings, home to the Taoiseach (prime minister). “You can watch him at his breakfast,” the bus driver had said.

In front of its unfussy red brick facade stood a liveried commissionaire who relieved us of our wheelie cases and led us through the marble columns of the hall to the reception desk.

This is housed in the first of the interconnecting drawing rooms of three of the linked properties. The fourth, to the right of the entrance steps, is occupied by Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, Dublin’s only establishment with two Michelin stars. This is an associated but separately run business.

Glittering chandeliers, French tapestries, deep-pile carpets and carefully chosen antique furniture and fittings are common to the rooms. Wood fires burn, even in summer. Light streaming in from the formal gardens illuminates an eclectic mix of paintings, mostly by Irish artists.

From the collection of the hotel’s co-owner Lochlann Quinn, they add hugely to the Merrion experience, and can be studied in detail throughout the hotel with the help of a new audio guide of the sort found in major galleries and museums.

Speaking of such, those of Dublin are mostly concentrated within a few hundred yards of the hotel. The National Gallery of Ireland (free admission) was the only one we toured. Like everyone else, I was knocked out by Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ, rediscovered in the Jesuit House of Study in 1990.

Confession time: the gallery was the sole tourist ‘attraction’ we took in during a two-day stay, though we found plenty to look at and keep us busy, away from our lovely room and (in my case) the 18-metre swimming pool.

Oxford Mail:

  • the Irish Government Buildings, home to the Irish PM, the Taoiseach

Saturday night was spent, as is de rigueur in this city, touring a number of bars, an activity enlivened on this occasion by the Irish rugby team’s victory that afternoon in a game against Scotland .

A late night was followed by a late breakfast (smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for me), after which we toured the city on the excellent hop-on, hop-off open-top bus tour.

So entertaining and well-informed was guide-and-driver Paddy, that we decided not to hop off, remaining aboard when the bus (and Paddy) rerouted to the Docklands Tour.

There was another double-whammy of public transport sightseeing on Monday, when we travelled north on the DART electric train service to the pretty seaside village of Howth, then south to the swanky heritage town of Dalkey. At Howth I saw on fishmongers’ slabs impressive quantities of black sole, a massive example of which I had enjoyed the night before during a sumptuous Merrion dinner.

We lunched (perfect cod!) at Finnegan’s Pub in Dalkey, where U2’s Bono entertained Michelle Obama on her 2013 visit to Ireland.

Too soon, it was time for our evening flight home. We’ll be back.

ESSENTIALS

Overnight stays at The Merrion start from €275 per room per night based on two sharing with a full Irish breakfast. To book: +353 1 603 0600, merrionhotel.com.

The Merrion Hotel, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. 

Chris and Rosemarie travelled to Dublin by British Airways