Ashford Castle: Lavish wedding castle in the west of Ireland

The de Burgo family raised the first castle here in 1228 and held it for over three centuries. In 1715 the Brownes added a hunting lodge built like a 17th-century French chateau. You can still see where its steep slate roof meets the battlements. Sir Benjamin Guinness bought the estate in 1852 and planted thousands of trees across it. His son, Lord Ardilaun, rebuilt the west wing in neo-Gothic style between 1875 and 1881. He battlemented the whole castle while he was at it. It became a hotel in 1939.

The castle sits at Cong, right where County Mayo meets County Galway, which is why you'll see both quoted. Ireland West Airport at Knock is the nearest gateway, 65 km away and about 75 minutes by road. Shannon is 123 km and Dublin 250 km. Galway city is 43 km, near enough an hour. It feels remote and isn't, which helps when guests are flying in from three countries.

Cong village is a 15-minute walk out through the estate gates, though it's a longer loop by car. Take the walk. You'll find pubs, the ruins of Cong Abbey and a museum for the film shot here in 1951. Lough Corrib is the largest lake in the Republic. Its wooded islands are easy to pick out from the lake-view rooms. Connemara starts about an hour west, with Kylemore Abbey right on the hour. Couples getting married in Ireland often add a few days here for guests.

Ireland's first School of Falconry has been on the estate since 1999. An hour-long hawk walk puts a Harris hawk on your glove and sends it tree to tree. There's also archery in the woods, clay shooting, horse riding and tennis. Lough Corrib is one of Ireland's best trout and salmon fisheries. The nine-hole, par-35 course was designed by Eddie Hackett, and green fees are free to residents. Five zip lines run 300 metres through the treetops.

The castle is a protected historic building, so full step-free access isn't possible everywhere. There's one fully accessible bedroom, plus ramps and lifts in the public areas and wheelchair-adapted bathrooms. Accessible routes reach reception, the event rooms, every restaurant, the gym, the spa and the pool. The Connaught Room is on the ground floor. The walled garden is reached across gravel. Tell us early and we'll build the day around the routes that work.

All 83 rooms and suites sit inside the castle, from Corrib Rooms up to the split-level Presidential Suite. Staterooms occupy the oldest wing and have fireplaces you control yourself. The Boathouse stands apart, a one-bedroom suite for two at the water's edge behind its own gates. It was built to house the Guinness family's Riva boats. Check-in is 3pm and check-out is noon, and a full Irish breakfast comes with every room.

The bridal suite has two bathrooms and joins two neighboring rooms into a private three-bedroom wing. That gives you a corner of the castle to yourselves for the morning. The spa sits in a bronze conservatory and holds five treatment rooms, one of them a couples suite. There's a steam room, a hammam and a mosaic-walled pool tiled in deep turquoise. It opens at seven, which is early enough for a wedding morning.

Ashford Castle is licensed for civil ceremonies, so your marriage is legally registered here rather than somewhere else beforehand. A registrar travels out on set days and times, and the paperwork goes in at least three months ahead. When the weather holds, you marry in the walled garden, under a spreading tree with deep borders on either side. The Connaught Room takes the ceremony indoors. Our planner in Ireland handles the registration office and holds the timings with the castle's events team.

Which room you get depends on numbers. The Inglenook takes two to ten, panelled and fireside, with a Renaissance fireplace. It also holds a thousand-piece silver-gilt dinner service made in 1889 for the engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Connaught Room takes ten to forty, with oak walls, a hand-carved fireplace and a Donegal Crystal chandelier. Above forty, dinner moves to the George V Dining Room and its eleven Waterford Crystal chandeliers. Welcome drinks go in the Oak Hall.

Everything comes from the castle's own kitchen, where executive chef Liam Finnegan cooks off the estate gardens. The kitchen gardens supply the restaurants, and the estate's beehives supply the honey that turns up in the desserts. Pork comes from Andarl Farm and the lamb from Connemara. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and children's menus are all standard. You'll be invited to a tasting evening to settle the menu. Your cake can come from an outside baker, delivered on the day.

Bands, live acts and amplified music come with booking the whole castle. For a wedding in the Inglenook or Connaught rooms, music stays unamplified and stops at 10pm. A harpist or a string trio suits that beautifully. A dance floor is laid by the castle for exclusive weddings. Afterward there's the Billiards Room until midnight and the rooftop Cigar Terrace above the River Cong. The Prince of Wales Bar pours sixty Irish whiskeys.

Children are properly looked after here. Deluxe Queen Rooms take two adults and two under-12s, travel cots are available, and rooms interconnect. There's a Family Experience Manager, children's menus and a pool with its own children's hours. Junior guests can try archery, fishing, horse riding and the lake cruise. For the archery, they only have to be as tall as the bow. The Lego Butler delivers a Lego set to the room in white gloves, on a silver tray.

Dogs are welcome. Book a Deluxe Room or above and your dog gets a bed, bowls, towels and a treat. A nightly charge applies per dog, with two to a room at most. There's a Pet Concierge to talk to before you arrive. Dog sitting and dog walking can both be booked a day ahead. With 350 acres of woodland and lake shore to cover, a dog in the photographs is an easy yes.

The grounds are closed to anyone not staying, so the only people on the estate are guests. Every wedding guest has to be a resident of the castle, and evening-only guests aren't taken. Up to forty, you reserve the rooms you need and the hotel runs on around you. Above forty, the castle is booked exclusively for a minimum of two nights. If that's bigger than you have in mind, where to get married in Ireland lists far smaller places.