4 Lovely Tea Venues to Visit in Ireland’s “Ancient East”

Text by Margaret M. Johnson

Ireland’s “Ancient East” is a touring region tapping 5,000 years of history in the south and east of the country. Described as a touring region rather than a specific route, it was designed to offer a relaxing, compact journey of discovery stretching from the Boyne Valley through the Midlands and down to East Cork. Visitors can start at any point and leisurely explore sites reflecting periods in Ireland’s history from prehistoric and early Christian times to the gentrified Anglo-Irish period, when great houses and gardens dotted the landscape. The Ancient East is also home to some of the loveliest places for afternoon tea, a ritual that serves as the ultimate symbol of Irish hospitality.

1. Cashel Palace Hotel

Main Street • Cashel, County Tipperary E25 EF61

+353-62-62002 • cashelpalacehotel.ie

A glorious place to begin a tea journey through this part of Ireland is the lovely town of Cashel in the heart of Tipperary. A popular travel magazine recently listed Cashel among the 12 prettiest villages and small towns in Ireland, all singled out for their “charm, character, and beauty . . . living time capsules of the past.” Cashel Palace Hotel, located in the town center in the shadow of the iconic Rock of Cashel, was built for the Archbishop of Cashel in 1732 in the Palladian style, a classical architectural style popular in the 18th century where the central main house is flanked by two pavilions. With a handsome redbrick façade, triple-opening Venetian windows, and a large wood-paneled entrance hall, the palace was at the heart of religious life for more than 200 years. But all that changed when the Church of Ireland sold it in 1959; it eventually opened as a luxury hotel in 1962.

Later, in 2016, a prominent local family purchased the hotel, closed it down for four years, and transformed it into the only five-star hotel in Tipperary. It was named Hotel of the Year 2022, earned its first Michelin star this year, and serves one of the most sumptuous afternoon teas in surroundings described as “fit for royalty.” Set in the Queen Anne Room, one of the hotel’s two glamorous salons (the other is the Drawing Room), you’ll find deep sofas, high ceilings, crystal chandeliers, a log fire, and walls adorned with equine art.

Servers present traditional three-tiered stands perfectly laid with sandwiches, scones, and tea pastries that change on a seasonal basis. Beautifully prepared sandwiches might include smoked salmon from Cork’s Blackwater River on brown soda bread with capers, horseradish, and dill; Coronation Chicken Salad in a curry basket with mango salsa; and, perhaps the most sumptuous of all, a prawn and lobster roll with Marie Rose dressing, a classic cocktail sauce popular in Ireland and England. The sandwiches rotate with other savory selections, including Ardsallagh goat cheese spread on cumin bread; cream cheese with cucumber, tomato, and basil; and egg mayonnaise (egg salad).

Plain and fruit scones are offered with Veronica Molloy’s Tipperary-made Crossogue preserves and clotted cream, a warm-up to a tempting array of pastries that could include carrot cake with salted caramel, hazelnut cake with white chocolate, and cappuccino mousse. Battenburg cake, cheesecake, and the classic puff pastry known as Saint Honoré often appear in the rotation. As a tribute to the palace’s Guinness connection—Arthur Guinness’s father used hops from the palace garden and water from its well to brew ale for the house—the chef infuses traditional Black Forest chocolate cake with Guinness rather than kirsch and fills it with sour cherries and dark chocolate.

When weather permits, you can enjoy afternoon tea on the Garden Terrace, a serene space that overlooks the Rock of Cashel and two ancient mulberry trees planted in 1702 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Ann.

Tea selections are from Ronnefeldt, a 200-year-old tea brand served at top hotels around the world. Choices range from standards like Irish Afternoon Gold and Assam Earl Grey to ones with more intense flavor such as Irish Whiskey-Cream, a malty Assam, and Morgentau, a tea composition of Sencha, flower petals, mango, and lemon.

Cashel Palace serves afternoon tea daily from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. and from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. (€55). Complement the experience with a glass of prosecco (€65), Champagne (€75), or Champagne Rosé (€80). Reservations are required.

2. Hermione’s at Kilkea Castle

Kilkea Demesne • Castledermot, County Kildare R14 XE97

+353-59-914-5600 • kilkeacastle.ie

County Kildare is often called “the centerpiece of Ireland’s Ancient East,” with every town and village packed with heritage sites, ranging from early Christian monuments to medieval abbeys and Norman castles. Famous residents from Saint Brigid, Ireland’s only female saint, to explorer Ernest Shackleton have strong links to Kildare, and visitors can follow any number of “trails” dedicated to specific areas of discovery.

More than 100 stone or palisaded castles were built in Kildare in Norman times, including Kilkea Castle in Castledermot, now a four-star hotel that serves afternoon tea in Hermione’s Restaurant, its stylish clubhouse.

The castle dates to 1180 and was in the same family for almost 800 years. While it has operated as both a hotel and an inn in the past, it fell on hard times after Ireland’s financial crash in the 1980s, leaving it empty and cold and the community around it missing one of the area’s most iconic buildings. Enter Boston construction mogul Jay Cashman, who announced in 1999, “I’d like to go buy a castle [in Ireland].” He and his wife, Christy, turned that idea into reality—and then some—with the reopening of Kilkea Castle in 2017 after five years of restoration work. With its history, setting, and design, Jay said, “All I had to do was breathe life back into it. The bones were here; it just needed some work. You know, we all love a castle. We just don’t want it drafty.”

Kilkea Castle has been fully refurbished in a style that combines medieval décor and modern chic, with the castle itself leaning toward medieval while the clubhouse is distinctly chic. The tea menu, too, offers a bit of both traditional and contemporary flavors. In the savory course, for example, egg mayonnaise (egg salad) typically arrives on a flaky croissant, smoked salmon tops Guinness wheat bread, and roast chicken with bacon is spread with truffle-sage mayonnaise in a whole-wheat wrap. For a riff on corned beef and cabbage, the final savory currently offered is a Reuben with Thousand Island dressing on rye bread.

House-made scones with clotted cream and preserves arrive next, followed by the sweetest of sweet pastries. Current offerings include mango and passionfruit cheesecake, lemon meringue tart, carrot cake, and macarons.

Hermione’s Restaurant serves afternoon tea (€35) on Saturday and Sunday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Pre-booking is required.

3. The Silver Restaurant Newbridge Silverware

Athgarvan Road • Newbridge, County Kildare W12 HT62

+353-45-488-438 • visitnewbridgesilverware.com

Every visitor to Ireland needs a little retail therapy, and Newbridge in County Kildare is one of the best places to satisfy it. Whitewater, the largest regional shopping center in Ireland, is located here, along with Newbridge Silverware, a company that’s been at the forefront of cutlery manufacture and giftware design since 1934.

At the turn of the 20th century, Newbridge was a thriving garrison community. Its cavalry barracks were the largest overseas base in the British Empire, housing more than 3,000 troops. Great economic activity grew around the facility, in particular metal linishing skills. This all changed when the Army vacated in 1921, leaving a huge economic vacuum in the area. The new Free State Government, aware of the economic difficulties throughout Ireland, encouraged new manufacturing enterprises in nontraditional areas outside the major cities. At Newbridge, a committee to encourage local industrial development was formed, and they found the solution in the metal forging and linishing equipment left behind by the Army.

The Newbridge Cutlery Company was formed, later becoming Newbridge Silverware, with a visitor center that offers a fascinating factory tour with a behind-the-scenes look at how craftsmen create the tableware and jewelry synonymous with the name of Newbridge. The Museum of Style Icons, a mini museum on the second level (free admission), houses fashion collections and artefacts that once belonged to fashionistas such as Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Princess Grace, The Beatles, and most recently, a collection devoted to Princess Diana labeled “Fashion from the Wardrobe of the People’s Princess.”

The Lifestyle Store on the main level, however, is the place for anyone in the market for silverplate items ranging from cutlery and tableware to jewelry and Christmas ornaments. Tea-lovers will not be able to resist the stunning range that includes vintage, pre-owned, and new china, including Wedgwood, silver-plated sugar and creamer sets, cake stands, double jam dish sets, water jugs, and teapots, to name just a few.

And when it comes to tea, the adjacent Silver Restaurant is like the pot of gold at the end of the shopping rainbow. A bright and welcoming room, the restaurant is one of the most popular eateries in the town of Newbridge, and its afternoon tea service is a must for visiting shoppers and locals alike. It’s beautifully presented on Newbridge teaware, including its stunning three-tiered stand, which shows up at many of Ireland’s finest tearooms. The sandwich selection is a tasty combination of classic and traditional sandwiches, such as both smoked salmon and egg mayonnaise (egg salad) with watercress on brown bread; grilled chicken Caesar salad and Thai crispy chicken in wholewheat wraps; and a classic bacon, lettuce, and tomato on a rustic sourdough baguette.

The pastry chef changes the sweets course frequently, possibly offering mini carrot cakes, apple crumble, chocolate-covered strawberries, macarons, and petite brownies. For those who want a less formal tea service, the restaurant serves coffee, tea, and decadent desserts all day.

The Silver Restaurant offers formal afternoon tea daily at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. (€29). Add a glass of prosecco for €7. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance.

4. Powerscourt Hotel

Powerscourt Estate • Enniskerry, County Wicklow A98 DR12

+353-1-274-8888 • powerscourthotel.com

County Wicklow ticks all the boxes when it comes to its place in Ireland’s Ancient East. It’s one of the three coastal counties, along with Wexford and Waterford, that make up the “Viking Triangle,” places where significant Viking influence can be found. It’s home to Glendalough, a monastic settlement founded by Saint Kevin in the sixth century, and full to the brim with Anglo-Irish “big houses” and gardens like Russborough in Blessington, Killruddery in Bray, and Avondale in Rathdrum. The term “big house” refers to the country houses, mansions, and estates of the landed class in Ireland, best-known as the Anglo-Irish. Varying in size and style, the largest and most notable of these properties is Powerscourt Estate, a 1,000-acre sprawl in Enniskerry that includes the original house and garden, a golf course, distillery, Avoca shop, café, and garden pavilion.

As for the estate itself, National Geographic voted Powerscourt number 3 in the World’s Top 10 Gardens, just behind Château de Versailles and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. The garden alone (totaling 47 acres) was laid out over a period of 150 years and designed as a complement to the once-grand 68-room mansion. Originally a 13th-century castle, the house was extensively altered in the 18th century by German architect Richard Cassels. When Powerscourt House was completed in 1741, an architectural historian said of the mansion that it had the “massive dignity of a great Italian Renaissance villa.”

Fast-forward to 1961, when the Slazenger family (the company that produces tennis racquets and balls) bought the estate, hoping to open it as a visitor attraction. Tragically, in 1974, a fire broke out on the top floor of the house, and it didn’t reopen until 1996. Ten years later, the Palladian-style Powerscourt Hotel opened, a stunning addition to the estate and the perfect place to enjoy afternoon tea.

To say that The Sugar Loaf Lounge, where afternoon tea is served, is a “room with a view” is an understatement, as every table has breathtaking, panoramic views of the Wicklow countryside and the mountain for which the lounge is named. Once seated, guests select a Ronnefeldt tea, and then servers arrive with a Newbridge three-tiered stand laden with plain and raisin scones on the bottom tier and sweets on top. Strawberry rhubarb tart, chocolate passionfruit mousse, macarons, salted pistachio financier, and orange-and-vanilla mousse are among some of the pastries that change on a seasonal basis. Clotted cream, jam, and lemon curd arrive in individual ramekins.

The generous sandwich course is plated separately and might include rosemary ham with red pepper tapenade on a white bloomer (a light roll with a soft interior and crusty exterior), egg mayonnaise (egg salad) and chives on brioche, smoked salmon with capers and red onion on Guinness soda bread, and a lovely combination of cucumber and apple with dill crème fraîche on a malt bloomer. Powerscourt offers vegetarian and vegan options as well—hummus and red pepper or sun-dried tomato and black olive tapenade are served on Guinness bread, and vegan cheese, avocado, and pomegranate relish comes on a bloomer. There’s even a menu for children: egg mayonnaise, honey roast ham and Cheddar, shredded chicken salad, and a croissant with Nutella and marshmallow (€25). All of this while a pianist plays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Powerscourt serves afternoon tea daily (€60) from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Complement the tea experience with a glass of Perrier-Jouët Brüt Champagne (€80) or Perrier-Jouët Blason Rosé Champagne (€85).

Margaret Johnson is the author of 12 cookbooks, including Teatime in Ireland and Tea & Crumpets. She lives in New York. Visit irishcook.com to learn more about her.